Abstract of census returns
Creator: Undersigned Citizens of Kansas Territory, John Stroup (first signature),
Date: 1859
This 1859 abstract of census returns shows information at the township level for most Kansas counties. Some counties are listed without data. The census lists the number of voters in three different ways--the number of votes cast June 7, 1859; number of voters on June 7, 1859 who were under 6 month provision; and number of voters under 3 month provision. It also lists the number of inhabitants. The election on June 7, 1859, was to elect delegates to the Wyandotte constitutional convention.

Alexander C. Spilman to Samuel N. Wood
Creator: Spillman, A. C.
Date: January 14, 1861
From Salina, Alexander Carraway Spilman wrote "as one of your [Wood's] constituents" regarding his opposition to a Junction City proposal that to change the boundary line between Dickinson and Davis counties to increase the size of the former at the expense of the latter. Spilman believed "A change in the lines of Dickinson would necessarily involve a change in the lines of Saline which is something that must not be done under any circumstances."

Eighth biennial report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1891-1892
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: 1893
This biennial report from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture contains two parts and the page numbering starts over at the beginning of Part II. The volume contains a section on each county, providing summary information about the history of the county, a description of the landscape, crops, livestock, schools, and churches. A large number of tables with statistics about Kansas residents and crop yields, broken down by county, are also included. Other chapters are devoted to interesting subjects such as apiculture, artificial forests, loco weeds, and chinch bugs.

Findley Patterson to John A. Halderman
Creator: Patterson, Findlay
Date: April 4, 1860
Findley Patterson, the land office receiver at Junction City, Kansas Territory from May, 1858, to April, 1861, writes John Halderman with regard to problems within the Kansas Democratic Party. Recent differences between members over participation in the party's national convention at Charleston, South Carolina, had been aired in the press, and Patterson thinks this is unfortunate since "the future prosperity of our country depends upon the success of that party. Democrats should, he contends, not let relatively small policy issues overshadow the fundamental principles they share. Patterson pledges his support for the nominee of the convention, whomever it was, but favors "Judge Douglass [Stephen Douglas] . . .as we have been intimate personal, as well as political friends for several years."

Handbook of Pottawatomie and Riley Counties, Kansas
Date: Between 1880 and 1889
This handbook was published by the Modern Argo, Kansas City, for potential immigrants to Pottawatomie and Riley counties in Kansas. A short description of Davis County is also included. This pamphlet encouraged agricultural settlement by extolling the virtues of this 'beautiful Kansas (river) valley'. Crops grown in the area included corn, wheat, oats, and rye. A number of stock farms, such as Juniatta Stock Farm and Woodside Stock Farm, are described in the booklet. The booklet contains information about dairying operations and orchards. There are descriptions of the towns of Manhattan (including the State Agricultural College), Wamego, Louisville, Westmoreland, Milford, and Belvue. Some illustrations of farms and businesses are also included.

J. B. Woodward to Samuel N. Wood
Creator: Woodward, J. B.
Date: December 2, 1860
From Junction City, Kansas Territory, J. B. Woodward informs Samuel Wood that Woodward was "elated with the idea" that Wood might move his newspaper to Junction City, and promises to do all he could to support the paper if the relocation came about. According to Woodward, his town needs "a Press just as rabid and saucy as yours" that could effectively counter opposition. Reference is made to a "Geery," apparently H. T. Geery, who switched to the Democratic Party and started a Junction City newspaper.

John N. Dyer to Andrew H. Reeder
Creator: Dyer, John N.
Date: November 7, 1854
John N. Dyer of Pawnee, Kansas Territory, writes Governor Reeder to say that the Pawnee Town Association, which had been formed in November, 1854, and of which Dyer was secretary, had voted to admit the governor "as a member with equal rights, and responsibilities, as the original members." The letter, written on the 7th, describes a meeting on the 6th of November; perhaps the association's first meeting, since they reportedly organized sometime in November.

Journal of the Council of the Territory of Kansas, 1855
Date: July 2 through August 30, 1855
This document identified the actions of the First Territorial Council (Senate), which first met at the town of Pawnee near Fort Riley on Monday July 2, 1855. On July 6, 1855, the House of Representatives approved a resolution sent to them by the Council that moved the meeting of the Legislature to the Shawnee Manual Labor School beginning July 16, 1855. This session of the Council concluded this first session on August 30, 1855. Included in the volume were various messages from the Governor and Acting Governor. The appendix contained reports of various committees--judiciary, special committee on exempting slaves from execution, bounds of counties and districts, elections, convention, public printing. The appendix also had the "opinion of the Supreme Court in regard to the legality of the present session" by Samuel Lecompte and Rush Elmore, a memorial from the legislature of Kansas to the President of the United States requesting the removal of Andrew Reeder, and the Rules and Orders under which the House of Representatives conducted business. The last fifty-two pages were an index to the volume. The members of the Council were: Thomas Johnson and Edward Chapman, 1st Council District; A. M. Coffey and David Lykins, 4th Council District; William Barbee, 5th Council District; John W. Forman, 7th district; William P. Richardson, 8th district; D. A. N. Grover, 9th district; L. J. Eastin and Richard R. Rees, 10th district. The elections in the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th Council Districts were disputed, but Andrew Macdonald, 2nd Council district, H. J. Strickler, 3rd district; and John Donaldson, 6th district, were sworn in as members of the Council. John A. Haldeman served as the Chief Clerk.

Journal of the House of Representatives of the Territory of Kansas
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: July 2 through August 30, 1855
This printed document reported upon the actions of the First Territorial House of Representatives when it first met at the town of Pawnee near Fort Riley on Monday, July 2, 1855. On July 6, 1855, the House of Representatives approved a resolution sent to them by the Council (Senate) that moved the meeting of the Legislature to Shawnee Manual Labor School beginning July 16, 1855. This first session of the House of Representatives concluded on August 30, 1855. Included in the volume were various messages from the Governor and Acting Governor. The appendix contained reports of various committees--judiciary, a special committee on exempting slaves from execution, bounds of counties and districts, elections, convention, and public printing. The appendix also included the "opinion of the Supreme Court in regard to the legality of the present session" by Samuel Lecompte and Rush Elmore, a memorial from the legislature of Kansas to the President of the United States requesting the removal of Andrew Reeder, and the Rules and Orders under which the House of Representatives conducted business. The last 31 pages are an index to the volume.

Kansas State Militia miscellaneous papers by county
Date: 1861-1865
These papers are primarily made up of signed military oaths and muster rolls, arranged alphabetically by county. They chronicle the organization of small, township militias across the state, including the Humboldt Rangers, Little Osage Cavalry, Huron Home Guards, Barnesville Home Guards, Padonia Frontier Guards, LeRoy Scouts, Greenwood Township Rifle Company, Circleville Riflemen, Bainter Rangers of Jefferson County, Twin Springs Union Guards, Cavalry Company at Neosho Falls, among many others. Also included is correspondence between the citizens volunteering for the Kansas State Militia and government officials, including Adjutant General Guilford Dudley, Adjutant General Cyrus K. Holliday, Governor Charles L. Robinson, and Governor Thomas Carney.

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.

Map of the great wheat region of central Kansas
Creator: Kansas Pacific Railway Company
Date: July 1877
This large pamphlet has a full page map of central Kansas with Kansas Pacific Railway lands shown on one side. The reverse side contains numerous reasons to settle in The Great Wheat Region and purchase land from the Kansas Pacific Railway. There are charts showing rainfall amounts, population, elevations and the amount of various crops produced for eighteen counties in Kansas.

Memoranda of Stock in Towns
Creator: Reeder, Andrew H. (Andrew Horatio), 1807-1864
Date: [1855]
This document was an undated "Mem. Of Stock in Towns," which appeared to have been written in longhand by Reeder himself and included the number of shares he had purchased (and how they were acquired) in fifteen different towns: Leavenworth, Pawnee, Tecumseh, Marysville, Lecompton, Montgomery (Dickinson Co.), Reeder (Dickinson Co.), Richmond, Whitfield (Shawnee Co.), Topeka, Douglas, Omaha City, Chetolah (Davis/Geary Co.), Grasshopper Falls, and Easton. Interestingly, he held thirty-four shares in Pawnee, his most famous (or infamous) investment venture, but he had thirty-six shares in Montgomery, twenty in Douglas and there appears to be a good number in Omaha City.

Mitchell's Sectional Map of Kansas
Creator: Middleton, Strobridge & Co.
Date: 1859
A sectional map of eastern portions of Kansas Territory. The map was compiled from the field notes in the Surveyor Generals Office by David T. Mitchell, a U. S. Surveyor and Land Agent in Lecompton, Kansas. Towns, county boundaries, 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.

Neosho Valley lands via Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway
Creator: Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company
Date: April 1, 1874
This is a brochure advertising one million acres of land for sale by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway. The land is primarily in the beautiful Neosho Valley of Kansas. One side of the brochure depicts seven scenes of a story involving a father and his two sons, John and William. William stays in Indiana to rent land while John travels to Kansas via the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway to buy 160 beautiful acres of land in the Neosho Valley. On the reverse side is a list of approximately twenty land agents in Kansas who will help you with your purchase. There are special rates of fare for emigrants and land hunters. "Go West, Go West, Young Man".

Official State Atlas of Kansas
Creator: Everts, L.H. & Co., Philadelphia, PA
Date: 1887
Town maps taken from the Official Atlas of Kansas, published in 1887. These individual maps were cut out of the atlas and each was labeled "Everts, 1886". Not every town found in the original atlas is represented here. Towns are arranged alphabetically.

Pawnee Association Town share certificate
Creator: Pawnee Town Association
Date: July 21, 1855
The Pawnee Association issued this certificate for "one share of the town property" to Thomas Sherwood, a business associate of Kansas Territory governor Andrew Reeder. Sherwood was involved in many of Reeder's land and town share transactions. This printed certificate is more elaborate than the ones issued earlier in the year.

Pawnee Association, town share certificate
Creator: Pawnee Town Association
Date: December 20, 1854
This printed certificate for "one share" in the Pawnee Association is made out to Thomas Sherwood and signed by W. R. Montgomery, president, and William A. Hammond, secretary. William R. Montgomery was a colonel in the U.S. Army in command at Fort Riley, Kansas Territory, at the time; Hammond was the post surgeon.

Pawnee, Kansas Territority
Date: March 12, 1855
This black and white photograph shows a broadside advertising the public sale of lots in the territory town of Pawnee, Kansas. Pawnee, adjacent to Fort Riley, Davis County (later Geary County), was a town organized during the territorial period. It served at the territorial capitol for only four days in 1855. During the summer of 1855, members of the Kansas territorial legislature journeyed to the town of Pawnee to attend the first session on July 2 called by Governor Andrew H. Reeder. When they arrived, however, they were dismayed to find that the stone structure that was to serve as the first territorial capitol was far from ready. On July 4 the legislature passed a bill providing for the temporary establishment of the capital at the Shawnee Methodist Mission. Two days later the governor vetoed it on the grounds that the legislature had overstepped the authority conferred upon it by Congress. Both houses, however, promptly passed the bill over his veto and then adjourned to meet at Shawnee Mission on July 16.

Reports of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: Bulk 1872-1984
These reports by the State Board of Agriculture include the proceedings of the board, reports for the previous year, maps of counties, abstracts of counties, miscellaneous articles, and reports of agricultural societies, the state fair, state and county statistics, agricultural industries and products, the agricultural college, and the Kansas Academy of Science. The annual reports began in 1872 and were succeeded by biennial reports beginning in 1877-78. Volume numbers were discontinued with the 1953-1956 report; the last being volume 44. From 1953 to 1976 the reports drop "biennial" from the title. Annual reports begin again from 1976 to 1984, except 1982-1983 which is biennial. The dates for each report reflects the reporting year and not the publication date, which was usually a year later. The title of each report reflects the form given on the title page. Only volumes 1 (1872), 2 (1873), 3 (1874), 4 (1875), the centennial edition (1875), 5 (1876), 6 (1877-1878), 7 (1879-1880), 10 (1885-1886), 11 (1887-1888), 13 (1891-1892), and 14 (1893-1894) are currently available.

Riley City Town Share certificate
Creator: Riley City Town Company
Date: February 19, 1856
These two typical printed town share certificates (No. 4 and No. 5)each document that "Dr. Chas Robinson" had "one share of six lots in the City of Riley, Kansas Territory." It is signed by John Westover and Robert Klotz at Riley City, Kansas Territory, on February 19, 1856.

Second biennial report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1879-80
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: 1881
This biennial report from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture includes information on livestock and other agricultural topics. Also covered are county statistics for population, acreages, assessed valuation of property, and a listing of churches for each county. Maps of each county show railroads, waterways, post offices, and school houses.

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.

Seventh biennial report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1889-1890
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: 1891
This biennial report from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture contains two parts and the page numbering starts over at the beginning of Part II. The volume contains a section on each county, providing summary information about the history of the county, a description of the landscape, crops, livestock, schools, and churches. A large number of tables with statistics about Kansas residents and crop yields, broken down by county, are also included. Other chapters are devoted to interesting subjects such as apiculture, artificial forests, loco weeds, and chinch bugs. Proceedings and other activities of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture are in Part II.