Albert Henning to George W. Martin
Creator: Henning, Albert
Date: August 16, 1905
In this letter to George W. Martin of the Kansas State Historical Society, Albert Henning describes finding "the body of an indian with a number of bullet holes in his body." According to Henning, the Indian that he found was killed by a party of men from Oberlin who had gathered together in the aftermath of a March 1879 attack by the Northern Cheyenne under Dull Knife.

Benton residence, Oberlin, Kansas
Date: December 29, 1912
A postcard showing the Benton residence in Oberlin, Kansas. The postcard is addressed to Flora Albin of Greenfield, Kansas.

Claims, Indian Raid
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883: Glick)
Date: 1883-1885
These letters are from the Adjutant General's Office, settlers, and other Kansas citizens regarding the "Indian Raid" of 1878. These letters discuss the topic of reimbursement to settlers, churches, and other expenses incurred by the raid. It was the last raid in Kansas. A monument was erected in Oberlin, Kansas in honor of those who were killed.

Construction on the Masonic Temple in Oberlin, Kansas
Creator: Dyer
Date: Between 1925 and 1930
These four sepia colored postcards show a group of men building the Masonic Temple in Oberlin, Kansas.

Counties : Decatur, index of petitioners' land
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883 : St. John)
Date: December 1879
A petition, comprising of sixty-four pages, from voters of Oberlin, Kansas asking Kansas Governor St. John to designate Decatur County as the Temporary County Seat of Decatur County.

Decatur County Courthouse, Oberlin, Kansas
Date: Between 1907 and 1910
This set of post cards represent the Decatur County Courthouse, located at 187 South and Penn Avenue, in Oberlin, Kansas. The two-story building designed by Mr. White was constructed in 1886. Designed in the Italianate style the structure features arched windows and a rectangular form. The building served as the county courthouse from 1896 until 1927 when a new courthouse was constructed. In 1994 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Decatur County High School baseball team
Creator: Dyer
Date: 1935
This is a photograph of the Decatur County High School baseball team. Lyle Walton, captain of the team, is seated at the far left in the front row.

Decatur County organization records
Creator: Kansas. Secretary of State
Date: 1879-1880
In order for an unorganized county to be recognized by the state of Kansas, a certain number of householders/legal electors had to petition the governor. The governor would appoint a census taker. Initially, unorganized counties were required to document that they had at least 600 inhabitants in order to be recognized as a county by the state legislature. Over time the number of residents needed to organize a county changed to 1500 and later to 2500 residents. The census was submitted to the governor who then issued a proclamation indicating that the requirements had been met, appointing county commissioners and a county clerk, and naming a county seat. Not all of these documents are available for each county. Included in this file is the proclamation from the governor appointing county officials and designating Oberlin as the temporary county seat. Also, a letter certifying the county seat results between Decatur Center and Oberlin, with Oberlin having the most votes. A complete transcription is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Fred and Verna Walton
Date: 1934
This is a photograph of Fred and Verna Walton who lived in Oberlin, Kansas.

Grave markers for the last Indian raid in Kansas
Creator: Piper, William C.
Date: Between 1930s and 1950s
These five black and white photographs show the grave markers for the victims that were killed, September 30, 1878, in the last Indian raid in Kansas. On that day a band of Northern Cheyenne Indians led by Chief Dull Knife killed nineteen settlers along the Sappa Creek in Oberlin, Kansas before continuing north into Nebraska.

Grave markers for the last Indian Raid in Kansas
Creator: Piper, William C.
Date: Between 1930s and 1950s
These five black and white photographs show the grave markers for the victims that were killed, September 30, 1878, in the last Indian raid in Kansas. On that day a band of Northern Cheyenne Indians lead by Chief Dull Knife killed nineteen settlers along the Sappa Creek in Oberlin, Kansas before continuing north into Nebraska.

Grave markers for the Last Indian Raid in Kansas
Creator: Piper, William C.
Date: Between 1930 and 1950
These five black and white photographs show the grave markers for the victims that were killed, September 30, 1878, in the last Indian raid in Kansas. On that day a band of Northern Cheyenne Indians lead by Chief Dull Knife killed nineteen settlers along the Sappa Creek in Oberlin, Kansas before continuing north into Nebraska. The first image is the headstone of James G. Smith. The second photograph is John Young's grave. Thirdly, the grave of John & E.P. Humphrey. The fourth image is the burial site of an Indian girl. The site had been reported earlier as the final resting place for George F. Walters. His body had originally been in a pasture but was moved to Oberlin Cemetery in 1888. The last image is the headstones for William Laing Jr., and Freeman Laing. In the back row to the very right, is Moses F. Abernathy's headstone a victim of the raid.

Handbook of Decatur County, Kansas
Creator: C. S. Burch Publishing Company
Date: Between 1880 and 1890
This handbook of Decatur County, Kansas, was published by C.S. Burch Publishing Company of Chicago. It includes advertisements, descriptions of landscape and climate, historical structures and noteworthy individuals, and information about ranches and townships.

Incidents of the Dull Knife raid
Creator: Street, William D., b. 1851
Date: 1900
This item, written by William D. Street of Oberlin, Kansas, details the events surrounding the Dull Knife raid. According to Street, events began in the summer of 1878 while he was working as a cowboy in parts of Kansas and Colorado. Street recalls that he was first aware that something was wrong upon hearing women and children crying, something that he states was unusual because women and children "seldom frequented the cow camps." Street then asked a man named Sim Holstine what had happened, and Sim told him that an Indian raid had just occurred and the locals were preparing to assist the U.S. Army apprehend the offenders. The remaining seven pages of this item details the events that occurred after the party of men left to find the Northern Cheyennes responsible for the raid.

Kansas Adjutant General general correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1879
This correspondence was sent and received by Kansas Adjutant General Peter S. Noble to and from militiamen across the state, often written on stationary from their places of regular employment. The Kansas University Cadets are frequently mentioned. Included are petitions for the organization of militia companies in the cities of Raymond, Offerle, Burlingame, and Caldwell, among others. Also included are petitions for weaponry and ammunition to protect the cities of Oberlin, Spearville, and Bazine from Indian attacks.

Kansas Film Commission site photographs, towns Oakley - Syracuse
Creator: Kansas Film Commission
Date: 1988-2002
These are panoramic photographs of Kansas towns beginning with Leavenworth and ending with Norway. The Kansas Film Commission created the photos to promote Kansas locations to film companies. Many of the photographs show business districts and buildings. The panoramics were created by taking individual photos and taping them together. Towns and cities included in this part of the collection are: Oakley, Oberlin, Olathe,Olsburg, Osage City, Osawatomie, Ottawa, Overbrook, Palco, Palmer, Paola, Pawnee Rock, Paxico, Peabody, Penalosa, Penokee, Perry, Peru, Pfeifer, Plainville, Plevna, Potwin, Pratt, Pretty Prairie, Quenemo,Quinter, Ramona, Ransom, Raymond, Reading, Redwing, Republic, Rexford, Robinson, Roeland Park, Rolla, Rossville, Sabetha, Salina, Satanta, Scammon, Scranton, Sedan, Selden, Severy, Severance, Silver Lake, Smileyberg, Smolan, Soldier, Solomon, Sparks, Stafford County (Hudson), Sterling, St. Francis, St. George, St. Marys, St. Peter, Studley, Sun City, and Syracuse. Photos of courthouses are included for several communities. Some of the photos of communities show churches, grain elevators, water towers, parks, public/government buildings, railroad depots and tracks, and residences. There are aerial photographs for Ottawa, Paola, and Paxico.

Kansas Historical Marker, Oberlin, Kansas
Date: Between 1950 and 1959
These two black and white photographs show the Kansas Historical Marker commemorating the Last Indian Raid in Kansas. The sign was erected by the Kansas Historical Society and the State Highway Commission recognizing the events of September 30, 1878 when a band of Northern Cheyenne Indians lead by Chief Dull Knife killed nineteen settlers along the Sappa Creek in Oberlin, Kansas.

Kansas suffrage mass meetings for June
Creator: The Farmer's Wife
Date: May 1894
This article lists the upcoming suffrage meetings for June and their locations. The first section's meetings will have Carrie Chapman-Catt, Annie Diggs, and Theresa Jenkins as the speakers; the second section's meetings will be addressed by Susan B. Anthony, Anna Howard Shaw, Helen Kimber and Rachel Child.

Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union general correspondence
Date: 1910-1939
This is correspondence sent and received by Mary Evelyn Dobbs, corresponding secretary of the Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union from 1907 to 1939. The letters arrived from people across the state, including the presidents of county chapters of the KWCTU. Most correspondence relates to planned public speeches and visits intended to establish and support new branches of the KWCTU. There are also communications from the state organization to local units. Specific items include a letter dated July 1, 1918, from Dobbs to F.L. Pinet with a manuscript entitled "Early Factors in Kansas Prohibition" intended for publication in the Kansas Teacher, advertising contracts for the KWCTU periodical Our Messenger, and a letter written to Dobbs from Clara E. Keys, a WCTU missionary in Africa. One letter recognizes Mary Sibbitt as the organizer of comfort kits provided for soldiers at Fort Leavenworth. Sibbitt, known as the "Kansas Cyclone," was an founding officer of the International Association of Women Ministers. There are several other groups of official Kansas WCTU records on Kansas Memory. They can be found by selecting Collections - Manuscript - KWCTU/Mary Evelyn Dobbs.

Main Street Oberlin, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
This set of postcards represent Main Street in Oberlin Kansas. Several buildings are visible along the street. In the first postcard the Bank of Oberlin can be seen. This two-story red brick building, built in 1886, served as Decatur County's first courthouse from 1896 to 1927 until a new courthouse was constructed. The Italianate style building with its arched style windows was added in 1994 to the National Register of Historic Places.

Masonic Temple in Oberlin, Kansas
Date: Between 1931 and 1932
This is a photograph of the Masonic Temple in Oberlin, Kansas.

Masonic Temple in Oberlin, Kansas
Date: Between 1925 and 1930
This is a postcard showing either an artist's or architect's depiction of the Masonic Temple in Oberlin, Kansas.

Monument for the victims of the Last Indian Raid in Kansas
Date: Between 1940s and 1950s
These photographs show the monument for the victims of the Last Indian Raid in Kansas. Located inside the Oberlin Cemetery in Oberlin, Kansas, the monument was erected by the State of Kansas and Decatur County to honor the memory of the nineteen settlers that were killed by a band of Northern Cheyenne Indians on September 30, 1878.

Mrs. Lawrence Claar to Kansas State Historical Society
Creator: Claar, Mrs. Lawrence
Date: March 17, 1946
This is a letter from Mrs. Lawrence Claar, Oberlin, Kansas, to the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. In the letter, Mrs. Claar writes that she is sending a story that describes a Kansas settlement called "Old Hawkeye". Along with the letter is the actual "Old Hawkeye" story to which she refers. The story is told by Amy G.C. Rezner, aunt to Mrs. Claar's husband, Lawrence.

Oberlin, Kansas
Creator: Everts, L.H. & Co., Philadelphia, PA
Date: 1886
This is a plat of the town of Oberlin, Kansas, published by L. H. Everts. Additions, street names, and some residents are noted, along with Sappa Creek, and the Burlington Kansas and S.W. Railroad tracks, elevator, and depot.