1880 census of Farmer Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 1, 1880 through June 2, 1880
This excerpt of a census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of settlers in Farmer Township in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The county included a black population (B=Black) who had settled there in 1879 with the help of the Freedmen's Relief Association.

1880 census of Nicodemus Township, Graham County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 8, 1880 through June 23, 1880
This census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of both white and black settlers in Nicodemus Township in Graham County, Kansas. This township had been settled by African Americans in 1877 along the south fork of the Solomon River.

8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry monument at Missionary Ridge
Creator: Schmedling Photographer
Date: Between 1870 and 1900
These are three photographs of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry monument on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Aaron Kuykendall
Creator: Morse, A. S.
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This is a carte de visite of Private Aaron Kuykendall from Moline, Illinois, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The carte de visite was removed from an album belonging to Lt. Charles H. Slawson, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The photographer was A. S. Morse in Nashville, Tennessee.

About Nicodemus, The Daily Journal
Creator: Lawrence Daily Journal
Date: April 30, 1879
This article from the Lawrence Daily Journal discusses a newspaper article from the Chicago Tribune written during the Exoduster Movement in 1879 providing a brief history of the black community of freed people at Nicodemus, Kansas settled in 1877. Nicodemus is now a historic site administered by the National Parks Service.

All the world watches Dayton
Creator: Topeka Daily Capital
Date: July 16, 1925
A political cartoon titled "All the World Watches Dayton" that was featured in the Topeka Daily Capital on July 16, 1925. This political cartoon is centered around the trial of John Scopes, a high school teacher from Dayton, Tennessee, who was arrested for teaching the evolutionary theory developed by Charles Darwin.

August Schultz
Creator: Larcombe, Augustus
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This is a carte de visite showing First Lieutenant August Schultz from Leavenworth, Kansas, who served in Company B of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The carte de visite was removed from an album belonging to Lt. Charles H. Slawson, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The photographer was Augustus Larcombe in Nashville, Tennessee.

Benjamin "Pap" Singleton
Date: 1880
Benjamin "Pap" Singleton was born a slave in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1809. Singleton escaped to Canada to gain his freedom, returning to Tennessee after the end of the Civil War. Seeking a better life for himself and for his fellow emancipated African Americans, he began his efforts to buy land in Tennessee for blacks to farm. His plan failed due to unfair prices set by white landowners. Singleton then looked to Kansas as a potential site for black emigration, organizing the Tennessee Real Estate and Homestead Association with his business partner, Columbus Johnson. This company founded the Dunlap Colony in Morris County and a short-lived settlement in Cherokee County. Although his company did not create many successful colonies, through his advertisements he did help thousands of Exodusters relocate to Kansas, leading to his name as "Father of the Exodus." Singleton also organized a political group called the United Colored Links and later in life he promoted black colonization.

Benjamin "Pap" Singleton and S. A. McClure
Date: 1876
This photograph depicts a steamboat containing freed people in Nashville, Tennessee, with Benjamin "Pap" Singleton and S. A. McClure superimposed in the foreground. Singleton, known as the "Father of the Exodus" for the Exoduster Movement in 1879, organized the Tennessee Real Estate and Homestead Association to facilitate black emigration from the South. His town company founded the Dunlap Colony in Morris County, and a short-lived settlement in Cherokee County, Kansas. His widespread use of advertisements encouraged thousands of former slaves to emigrate to Kansas. McClure was one of his associates and advocate for emigration.

Bottle whimsy
Creator: Frederick I. Douglas
Date: between 1927 and 1933
Carved figure inside a glass bottle, depicting a slave on an auction block. The figure was carved by Frederick I. Douglas to represent a story passed down by his father, Thomas O. Douglas, who had been sold in a similar manner in Tennessee. Thomas Douglas was an Exoduster who settled in Wabaunsee County in 1879. His son Frederick's carvings won ribbons when exhibited at a Topeka fair in 1927.

Bowie knife
Date: 1862
"Arkansas Toothpick" bowie knife with wooden handle and metal blade. This type of knife was popular in the Civil War, especially with Confederates. The donor, John P.T. Davis was a 2nd Lieutenant in Company H of the 52nd Indiana Infantry Regiment. In addition to Kentucky, Mississippi, and Alabama, the regiment fought at the Battle of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, in 1862. Davis collected this knife from that battlefield on February 15, 1862.

Carte du chemin de fer Atchison, Topeka et Santa Fe, aves ses ramifications
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1874
This advertising circular and map published by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad is written in French. It promotes immigration and land development in the Arkansas River Valley in the State of Kansas. One side of the brochure describes the territory and the advantages of further development of three million acres of land. The reverse side has a map of the central portion of the United States, from New York City on the East coast to Colorado and New Mexico. An itinerary describes how to travel, by railroad, to the Arkansas River Valley, from twenty-seven cities in the East and Midwest. Etchings of the Cow Creek valley in Rice County, Kansas, and the Arkansas River valley at Great Bend, Kansas, accompany the map.

Columbus Johnson
Date: 1889
This is a photograph of Columbus Johnson, who lived in Dunlap, Kansas. He was born in Maryland, the child of a free man and a slave woman who was purchasing her freedom. His mother died when lightning struck a tree, and Columbus was taken to Tennessee where he was auctioned. Johnson learned several trades including harness making and carpentry. He could read and write and frequently read newspapers. While employed at the Braham Mill, he met and married Josephine, a 13 year old slave girl. Columbus Johnson served in the Civil War, and when he was mustered out, he returned to Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1869, Benjamin Singleton, Columbus Johnson and others organized the Tennessee Real Estate Homestead Association. They learned that homesteads were available in Kansas. Johnson went to Topeka where he was active in the Kansas Colonization project with Pap Singleton, under the auspices of the Freedman's Aid Society. His wife and family joined him in Topeka. In 1884, he moved the family to Dunlap where he was active in the community. In June 1884, Johnson and five white businessmen organized the Farmers Bank of Dunlap. He was a trustee in the St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church and one of the shareholders and organizers of the Dunlap Colored Cemetery Association. Johnson died October 17, 1894.

Commissioner of deeds : South Carolina, Tennessee
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1869-1873 : Harvey)
Date: 1869
A letter from Augustus E. Cohen requests the appointment as Commissioner of Deeds for the State of Kansas in South Carolina. In the letter, Cohen explains he is already the Commissioner for many states and wants to add Kansas to his list he encloses his business card and references of his capabilities. A letter from Frazer R. Deedly asks Kansas Governor Harvey if he has been appointed as the Commissioner of Deeds for Kansas in Tennessee. A separate letter from H. Cary applies for the appointment as Commissioner of Deeds for Kansas in Tennessee.

Criminal Matters : Requisitions on Kansas
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883: Glick)
Date: 1883-1885
These letters are from attorney offices outside of Kansas about requisitions on criminal cases to Kansas Governor G. W. Glick. The topics of the letters include applying for/requesting requisitions, the enclosed official requisition, and warrants. Some letters request information on cases to create the requisition. The requisitions are for various criminals and their cases. A unique case of an African American man being taken without a requisition is among the letters. Some letters are from Sheriff offices in Kansas, but the requisitions and cases are from outside of Kansas including Texas, Tennessee, and Missouri.

Dr. Tiberius Gracchus Jones and family
Date: 1898
View of Dr. Tiberius Gracchus Jones and family standing on the steps of the doctor's office, 1898. Dr. Jones was the father-in-law of John R. Brinkley.

Edgar P. Trego
Creator: Schleier, T. M.
Date: Between 1861 and 1863
This is a carte-de-visite showing Edgar P. Trego. He was a member of Company H, 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry and was killed in the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19, 1863. Trego County, Kansas was named for Captain Trego and established on February 26, 1867.

Expositions, Centennials, Conventions; Association for improvement of Western Water Ways
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1885-1889 : Martin)
Date: 1885-1889
These letters, spanning 1887, are from the Association for the Improvement of Western Water-Ways regarding their meeting to Kansas Governor John Martin. Some of the letters request the appointment of delegates to the meeting along with an invitation for the governor to join. An official letter from the association discusses the previous meeting held in New Orleans, Louisiana in April 1885 and the request of another meeting in Memphis, Tennessee in October 1887. The association's headquarters was in Memphis, Tennessee.

Flower Basket quilt
Creator: Stanton, Samantha P. Monroe (Mrs. William)
Date: between 1840 and 1880
Pieced and appliquéd cotton quilt in flower basket pattern. Design features 32 flower baskets set in staggered rows, alternating with elaborately quilted white blocks. Baskets are pieced of red and orange triangles, and have appliquéd handles. Issuing from the top of each basket are three appliquéd tulips. Narrow appliquéd vine border on three sides. Green binding, white backing, and cotton batting. This quilt was probably made by Samantha Monroe Stanton (1845-1908) in Tennessee around the time of her marriage to William Stanton in 1865. The Stantons settled in Kincaid, Kansas, after the Civil War.

Frictionless Metal car
Creator: Lawrence Studio
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
This black and white photograph from a glass plate negative shows a couple standing beside an automobile that is advertising "Frictionless Metal" a perfect bearing metal that was manufactured by the Frictionless Metal Company of Chattanooga, Tennessee. On the back of the photograph, "J.T. Pate auto in park" is written.

Governor Prentice Cooper to Governor Payne Ratner correspondence
Creator: Cooper, Prentice, 1895-1969
Date: June 30, 1942-August 08, 1942
Correspondence from Governor Prentice Cooper of Tennessee to Governor Payne Ratner of Kansas addressing the spread of Victory Gardens throughout the U.S. In the letter, Cooper, Chairman of the National Advisory Garden Committee informs Ratner of the progress of the campaign. Correspondence includes the "Report of the National Advisory Garden Committee," dated June 30, 1942.

Governor Thomas Osborn immigration received correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1873-1877 : Osborn)
Date: 1873-1876
Governor Thomas Osborn compiled this series of correspondence on immigration issues from letters received while in office from 1873-1877. The letters address many aspects of immigration including the appointment of commissioners; immigration promotion; foreign immigration from Scotland, France, Wales, Europe in general, the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark), and Germany. Domestic immigration is also addressed concerning immigrants from New England, Louisiana, and Tennessee (early Exodusters); and Indian lands.

Hand carved ring
Creator: Newbold, Albert A.
Date: between 1862 and 1864
Albert A. Newbold used his pocketknife to carve this ring from a laurel or rhododendron root while he was in Tennessee during the Civil War. Newbold served in the 38th Indiana Infantry.

Henry A. Strong correspondence
Creator: Strong, Henry A.
Date: December 24, 1860-August 10, 1865
Henry Strong wrote these letters to Otis B. Strong of Huntsburg, Ohio. Strong was in Company K, 12th Regiment, Kansas Volunteers from Paola, Kansas, during the Civil War. The letters were written from various places: Moneka, Kansas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Camp Blunt, Paola, Kansas; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri; Osawatomie, Kansas; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Mansfield, Kansas; Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation. The letters address Strong's activities as a Kansas volunteer during the Civil War.

Henry C. Austin
Creator: T. M. Schleier's
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This is a carte-de-visite showing Captain Henry C. Austin from St. Louis, Missouri. He served in Company E, I, and Headquarters of the 8th Kansas Infantry. He was later promoted to major.