1844 Quarter from the Last Chance Store, 14MO367
Date: 1844
This quarter was minted in 1844 in New Orleans. It was recovered from the site of the 2016 Kansas Archeology Training Program, the Last Chance Store in Council Grove. It shows a seated Liberty on one side and an eagle on the other. The Last Chance Store was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Albert D. Searl's transit
Creator: Phelps & Gurley
Date: between 1845 and 1851
Solid brass Vernier transit on walnut tripod. Albert D. Searl used this transit to survey town sites in Kansas Territory. He came to Kansas from Massachusetts in 1854. He apparently was associated with S.C. Pomeroy, agent for the New England Emigrant Aid Company that organized antislavery settlements in the territory. Searl laid out the city limits and streets of Lawrence, Kansas, in September 1854, and three months later conducted the first regular survey of Topeka. Later he surveyed Manhattan, Osawatomie, Burlington, El Dorado, and other Kansas towns.

Alexander and Julia Liggett
Date: Between 1830 and 1860
Cased daguerreotype of Alexander and Julia Liggett.

Applique quilt
Creator: Kramer, Maria
Date: between 1840 and 1899
Red, green, and white appliqué quilt. Unnamed block pattern features a large 8-lobed red rosette with seven radiating green leaves, a thick green stem, and a red bud on a side shoot. Wide red sashing separates the blocks. Appliqued vines on borders. Red binding is a replacement. Quilted in a grid on blocks, and diagonally on sashing and borders. This quilt was made and used by Maria Kramer of Evansville, Indiana.

A.W. Hulburd
Date: Between 1840s and 1860s
Daguerreotype of A.W. Hulburd.

Axe Head from Fool Chief's Village, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
This axe head was recovered from Fool Chief's Village, a Kansa village in Shawnee County that was the site of the 2012 Kansas Archeology Training Program, though excavations continued through 2012 and 2013. As this axe shows evidence of battering on the top, it may have been used as an anvil. The axe head was cleaned by electrolysis which passes an electrical current through a liquid solution to separate the rust from the artifact.

Bedpan from Fool Chief's Village Cache, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
This nearly complete bedpan was recovered from a cache pit at the Fool's Chief village excavations. Fool's Chief village was a Kansa village in Shawnee County occupied from 1830 to 1844. The cache pit was located inside a bark house. The cache pit contained this ceramic bedpan, in addition to a covered dish, knives, hoes, an ax, barrel bands, vermillion, mussel shell and a chain and hook that had been carefully stored for future use.

Belt Style Axe from Fool Chief's Village, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
This is a belt style axe recovered from a midden (refuse heap) in Fool Chief's Village. Fool Chief's Village, a Kansa village in Shawnee County, was the site of the 2012 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school, though excavations continued through 2012 and 2013. Belt style axes were common English and French fur trade items and were forged from a single band of iron folded in half and hammer welded together at the blade. An opening was left at the bend of the fold for the handle of the axe. As this axe shows evidence of battering on the top, it may have been used as an anvil.

Bleeding cup
Date: between 1840 and 1900
This bloodletting cup was owned by Dr. James Haller (1824-1908). Haller practiced medicine in Middletown, Ohio, in the 1840s and 1850s, and was a surgeon during the Civil War with the 38th Ohio Infantry from July 24, 1861 to Jan 4, 1865. He was promoted to Assistant Surgeon July 13, 1863. After the war, Dr. Haller and his family moved to Burlingame, Kansas where he continued to practice medicine. Cups were used to perform the medical treatment of bleeding. The glass cup was heated and placed on the skin. Its cooling created a vacuum, causing the skin to become red and swollen and signaling to the physician that the blood had risen to the surface of the skin. Then a lancet was used to release the "bad" blood from the body.

Brass Ring from the Canville Trading Post, 14NO396
Date: 1847-1872
This brass ring was found at the Canville Trading Post in Neosho County near the Osage Reservation. It was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1994. During the 1800s it would have been bright and shiny, but time has dulled its shine. The Canville Trading Post was established in 1847 by A. B. Canville. When the Osage reservation land was ceded to the United States in 1870, the Osage left for Oklahoma and Canville followed in 1872.

Bridle and Headstall from Fool Chief's Village, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
This bridle and headstall were recovered from excavations in 2012 at Fool Chief's Village, a large Kansa village in Shawnee County. The headstall is a decorative piece that has been altered with drilled holes. Both artifacts were recovered from a midden (a refuse heap) area at the site. They were both cleaned by electrolysis which passes an electrical current through a liquid solution to separate the rust from the artifact.

Buckle from the Canville Trading Post, 14NO396
Date: 1847-1872
This cuprous (contains copper) buckle was found at the Canville Trading Post in Neosho County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1994. The centerbar buckle is decorated with a floral motif and would have been quite a fancy buckle when new and shiny. The Canville Trading Post was established in 1847 by A. B. Canville. When the Osage reservation land was ceded to the United States in 1870, the Osage left for Oklahoma and Canville followed in 1872.

Ceramic Vessel from Fort Zarah, 14BT301
Date: 1800-1869
The broken sherds of this vessel were recovered at the site of Fort Zarah in Barton County. They were reconstructed by the donor who used plaster (the darker material as shown here) to fill in for the missing pieces. It was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2014.

Charles David Burritt
Date: Between 1848 and 1856
These are two daguerreotypes of Rev. Charles David Burritt. He was married to Jerusla Webster Lord Burritt, and they were the parents of Mary Lord Burritt Foster. He died in 1856.

Clarina Irene Howard Nichols
Date: Between 1845 and 1861
This photograph is a studio portrait of Clarina Irene Howard Nichols. In 1854 Nichols joined the New England Emigrant Aid Society and moved her family to a claim in southern Douglas County, near Lawrence, Kansas Territory. Her husband died the next year and in 1856 Nichols moved the family to Wyandotte County where she became associate editor of the Quindaro Chindowan, an abolitionist newspaper. Nichols attended the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention in 1859 where she secured liberal property rights for Kansas women, equal guardianship of their children, and the right to vote on all school questions. Susan B. Anthony paid tribute to Clarina Nichols in her book, "History of Woman Suffrage."

Conchos from the Canville Trading Post, 14NO396
Date: 1847-1872
These three conchos were found at the Canville Trading Post in Neosho County near the Osage Reservation. They were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1994. Conchos were used to decorate clothing, saddles and bridles. These conchos may be made of German silver, which is actually a copper alloy with nickel. The Canville Trading Post was established in 1847 by A. B. Canville. When the Osage reservation land was ceded to the United States in 1870, the Osage left for Oklahoma and Canville followed in 1872.

Copper kettle
Date: between 1800 and 1880
Large cylindrical copper kettle with handles. This kettle is known as a "caso." It is like ones used for general cooking on the Santa Fe Trail. It was a common practice to rivet patches on such vessels. The green sulphate corrosion was often scraped off to be used as a coloring agent in paint or dye or as an additive in medicinal compounds.

Covered Dish from Fool Chief's Village Cache, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
This dish and its lid, both missing their handles, were recovered from a cache pit at the Fool's Chief village excavations. Fool's Chief village was a Kansa village in Shawnee County occupied from 1830 to 1844. The cache pit was located inside a bark house. The cache pit contained this octagonal dish and lid decorated in a red, green, blue and black floral motif, in addition to a bed pan, knives, hoes, an ax, barrel bands, vermillion, mussel shell and a chain and hook that had been carefully stored for future use.

Covered Dish from Fool Chief's Village Cache, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
This dish and its lid, both missing their handles, were recovered from a cache pit at the Fool's Chief village excavations. Fool's Chief village was a Kansa village in Shawnee County occupied from 1830 to 1844. The cache pit was located inside a bark house. The cache pit contained this octagonal dish and lid decorated in a red, green, blue and black floral motif, in addition to a bed pan, knives, hoes, an ax, barrel bands, vermillion, mussel shell and a chain and hook that had been carefully stored for future use.

Crooked Knives from Fool Chief's Village, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
These knives were found in 2012 at the Fool Chief's Village, a Kansa village site in Shawnee county. Archeologists think these "crooked knives" were traded to the Kansa already in their unique shape. They were likely used for woodworking, such as in the manufacturing of bowls or spoons.

Dandridge E. Kelsey papers
Date: 1847-1903
This collection includes various letters, newspaper clippings, legal instruments and court records from cases in which Dandridge E. Kelsey was either plaintiff or defendant (including the 1890s case involving Kelsey and his son Scott in a dispute over ownership of title to the Shawnee County farm), records regarding Salida, and materials related to his membership in fraternal orders such as the Order of Odd Fellows and the Order of Good Templars. Kelsey served with the 83rd Indiana Infantry, Company B during the Civil War. He traveled around much of the country during his enlistment and then returned to Indiana, though he thereafter began taking exploratory trips out to Kansas. In 1868, after moving to Kansas, he continued his life as a farmer for the next ten years. In 1878, he joined a railroad surveying gang and went to Colorado. Between 1878 and 1892 he divided his time between Kansas and Salida, Colorado, where he was involved in mining, land subdivisions, and other speculative adventures, which apparently did not prosper. He returned permanently to Shawnee County in 1892 and died there in 1904.

Daniel Read Anthony
Date: Between 1840 and 1860
This engraving shows Daniel Read Anthony, (1824-1904), brother of suffragist Susan B. Anthony. He migrated to the Kansas territory in 1854 as a member of the New England Emigrant Aid Company and settled in Leavenworth, Kansas; where he established a long and successful career as a newspaper editor and publisher. Anthony owned and operated the Leavenworth Conservative, the Bulletin, and later, in 1871, the Leavenworth Times. With the outbreak of the Civil War he left the newspaper business and enlisted in the U.S. army as a lieutenant colonel of the First Kansas Cavalry, later reassigned as the Seventh Kansas Regiment. Anthony was involved in several skirmishes and battles during the Civil War but led troops to victory at the Battle of the Little Blue. In 1862, his military career was marked with controversy for not following orders issued under General Robert Mitchell's command. On September 3, 1862, he resigned from his post and returned to Leavenworth, Kansas. Anthony became actively involved in the community serving several terms on the city council and two terms as mayor of Leavenworth. He was also elected, in 1868, President of the Republican State Convention and served as President of the Kansas Historical Society from 1885 to 1886. For nearly a century Anthony was associated with the issues and concerns of Leavenworth, Kansas. On November 12, 1904, he passed away at the age of eighty in Leavenworth.

Delaware Baptist Mission globe
Creator: Holbrook School Apparatus Company
Date: between 1855 and 1860
Terrestrial globe on brass stand, used to instruct American Indian pupils at the Delaware Baptist Mission. The mission opened in present-day Wyandotte County around 1836 with the purpose of educating Delaware children and converting them to Christianity. It operated under the leadership of Rev. John Gill Pratt beginning in 1847, and closed when the Delaware tribe was removed to Indian Territory in the late 1860s. The only Kansas town noted on the globe is Lecompton, Kansas' territorial capital from 1855 to 1861.

Eagle Wreath Military Button from Fort Scott, 14BO302
Date: 1842-1853
This brass military button was recovered from the Fort Scott National Historic Site during excavations conducted there between 1968 through 1972 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists. The brass two piece button has a wire loop shank. The button front depicts an eagle holding an olive branch and arrows above with a wreath below and a large "U. S." in the middle. The button back has the wording "United States." The button is ligne 30 in size and likely represents a coat or jacket button. When Fort Scott was built it was on the western military frontier, but is now located within the city limits of Fort Scott.

Economy Patch or Thrift Block variation quilt
Creator: Newlin, Mary Elizabeth Maxwell
Date: between 1840 and 1846
Pieced quilt of red, green, and yellow fabrics on white ground. Pattern blocks are a variation of the Economy Patch or Thrift Block design. Hand-stitched and hand-quilted overall in grid, floral, and feather designs. Made by Mary Elizabeth Maxwell in Indiana during the early 1840s. Maxwell married Mahlon Newlin in 1846, and they moved to Kansas in 1867, settling first in Council Grove where Mahlon was a trader and Indian agent to the Kansa tribe. Eventually they moved to Lawrence. The couple was active in the Friends (Quaker) church.