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 Rock Creek Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 11, 1880
This excerpt of a census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of settlers in Rock Creek 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.

A census of residents on Big Sugar Creek, Kansas Territory
Creator: Hyatt, Thaddeus
Date: 1857
This account identifies the names and origins of both free-state and pro-slavery settlers who lived on Big Sugar Creek, Kansas Territory. The account, presumably collected by Thaddeus Hyatt or some other member of the National Kansas Committee, begins with a brief description of the area, and mentions particular cases of settlers who had noteworthy experiences. Of the 25 pro-slavery residents identified, only two owned slaves.

Action of Other Cities on the 'Exodus' Question
Creator: Wyandotte Gazette
Date: April 25, 1879
This article includes information about Exoduster relief efforts in both Topeka and Lawrence. In Topeka, the Kansas Freedmen's Aid Association had appealed to other counties, asking them to form local aid societies to assist refugees in their respective areas. Lawrence citizens held a meeting in Fraser Hall to discuss the Exodus; the attendees recognized the legitimacy of the Exodus and were willing to provide aid and support for the emigrants.

A. Curtis to William Hutchinson
Creator: Curtis, A.
Date: December 21, 1856
Curtis reports on the conflict between the Kansas Central Committee and W. F. M. Arny, general agent for the National Kansas Committee, over the distribution of supplies. Curtis claims that Arny issued supplies to individuals who were engaged in speculative ventures and who were not in need of relief. Curtis attaches an itemized list of the supplies that he believes were inappropriately issued by Arny.

A. Finch to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Finch, H.
Date: December 22, 1856
This letter, written from Osawatomie by A. Finch to Thaddeus Hyatt, chairman of the National Kansas Committee, provided general information about the inhabitants of Osawatomie and neighboring areas. It included a list of about half of the settlers residing in Osawatomie at this time, including the four pro-slavery voters. Mr. Finch went into detail about the most fertile areas that would be excellent sites for free state settlements, and about the economic conditions and financial needs of the settlers.

Albert D. Searl to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Searle, Albert D., 1831-
Date: August 21, 1856
The author wrote from Tabor, Iowa to Thaddeus Hyatt, president of the National Kansas Committee. He began the letter by mentioning a skirmish between pro-slavery and free state forces somewhere between Lawrence and Topeka. This correspondence also deals with emigrant settlements within the territory, the shipment of weapons and provisions, and the morale among the emigrants as they struggled to make ends meet. Furthermore, Searl mentioned a great deal about James Lane and his activities within Kansas Territory.

Alfred Larzelere
Date: 1854-1860
Alfred Larzelere of Doniphan County was active in free state politics. He served as speaker of the Kansas House in 1859 and as a delegate to the Leavenworth constitutional convention. He was also a member of the Free State Central committee.

Amos Adams Lawrence to John Brown
Creator: Lawrence, Amos Adams
Date: February 19, 1857
Amos Lawrence, Boston, sent John Brown $70 which had been donated by the people of East Jaffrey, New Hampshire, for Brown's "own personal use, & not for the cause in any other way than that. Lawrence did not believe Brown would receive much financial support from the National Kansas Committee: "the old managers have not inspired confidence, & therefore money will be hard for them to get now & hereafter."

An appeal for help in behalf of the colored refugees in Kansas
Creator: Rust, Horatio Nelson, 1828-1906
Date: January 22, 1881
This flyer, distributed by the Southern Refugee Relief Association of Chicago, Illinois, describes the dire situation of the African-American refugees relocated in Kansas. The secretary of this association, Horatio N. Rust, had taken this opportunity to pass along information relayed to him by Elizabeth Comstock, an aid worker in Topeka. Comstock was thankful for the donations of food and other goods, but asked for more assistance in feeding, clothing, and sheltering these refugees. The flyer also includes short excerpts of letters by agents of the refugee association who had direct knowledge of the emigrants' situation.

An appeal from Kansas!
Creator: Parrott, Marcus J. (Marcus Junius), 1828-1879
Date: December 14, 1860
This circular describes the beginnings of the Territorial Executive Committee, which was in charge of collecting relief to aid the struggling settlers of Kansas Territory during the 1860 drought. This committee met in Lawrence, Kansas Territory, on November 14, 1860, and passed several resolutions. From one hundred and one delegates were present from twenty-four Kansas counties. Out of this number, four men, including Samuel Pomeroy, were elected officers. The circular concludes with "Suggestions and Directions to those who purpose Aiding us in our Distress."

Andrew Atchison to John P. St. John
Creator: Atchison, Andrew
Date: August 22, 1881
In this letter, Andrew Atchison updates Kansas governor St. John on the condition of the Exoduster settlement near Dunlap, Kansas. Benjamin Singleton had established this colony in May, 1878, and according to Atchison, the black refugees (numbering around 200 families) were thriving. Another goal of Atchison's letter was to investigate the "practicability" of establishing a Business and Literary Academy in addition to their free public school. Atchison and some other white residents of the area had formed the Dunlap Aid Association to assist the Exodusters' efforts to obtain land and employment.

An invitation to an address written by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Creator: Channing, William F.
Date: November 8, 1856
A printed invitation issued by William F. Channing in repsonse to an address delivered by Ralph Waldo Emerson on the topic of aid to the sufferers in Kansas. This address was given at the Tremont Temple in Boston, Massachusetts, and sponsored by the Young Men's Kansas Relief Society.

Appeal for support of Free Kansas
Creator: Kansas State Central Committee
Date: October 20, 1856
This handwritten "appeal" was sent to all those who had supported, or who might be inclined to support, the free state cause in Kansas Territory. The appeal assures them that the committee in Kansas had reached full accord with the National Kansas Committee and could be "relied upon" to distribute aid channeled through Chicago. "Our people are still in extreme want, and hundreds of families are entirely dependent upon your charities."

Articles of Corporation and By-Laws of the Kansas Freedmen's Relief Association
Creator: Kansas Freedmen's Relief Association (Topeka, Kan.)
Date: 1879
This pocket-sized booklet contains the articles of incorporation and by-laws of the Kansas Freedmen's Relief Association that assisted Southern blacks emigrating to Kansas influencing the Exoduster Movement of 1879. In addition, the booklet includes a listing of the Board of Directors and officers where Governor John P. St. John served as its president.

Augustus Wattles to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Wattles, Augustus, 1807-1876
Date: December 3, 1860
This letter, written from New York by Augustus Wattles, was addressed to Thaddeus Hyatt, president of the National Kansas Committee. The main focus of the letter was on two proslavery men--Captain Doake and General Clark--who persisted in mistreating free state settlers along the Missouri-Kansas border. The letter also referred to Charles Jennison and to James Montgomery, whose band of free state militiamen was still active even into 1860. Wattles vehemently maintained that free state forces were only organizing for their own protection, not for a great insurrection as the Missourians believed.

A. Venard to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Venard, A.
Date: October 3, 1860
This letter is from A. Venard, a medical doctor from Pleasant Grove, Kansas Territory, who wrote to Thaddeus Hyatt, president of the National Kansas Committee. The letter described the sickness and disease that plagued the settlers along the Verdigris River in southeast Kansas. Dr. Venard had worked diligently to aid the settlers, even using funds from his own pocket to purchase medicine, but he requested that the committee give him 100 dollars worth of drugs. Attached to this letter is an itemized list of the drugs he wished purchased with the requested funds.

Barstow Darrach to Samuel L. Adair
Creator: Darrach, Barstow
Date: November 27, 1856
Dr. Barstow Darrach had returned to New York Hospital after being in Kansas Territory. He wrote that he felt the prospects were not very favorable for Kansas Territory. He had found "some warm friends disposed to yield Kansas to the slave power rather than resort to a revolution," and he believed [President] Buchanan would only pretend to support freedom "until the south can make sure of their prize." Darrach felt it would take a large emigration of settlers to Kansas to make it a free state, and that free state settlers would be thwarted by the "bogus authority" and "another mob from Mo." should the Free State party appear at the polls. He stated that "the strongest argument [against success] that I see is that the people do not seem prepared." He wrote that he would ship clothing, flannel cloth, and blankets to Adair by way of W. F. M. Arny in Chicago.

Belgian Relief
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: 1915
This file includes general correspondence relating to Belgian Relief efforts during World War I. Topics included, but not limited to, in the correspondence is food services to Belgium, receipts for money received, and printed fliers to support the aid during Easter. This is part of a bigger collection of Governor Arthur Capper correspondence.

Billings & Bryant to John Brown, bill of sale for horse wagon
Creator: Billings & Bryant,
Date: Between 1855 and 1859
The state of Iowa frequently served as a relatively safe haven for abolitionist John Brown and his followers during the late 1850s, and Iowa City was on the famous Lane Trail which carried many free-state activists and settlers to and from Kansas. This document, from "Billings & Bryant," indicates that the partners had received $100 from John Brown as payment "in full for a heavy Horse Waggon" that they agreed "to ship immediately to J B Iowa City, Iowa; care of Dr. Jesse Bowen." Bowen was a member of the Kansas Central Committee of Iowa who later lived in Leavenworth, Kansas Territory.

Catalogue of . . . The Property of the Kansas Central Committee, Lawrence
Creator: Kansas State Central Committee
Date: n.d.
The complete title of this undated inventory is a "Catalogue of Horses, Waggons [sic], Harnesses, &, the property of the Kansas Central Committee, Lawrence. Twenty-eight different horses or "spans" of horses are identified (e.g., "One Sorrell Colt"), along with four mules and forty harnesses, and seventeen wagons.

Central County Kansas Committee to the People of the county of Onondaga, New York
Creator: Hebbard, Russell
Date: August 7, 1856
The inflamatory rhetoric of this printed circular provided an antislavery perspective of events in Kansas. It urged the residents of central New York to provide aid to Kansas settlers. It also described plans to encourage a "a large emigration into the territory" to aid free state supporters living there but to also increase the number of "legal voters" for the fall elections. The chairman of the Central County Kansas Committee was Russell Hebbard. The document listed the names of other officers and committee members.

Charles Blair to John Brown
Creator: Blair, Charles
Date: April 15, 1857
On April 15, 1857, Blair wrote Brown regarding the latter's report to him that the National Kansas Committee had turned down his request for funds to cover the first payment on the spears. Blair had stopped production, awaiting "further order from you," but said he was willing to make 500 instead of 1000 for the same rate.

Charles M. F. Striger to Governor John P. St. John
Creator: Striger, Charles M. F.
Date: May 18, 1879
In this letter Charles Striger, a radical Republican from Kentucky, expresses his concern for free blacks in the South. With rather forceful language he berates Southern Democrats for their harassment of blacks. He also asks Gov. St. John to convince the North that it is their duty to aid any refugees seeking solace from Southern white oppression.

Charles Robinson to Amos Adams Lawrence
Creator: Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894
Date: November 15, 1860
Transcription of a letter from the Amos Adams Lawrence Collection, Massachusetts Historical Society. Charles Robinson wrote from a town of Medford, presumably in New England, to Amos A. Lawrence in Boston regarding relief efforts for Kansas. Robinson discussed the formation of a committee at Lawrence, which would "ascertain the objects of charity & minister to their necessities." He also described other relief efforts being carried out at the local level, which Robinson believed to be more effective than using nonresident disbursing agents or traveling solicitors.