Frank Walker to brother
Creator: Walker, Frank
Date: May 23, 1859
This is part of a series of letters from Frank Walker written in Mound City, Linn County, Kansas Territory. The letter implied that Walker was part of a free state militia group, and stated that the free state men never stole from each other (although, he wrote, the proslavery men took their horses). He mentioned a meeting of the Republican Party in anticipation of forming a constitution and entering the union as a state, and that Horace Greeley had given a speech.

Harriet Beecher Stowe to Edward Everett Hale
Creator: Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896
Date: February 28, 1854
This is a letter from abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe to Edward Everett Hale. She writes of forthcoming lectures arranged with Brother Edward and Horace Greeley. Stowe was the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel of African Americans' lives in slavery.

Horace Greeley
Date: Between 1854 and 1859
A photograph of Horace Greeley who was editor of the New York Tribune during the Kansas territorial era. He actively supported the free state cause in Kansas through editorials as well as coming to Kansas in 1859. He advocated resistance to the implementation of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and was involved in the founding of the Republican Party.

Horace Greeley
Date: Between 1865 and 1870
An informal portrait of newspaper editor Horace Greeley, 1811-1872, shown seated at a desk, and a man who, perhaps, may be Richard Henry Danna, Jr., 1815-1882, author of "Two Years Before the Mast."

Invitation to James Abbott's 1855 New York presentation
Creator: King, Charles
Date: September 5, 1855
This printed invitation announced the New York visit of Kansas Territory's James Abbott and his appointment to speak about "the Triumph of Freedom over Slavery in that vicinity" to interested citizens of New York.

James B. Abbott, account of obtaining Sharp's rifles for Free State militia
Creator: Abbott, James B., 1818-1897
Date: Around 1856
James Abbott recalled his experiences as a free state activist who participated in several Kansas Territory conflicts. In this account, he related a brief history of the Kansas Territory's political conflicts between free state and proslavery men, and recounted the events of his own trip back East to secure funds and rifles for the free state cause. His purchases included a mountain howitzer and 117 Sharp's rifles, all of which were smuggled under cover of disguise back to Kansas Territory and into the arms of free state militia. [This transcribed version of the events is either a copy of an original handwritten manuscript, or a compilation based on a personal oral interview.]

Jillson Hotel, Osawatomie, Kansas
Creator: Yeamans, W.H.
Date: Between 1880s and 1890s
This postcard shows the Jillson Hotel in Osawatomie, Kansas. The two-story structure is where newspaper editor Horace Greeley organized, on May 18, 1859, the Republican Party in Kansas.

Kansas Day for Kansas schools
Creator: Copley, L. G. A.
Date: 1882
A brochure of information and exercises for use in every Kansas school containing Kansas history, geography, poems, songs, and politics together with excerpts from the state constitution and a list of Kansas "firsts." Designed especially for January 29th.

Mrs. D.F. Robison to Horace Greeley
Creator: Robison, Mrs. D. F.
Date: January 7, 1861
This brief letter, written by Mrs. D. F. Robison of Green Castle, Pennsylvania, was addressed to Horace Greeley, informing him of her small but unselfish contribution to Kansas relief. It is an excellent example of how even Northerners who were struggling financially took it upon themselves to aid the impoverished settlers of Kansas.

National Kansas Committee, call for meeting
Creator: Hurd, H. B.
Date: January 7, 1857
This advertisement, posted by H.B. Hurd, secretary of the National Kansas Committee, called a meeting for the purpose of hearing reports from the central committees of the various states.

Proslavery flag
Date: 1855
This flag was created by proslavery Missourians who captured free state supporter Reverend Pardee Butler of Atchison in April 1855. The proslavery men sent Butler adrift on a raft down the turbulent Missouri River with this flag flying from it. The Missourians wanted others to know that the minister had helped slaves escape. Although he was expected to drown, Butler survived.

Unknown to Horace Greeley
Date: January 9, 1861
This letter, written from Montrose, Pennsylvania, was addressed to Horace Greeley. It included a contribution of two dollars, which the author asked to be passed along to Thaddeus Hyatt, president of the National Kansas Committee.