Albert G. Boone to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Boone, Albert G.
Date: January 16, 1860
Albert G. Boone, writing from Westport, Missouri, to Thomas N. Stinson, described his unsuccessful efforts to sell a printing press for Stinson. Boone suggested that Stinson contact "Free Statemen" with whom he was on good terms to see if they could help him sell it. Boone added a postscript to the letter asking about the prospects of a treaty with the Pottawatomie.

Edward Hoogland to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Hoogland, Edward
Date: January 21, 1857
Edward Hoogland, writing from Dundee, Yates County, New York, expressed his views on how to turn Tecumseh, Kansas Territory into a "flourishing" town. He suggested to Thomas N. Stinson, a Tecumseh resident that the town, if properly advertised, would be attractive to settlers not comfortable residing in free state towns like Topeka or Lawrence.

Edward Hoogland to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Hoogland, Edward
Date: November 16, 1859
Edward Hoogland, writing from Tecumseh, Kansas Territory to Thomas N. Stinson, expressed his views on the prospects of completing a bridge over the Kansas River at Tecumseh. Hoogland and Stinson had been involved in an unsuccessful venture to finance and build a bridge at Tecumseh since 1857. Hoogland also proposed to Stinson a settlement of a debt that he owed to him for the acquisition of land.

Edward Hoogland to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Hoogland, Edward
Date: July 6, 1856
Edward Hoogland, a resident of Tecumseh, KT who was visiting his family in New York, described a meeting with Governor Wilson Shannon in St. Louis concerning territorial politics. Hoogland displayed a pro-slavery perspective in his comments on Kansas affairs. He described efforts to encourage settlement in Kansas Territory, especially Tecumseh, and to promote economic development in the territory. He mentioned an acquaintance who hoped to establish a sawmill and a gristmill in the territory.

Hiram Jackson Stickler to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Strickler, Hiram Jackson
Date: February 12, 1857
Hiram Jackson Strickler, writing from Lecompton, Kansas Territory to Thomas N. Stinson of Tecumseh, Kansas Territory, described his attempts as a Territorial Council member to advocate on behalf of Tecumseh. He commented upon an unsuccessful effort to have the penitentiary located at Tecumseh. He also mentioned his opposition to issuing bank charters due to his concerns that the banks would issue "wild cat shin plasters" (devalued paper money).

Hiram Jackson Strickler to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Strickler, Hiram Jackson
Date: September 2, 1856
Hiram Jackson Strickler, adjutant general of Kansas Territory, writing from Lecompton, Kansas Territory, briefly described for Thomas N. Stinson the Battle of Osawatomie that took place on August 30, 1856. In the battle, pro-slavery forces led by John W. Reed defeated free state forces led by John Brown. Brown's son Frederick was killed in the engagement. Strickler's comments indicated that he held a pro-slavery perspective.

James M. Hunter to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Hunter, James M.
Date: December 5, 1854
James M. Hunter, writing from Westport, Missouri, informed Thomas N. Stinson about a joint land speculation deal involving lots in Tecumseh, KT. Hunter alluded to Governor Andrew Reeder's involvement in the speculative venture.

Jonathan Crews to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Crews, Jonathan
Date: November 21, 1856
Jonathan Crews, writing from LaPorte, Indiana, expressed strong proslavery views on the situation in Kansas. Crews described his trip home to Indiana from Kansas and discussed several Indiana court cases involving his business interests.

Julia Ann Stinson correspondence
Creator: Stinson, Julia Ann Beauchemin, 1834-1925
Date: 1895-1914
Statements and recollections of Julia Ann Stinson, wife of Thomas Nesbit Stinson. Julia was born in 1834 at the Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission where she was raised and educated. It was there that she met Thomas Stinson and married him in 1850. A photograph taken on her wedding day is believed to be the first photographic portrait taken west of the Missouri River. Her husband was adopted into the tribe and the couple received a land grant of about 800 acres from a treaty between the U.S. government and the Shawnee Indians. The Stinson's made their home on the land they acquired through the Shawnee settlement. Julia Stinson claimed a relationship to the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh. Shawnee Indians supposedly kidnapped her grandfather who married a cousin of Tecumseh. This is how the future town earned its name. The couple built a home there, established a profitable trading post and ran a post office. Included in these documents are reminiscences of encounters with Andrew Reeder, Chief Abram Burnett, and John C. Fremont.

Ke Kahn [Joseph Napolean Bourassa] to Ne Kahn [Thomas Nesbit Stinson]
Creator: Bourassa, Joseph Napolean, 1810-1878
Date: September 6, 1856
Joseph N. Bourassa, a Pottawatomie Indian who signed this letter with his Indian name of Ke Kahn, wrote to Thomas N. Stinson, a Tecumseh resident and Indian trader who had been adopted by the Shawnee tribe and given the Indian name of Ne Kahn. Bourassa, an interpreter for the Pottawatomie Agency, described difficulties in finding laborers to cut the hay that he had promised to provide to Stinson.

Ke Kahn [Joseph Napolean Bourassa] to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Bourassa, Joseph Napolean, 1810-1878
Date: December 29, 1856
Joseph N. Bourassa, a Pottawatomie Indian who signed this letter with his Indian name of Ke Kahn, wrote to Thomas N. Stinson, a Tecumseh resident and Indian trader. Bourassa, writing from Council Grove, Kansas Territory, described his efforts to recruit musicians and dancers for a New Year's Eve ball.

R. Brackenridge, Jr. to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Brackenridge, R.
Date: February 16, 1860
R. Brackenridge, writing from Washington D.C. to Thomas N. Stinson, a resident of Tecumseh, Kansas Territory, commented on the possibility of a treaty with the Pottawatomie Indians who were living in Kansas. Brackenridge expressed negative views about the activities of Anthony Navarre, a Native American who had a following among the Pottawatomie and who opposed a treaty with the U.S. government. The U.S. signed a treaty with the Pottawatomie Indians in November 1861.

Steamboat Lebanon, bill of lading
Creator: Smith & Haneley
Date: June 23, 1857
Bill of lading listing several items of furniture to be shipped by Smith & Haneley via the steamboat Lebanon from Cincinnati, Ohio to J. Cook & Co. in Tecumseh, Kansas Territory.

T. H. Ellis to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Ellis, T. H.
Date: April 23, 1856
T. H. Ellis reported that he left three plows at Thomas N. Stinson's home and requested that Stinson attempt to sell the plows at prices designated in the letter. Ellis told Stinson that he would receive a commission on the sales.

Thomas Nesbit Stinson and Edward Hoogland, tenant agreement
Creator: Stinson, Thomas N. (Thomas Nesbit), 1818-1882
Date: March 17, 1856
Agreement in which Thomas N. Stinson agreed to rent twenty acres of land to Edward Hoogland in exchange for one-third of the crops produced on the land.

William Clark and E. Updegraff
Creator: Clark, William
Date: December 18, 1856
Under the terms of the promissory note, William Clark and E. Updegraff agreed to pay a $10.50 fine to Shawnee County imposed on them for card playing.

William Donaldson to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Donaldson, William
Date: April 4, 1856
William Donaldson, writing from the Shawnee Indian Reserve in Johnson County, Kansas Territory, informed Thomas N. Stinson that an Indian agent, William Gay, was taking a census of the Shawnee Indians in Kansas. He indicated that the census would be used to determine government payments made to Shawnees. Donaldson reported that a number of adopted Shawnee tribe members who had been receiving government payments had been struck from the payrolls. Stinson, whose wife was Shawnee, had been adopted by the tribe and apparently was receiving government payments. Donaldson reported that Stinson's name had not yet been removed from the payroll.