Courthouse, Calhoun County, Kansas Territory
Date: c. 1855
An exterior view of the former Calhoun County Courthouse, which had been built around 1855. Calhoun County had included part of what is now northern Shawnee County and all of Jackson County.

Kansas Territory versus Christopher Diggens for gambling
Date: 1856 - 1858
These legal documents relate to the case of the Kansas Territory vs. Christopher Diggens. Diggens was accused of gambling at a game of euchre in Calhoun County, Kansas Territory on April 1, 1856. The indictment states Diggens bet one pound of tobacco and one pint of whiskey. Diggens was indicted by the First District Court for Calhoun County on April 7, 1856.

Kansas Territory versus John B. Chapman for failure to keep the peace
Date: June 12, 1856 - October 17, 1856
These legal documents relate to the case of the Kansas Territory vs. John B. Chapman for failure to keep the peace. Chapman was accused of making threats against neighbor Frederic Swice stemming from a dispute over the ownership of a field in Calhoun County (present-day Jackson County), Kansas Territory. The arrest warrant was issued by prominent Calhoun County citizen Judge James Kuykendall on June 12, 1856. Chapman was arrested and released on bond June 13, 1856.

Kansas Territory versus John Cunningham for usurpation of office
Date: 1856 - 1857
These legal documents relate to the case of the Kansas Territory vs. John Cunningham for usurpation of office on April 1, 1856 in Calhoun County, Kansas Territory. Cunningham was accused of acting as an illegal judge of election for the March 1856 election in Calhoun County. He was indicted during the April court term of 1856. Voter fraud was a serious problem in Kansas territorial elections as the two sides of the Bleeding Kansas conflict struggled to make Kansas a free or slave state.

Kansas Territory versus Joseph Cole for pulling down and carrying away a cabin on the claim of William Fletcher
Date: January 22, 1857
This affidavit and arrest warrant relates to the case of the Kansas Territory vs. Joseph Cole, W. C. (C. W.) Giddings, Lafayette Giddings, Samuel Reeder, and A. K. Britton. William Flecher swore in an affidavit before Associate Justice S. G. Cato that on January 19, 1857 Cole, W. C. Giddings, Lafayette Giddings, Reeder, and Britton tore down and carried away the log cabin on his land claim in Calhoun County, Kansas Territory. The men were arrested on January 23, 1857 by U. S. Marshal Israel B. Donalson.

Kansas Territory versus Marshall Coffman and Samuel Coffman for recognizance
Date: May 9, 1856
These bail bonds for Marshal Coffman and Samuel A. Coffman, also signed by Perry Fleshman, were issued on May 9, 1856. The bonds order Marshal and Samuel to appear before the court of Calhoun County (now Jefferson and parts of Shawnee and Pottawatomie counties) during the next court term to testify about an assault on Samuel by an unnamed party. These documents may be related to the Kansas Territory vs. Samuel Coffman for failure to keep the peace (#444893) and the Kansas Territory vs. Orville Thompson for the murder of Austin Coffman (#445717).

Kansas Territory versus Samuel A. Coffman for failure to keep the peace
Date: May 1856
These legal documents relate to the case of the Kansas Territory vs. Samuel A. Coffman for failure to keep the peace. Coffman was accused of threatening to kill Orville (Orval) Thompson May 6, 1856 in Calhoun County, Kansas Territory. Coffman was arrested by Justice of the Peace Samuel S. Lockhart and released on bond May 10, 1856. Orville Thompson was accused of murdering Samuel A. Coffman's son Austin Coffman earlier that month (see item #445717).

Kansas Territory versus Vincent D. Cohee for larceny
Date: October 1856 - September 9, 1857
These legal documents relate to the case of the Kansas Territory vs. Vincent D. Cohee for larceny. Cohee was accused of stealing 30 bushels of corn from Michael Hummer on October 1, 1856 in Calhoun County (now Jackson and parts of Shawnee and Pottawatomie counties), Kansas Territory. He was indicted for larceny by the First Judicial District Court during the October term of 1856.

Kansas Territory versus Vincent D. Cohee for usurpation of office
Date: 1856 - 1857
These legal documents relate to the case of the Kansas Territory vs. Vincent D. Cohee for usurpation of office on April 1, 1856 in Calhoun County, Kansas Territory. Cohee was a member of the Free State party and served as an electoral judge for the free-soil Topeka government established in 1855. This government was not recognized by the proslavery government based in Lecompton or the federal government. Cohee was indicted during the April court term of 1856 by the First District Court in Lecompton.

Lecompton Constitution election returns
Date: 1857
Election returns from the first vote held on the Lecompton Constitution on December 21, 1857. Counties include Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Breckinridge (defunct), Brown, Calhoun (defunct), Coffey, Davis, Doniphan, Dorn (defunct), Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Lykins (defunct), Marshall, McGee (defunct), Nemaha, Riley, Shawnee, and Woodson. Free-state candidates for state office included George W. Smith for Governor, William Y. Roberts for Lieutenant Governor, Philip C. Schuyler for Secretary of State, Joel K. Goodin for Auditor, Andrew J. Mead for Treasurer, and Marcus J. Parrott for Congress. Pro-slavery candidates for state office included Frank J. Marshall for Governor, William G. Mathias for Lieutenant Governor, William T. Spicely for Secretary of State, Blake Little for Auditor, Thomas Cramer for Treasurer, and Joseph P. Carr for Congress. Candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives are also listed, as well as a deciding vote to allow a constitution with slavery or "to hell with the Constitution" (without slavery).

MacLean & Lawrences Sectional Map of Kansas Territory
Date: 1857
Sectional map of Kansas Territory drafted by C. P. Wiggin and signed by L. A. MacLean, Chief Clerk of the Surveyor General's office in Lecompton, Kansas Territory. The map was published by MacLean & Lawrence and printed by William Schuchman & Bro. in Philadelphia. This map is provided through a co-operative project between the Lecompton Historical Society and the Kansas Historical Society. Partial funding was provided by the Ross and Margaret Wulfkuhle Charitable Trust and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area. Copies of this map are available for viewing at both the Kansas Historical Society and Lecompton Historical Society.

Sectional Map of the Territory of Kansas
Creator: Halsall, John
Date: 1857
A sectional map of Kansas Territory compiled from field notes in the Surveyor General's Office. County boundaries, cities, rivers, and Indian reservations are identified on the map. This map is provided through a co-operative project between the Lecompton Historical Society and the Kansas Historical Society. Partial funding was provided by the Ross and Margaret Wulfkuhle Charitable Trust and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area. Copies of this map are available for viewing at both the Kansas Historical Society and Lecompton Historical Society.

Territorial Census, 1855, District 13
Creator: Jolly, H. B.
Date: January-February, 1855
This census was taken in order to determine eligible voters for elections to be held as proclaimed by Governor Andrew Reeder on November 10, 1854. The categories for information in the census were name, occupation, age, gener, emigrated from, native of United States, naturalized citizen, declarant (intention to become a citizen), Negro, slave, and voter. Only white males over twenty-one were eligible to vote. The districts used for the census were the same as the election districts. A statistical summary of the census followed the enumeration pages. For District 13, the place of election was the house of G. M. Dyer, at the town of Ozawkie. The boundaries of each district were described in Governor Reeder's proclamation, and it is difficult to determine what counties were in each district. The description of District 13 follows: "Commencing in the Kansas River, three miles above the mouth of Stranger Creek; thence in a northwardly direction by a line three miles west of said creek, and corresponding to the courses thereof until it shall strike the southern line of the last Kickapoo reservation; thence along the southern and western line of said reservation, and the western line of the late Sac and Fox reservation to the north line of the Territory; thence west along said line to the line of the Twelfth District; thence by the same and down Soldier's Creek to the mouth thereof, and down the Kansas River to the place of beginning." Districts 13 and 15 are included in one volume [and are scanned as one as it is difficult to determine which entries are in what district].

William T. Sherman and Thomas Ewing to Calhoun County tax collector
Creator: Sherman & Ewing
Date: December 15, 1858
The Leavenworth, Kansas law partners, William Tecumseh Sherman and Thomas Ewing, Jr., addressed request for "the amount of taxes assessed" for its list of real estate properties to the tax collector at Calhoun in Calhoun County, Kansas. The property holdings of Thomas Ewing, Sr. (Lancaster, Ohio), and of Thomas Ewing, Jr. and Hugh Ewing (both of Leavenworth, Kansas), were listed.