Appointments State geologist
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1863-1865 : Carney)
Date: 1864
This folder on Appointments State Geologist comes from the Correspondence series of the Governor Thomas Carney Papers. Thomas Carney was Kansas' second state Governor, serving from 1863 to 1865. He was born near Tipton, Delaware County, Ohio in 1824 and came to Kansas in search of better health care and new business opportunities. Thomas Carney and his business partner Thomas C. Stevens were the first to open a wholesale house in Leavenworth, Kansas. First is a letter from W. Foster requesting that his name be sent to the senate as state geologist. This record also contains several petitions recommending Professor W. Foster or B. F. Mudge as State Geologist. Additionally, there is a letter from Professor W. Foster withdrawing his name for State Geologist and encloses a petition for Professor Mudge, February 2nd, 1864 to be appointed this position.

Benjamin Franklin Mudge
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
Tintype portrait of Benjamin Franklin Mudge, 1817-1879, who was the first State Geologist of Kansas. In 1862, geologist Mudge was invited to deliver a series of lectures before the Kansas legislature. The body passed legislation to organize a state geological survey and decided to make Mudge the state geologist, "an honor," he said, "entirely unsought, yet thoroughly enjoyed." Mudge was elected professor of geology and associated sciences at the Kansas State Agricultural College. He published the first "Geology of Kansas," a 65-page report issued in 1866, and the first geological map of the state in 1875. Born in Maine in 1817, Mudge grew up in Massachusetts, attending academies there and graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1840. Mudge studied natural science and history, but also completed the classical course and studied law. He was admitted to the bar and embarked on a political and legal career, but Mudge always maintained his interest in geology and natural history. During the summer of 1861, in order to demonstrate his antislavery convictions, Mudge moved his family to Quindaro, Wyandotte County, Kansas, a bustling river town with a reputation as an important point on the Underground Railroad and as a stronghold of the free-state movement during the preceding years. After leaving the agricultural college in 1873, Mudge collected specimens for Yale University and was named geologist under the State Board of Agriculture. Mudge also was a founding member of the Kansas Natural History Society, which became the Kansas Academy of Science. Mudge, who gathered the nucleus of the college's mineral collection, was later remembered as a one of the foremost pioneer scientists of Kansas. A biographer said he was "outstanding not only as a great explorer and collector of geological and paleontological specimens," he was also "recognized as an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher and was highly esteemed by the people of the State."

Benjamin Franklin Mudge
Creator: DaLee, A.G.
Date: 1879
A carte de visite of Benjamin Franklin Mudge, 1817-1879, who was the first State Geologist of Kansas. Mudge was elected professor of geology and associated sciences at the Kansas State Agricultural College. He published the first "Geology of Kansas" a sixty-five page report issued in 1866, and the first geological map of the state in 1875. He was also a founding member of the Kansas Natural History Society which became the Kansas Academy of Science. Mudge, who gathered the nucleus of the college's mineral collection, was later remembered as one of the foremost pioneer scientists of Kansas.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, oil and gas
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to oil and gas. Topics in the correspondence cover but is not limited to the oil conservation committee, geological surveys and gas taxes. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Index to official state matters
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1865-1868 : Crawford)
Date: 1865-1868
This document, spanning 1865 to 1868, is from Kansas Governor Samuel Crawford. Crawford wrote an index for various state matters including the penitentiary, state capitol, geological surveys, militia, mining, and schools. There are page numbers and fund amounts next to the state matters. The years, 1865 to 1868, also match Crawford's term as governor.