A. J. Dyck to Arthur Capper
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: April 23, 1918
Reverend A. J. Dyck of the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church, Inman, Kansas, wrote this letter to Governor Arthur Capper of Topeka, Kansas, concerning the Third Liberty Loan drive and its impact on the German American community. Dyck explains that the members of his church have bought more than the amount of Liberty Loans required by the established quota in order to prove their loyalty and avoid harassment by "mobs." In addition, Dyck asks Capper if it would be acceptable for members of his church to donate to the Red Cross rather than providing money to support the war effort.

A. Oestreicher to Eli Thayer
Creator: Oestreicher, A.
Date: September 23, 1854
Oestreicher, writing from Cincinnati, Ohio, informed Thayer of the establishment of a Kansas Actual Settler's Association in that city. He indicated that the association, which was comprised primarily of German-Americans, planned to create a settlement in Kansas in the spring of 1855.

A.Tuttle to Alfred Gray
Creator: Tuttle, A.
Date: June 25, 1857
Tuttle wrote from Buffalo, New York, about his plans to come to Kansas Territory by the fall. Alfred Gray had been a practicing lawyer in Buffalo before settling in Quindaro, Kansas Territory. Tuttle wrote about bank failures and the poor economy in the east. He also wanted Gray to send printed information about Kansas as he thought it would attract some of those out of work. He inquired if any of the literature was in German, as there were a number of out-of-work German immigrants in the area.

Aged German is given 48 hours to leave city!
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: February 19, 1918
This article published in the Topeka Journal covers the story of Daniel Klege. Klege, a 75 year old resident of Topeka, Kansas, and veteran of the Civil War, was ordered to leave Topeka until the end of the war with Germany because he had never registered to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Alien enemies' wives are loyal
Creator: Topeka Capital
Date: January 1, 1918
This article printed in the Topeka Capital details an incident involving Charles H. Johnson and Joseph Fisckale, both of whom expressed sympathies for the Germany and Austria. Turned in by their American-born wives, Johnson and Fisckale were "sent to a place of safe keeping until after the war."

Alien registration card for Vena Peters Schock
Date: July 25, 1918
This Alien registration Card, issued by the U.S. Department of Justice to Vena Peters Schock of Topeka, KS, was issued during World War I due to Schock's status as a non-naturalized citizen of the United States. During World War I many German Americans were issued similar registration cards that they had to carry at all times. If a non-naturalized German American was stopped without their card, they could face imprisonment until hostilities between Germany and the United States ceased.

All alien enemies liable to arrest
Creator: Topeka Capital
Date: June 19, 1917
This article, published in the June 19, 1917, edition of the Topeka Capital addresses the law prohibiting German immigrants who were not naturalized U.S. citizens from entering the Topeka Business District without a special permit from the U.S. Marshall Office. Anyone violating the law could be placed in jail without trial until the end of the war.

Andrew Henry and Mary Gudenkauf Zind Henry
Date: January 7, 1896
This is a photograph showing Andrew A. Henry and Mary Gudenkauf Zind Henry on their wedding day. Andrew A. Henry was born in Bavaria, Germany on December 31, 1860, and his parents were George Heinrich Henry and Eliza (Iva) Dougle Henry. Andrew immigrated to the United States in 1881 at the age of 21 and settled in Kingman County, Kansas. He worked for the railway company in Kingman for a few years before coming to Nemaha County in 1893 where he settled on a farm near Goff, Kansas. In 1896, he married Mary Gudenkauf Zind at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Seneca, Kansas. They had six children Frank, Antone, Leo, Catherine, Joseph, Bernard and Clemens Zind, Mary's son from a previous marriage. On September 18, 1910, Mary died of peritonitis. On January 21, 1914, Henry married Josephine Dreier and they had one son Vincent. In 1924, Andrew and Josephine moved from the farm to a home in Seneca, Kansas. Andrew Henry passed away December 12, 1947. Mary Gudenkauf Zind was born November 14, 1869 in Minster, Auglaize County, Ohio and her parents were Henry Clemens and Maria Catherine Barhorst Gudenkauf. Mary's parents moved to Seneca, Kansas in 1886 after their flour mill was destroyed by a fire. In 1890, Mary married Antone Zind, and they had two children Margarite (who died at the age of 2) and Clemens. Antone Zind died in an accident on a farm just east of Seneca on August 29, 1893, at age 31.

Autobiography of Louis Palenske
Creator: Palenske, Louis F., 1858-1943
Date: January 3, 1934
This is a three-page autobiography of Louis Palenske, written on his 76th birthday. The fourth page is a short autobiographical synopsis. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Biography of Frederich and Caroline Palenske
Creator: Palenske, Louis F., 1858-1943
Date: 1930-1940
This short biography of Frederich and Caroline Palenske was written by their son, Louis Palenske, born in the Kansas Territory in 1858. The Palenske family immigrated from Germany to the United States in 1854, and soon homesteaded a claim in Richardson County, Kansas Territory. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

C.B. Schmidt to Colonel A.S. Johnson
Creator: Schmidt, C. B.
Date: June 09, 1877
This letter is from C.B. Schmidt, foreign agent for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad to Colonel A.S. Johnson, Acting Land Commission for the Santa Fe Railroad. Schmidt writes about the prospect of foreign immigration coming to the United States in the near future, mostly focusing on the number of Mennonites and other Russo-Germans expected to immigrate. Page 7 of the letter contains a statement of land sales to "Foreigners from the U.S. and Canada" and "Foreigners from Europe Direct. It covers the time period February 15, 1873, through May 30, 1877. Sales are grouped by Germans, Austrians, Scandinavians, French, Russo-Germans, Dutch, and Swiss. It shows the number of acres and the amount of income by group.

Charles Schock alien registration card
Date: February 25, 1918
This alien registration card, from the U.S. Department of Justice to Charles Schock of Topeka, Kansas, was issued during World War I due to Schock's statue as a non-naturalized citizen of the U.S. During World War I many German Americans were issued similar registration cards that they had to carry at all times. If a non-naturalized German American was stopped without their card, they could face imprisonment until hostilities between Germany and the U.S. ceased.

Charles Schock permit
Date: 1918
This card, issued by the U.S. Marshall, District of Kansas, is similar to many issued during World War I to German Americans that had not yet attained U.S. citizenship. This card permits Charles Schock to pass through areas otherwise forbidden to anyone classified as a resident alien such as the area near the state house and fairgrounds in downtown Topeka, Kansas.

Dinner Plate from the Hollenberg Pony Express Station, 14WH316
Date: 1864-1904
This whiteware plate sherd was recovered from the Hollenberg Pony Express Station in Washington County in 1991. It was found below the station and may have been lost anytime during the buildings use as a home or station. The sherd shows the maker's mark of the W. & E. Corn pottery of England. The Hollenberg Pony Express Station was added to the National Register of Historic places in 1966, and ealier as a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Disloyalists are warned
Creator: Inman Review
Date: April 26, 1918
This article, published in the Inman Review, covers the Barton County Night Riders. The Night Riders, a vigilante group of self-proclaimed loyalists, claimed that their mission was to "clean up the country of German spies, German sympathizers and dirty slackers." In addition, the Night Riders threatened to take care of disloyalty in communities "largely populated by people either of German birth or decent."

Ephraim Nute to Edward Everett Hale
Creator: Nute, Ephraim
Date: August 3, 1857
Rev. Ephraim Nute, minister of the Lawrence Unitarian Church, wrote from Lawrence, Kansas Territory to Edward Everett Hale, a member of the New England Emigrant Aid Company's Executive Committee. Nute described efforts to establish a high school in Lawrence as well as a university in Kansas Territory. He also advised Hale to pay close attention to the activities of Francis Serenbetz, a German Congregational minister who was the leader of a group of German immigrants who settled in Humboldt, Kansas Territory. In Nute's opinion, Serenbetz was an "unmitigated humbug and nuisance" who came to Kansas for self-interested reasons. Nute urged Hale to stop sending settlers to Kansas who lacked financial resources or a willingness to work to support themselves.

Ephraim Nute to Edward Everett Hale
Creator: Nute, Ephraim
Date: April 28, 1857
Rev. Ephraim Nute, minister of the Lawrence Unitarian Church, wrote from Lawrence, Kansas Territory to Edward Everett Hale, a member of the New England Emigrant Aid Company's Executive Committee. Nute observed that Francis Serenbetz, a German Congregational minister, and his party of thirty German immigrants were in Lawrence and getting ready to head south to establish a colony on the Neosho River that they planned to name Humboldt. Nute was not optimistic that the Serenbetz party would succeed due to their lack of financial resources. Nute commented that immigration into Kansas continued to increase and estimated that nearly 1,000 people per day entered the territory. He stated that most of the new immigrants were from Western states and "of the right kind to stay." Nute also commented on the lack of saw and grist mills in the territory and blamed the New England Emigrant Aid Company for the deficiency.

Executive Clerk to Herman Buckman
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: May 24, 1915
Reply from the Executive Clerk of Kansas to Herman Buckman in response to Buckman's letter to Governor Arthur Capper regarding U.S. citizenship. The Executive Clerk explains that Buckman should re-file his petition for naturalization despite the fact that relations between Germany and the U.S. are tense as a result of World War I.

F. W. Frasius to The Hon. State Central Committee
Creator: Frasius, F. W.
Date: April 20, 1898
Frasius wrote to the People's Party state central committee to encourage them to keep working for reform and specifically to try and attract the votes of immigrants from Germany. To accomplish this, he wanted the party to organize a weekly German newspaper so that Germans in Kansas had a source of information other than from German newspapers in eastern cities. Frasius wanted the state central committee to get him 1,000 cash subscribers at $1.00 for him to start this proposed newspaper.

Flatware from the Hollenberg Pony Express Station, 14WH316
Date: 1857-1941
This knife and fork were recovered from the Hollenberg Pony Express Station in Washington County in 1991. They were found below the station and may have been lost anytime during the buildings use as a home or station. The knife has lost all of its wooden handle, but the fork still retains traces of its wooden handle. The Hollenberg Pony Express Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and earlier, as a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Francis M. Serenbetz to Edward Everett Hale
Creator: Serenbetz, Francis M.
Date: March 14, 1857
Francis M. Serenbetz, a German immigrant and minister, wrote from Hartford, Connecticut to Edward Everett Hale, a member of the New England Emigrant Aid Company's Executive Committee. Serenbetz informed Hale that he planned to lead a group of about a dozen families of fellow Germans to Kansas to establish a "christian community." Attached to the letter is an agreement, dated February 8, 1857, outlining the communal labor and property arrangements for the proposed Kansas settlement.

Fred Robertson to Charles H. Sessions
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: April 17, 1917
Fred Robertson of the United State Attorney's Office, Kansas City, writes the secretary to Governor Arthur Capper, Charles H. Sessions in response to a letter he received. The letter acknowledges receipt of a letter from W. A. Lewis of Pence (Scott County), who is alarmed by the behavior of a German neighbor. During World War I, citizens suspicious of the patriotic allegiances of their neighbors often sent reports of such suspicions to the Governor. The Governor's Office often forwarded these reports to the United States District Attorney for investigation.

German American farmers, Marion County, Kansas
Date: 1918
This is a photograph of a group of German American farmers standing before a very large tractor and threshing machine in Marion County, Kansas. An American flag is suspended between the two machines.

German Prisoners - Nubecourt, France
Creator: Hughes, James Clark, 1888-1964
Date: 1919
A long row of German prisoners with bags of supplies standing in an open field in Nubecourt, France. James C. Hughes, as part of the 35th Division, left Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and traveled to Hoboken, New Jersey, where he boarded the troop ship "Ceramic" on May 18, 1918. Hughes arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 1, 1918 and then landed at Le Havre, France, on June 9, 1918. Hughes fought in the battles of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. He was at Verdun on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. He took no photos of the actual fighting. He did take many photographs after the war as part of the Army of Occupation until he left France on July 18, 1919. A full biography of James Clark Hughes is available at the link below to Kansapedia.

German Prisoners - Nubecourt, France
Creator: Hughes, James Clark, 1888-1964
Date: 1919
Twelve German prisoners in Nubecourt, France. One has a bandaged head, one has a bandaged hand and one is using a cane. James C. Hughes, as part of the 35th Division, left Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and traveled to Hoboken, New Jersey, where he boarded the troop ship "Ceramic" on May 18, 1918. Hughes arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 1, 1918 and then landed at Le Havre, France, on June 9, 1918. Hughes fought in the battles of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. He was at Verdun on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. He took no photos of the actual fighting. He did take many photographs after the war as part of the Army of Occupation until he left France on July 18, 1919. A full biography of James Clark Hughes is available at the link below to Kansapedia.