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.

A census of residents on the Little Osage River, Kansas Territory
Date: 1857
This brief report describes the settlers along the Little Osage River, Kansas Territory, and notes that it is occupied mostly by proslavery settlers (there are only three or four free state residents identified). The report mentions Enoch Osbourne (presumably a free-state settler) who was driven from his land, and suggests that there is a need for free-state men to settle on this creek.

Adjutant General of Kansas to Governor Andrew Schoeppel
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Dept.
Date: Between 1943 and 1947
This memorandum, from the Adjutant General of Kansas to Governor Andrew Schoeppel, addresses the use of conscientious objectors on dairy farms. During World War II, thousands of men applied to the Selective Service as conscientious objectors to war based on their religious beliefs. Many, as this memo indicates, worked on farms during the war.

Andrew H. Reeder's instructions about his land claim in the Wyandotte Float
Creator: Reeder, Andrew H. (Andrew Horatio), 1807-1864
Date: [1857]
This document, obviously written by Andrew H. Reeder either to the surveyor or to Reeder's attorney, John A. Halderman, is undated but was most likely composed in 1857. It addresses issues related to the location of Reeder's claim to land in the Wyandotte Float in the Kansas Territory.

Articles wanted for an outfit of fifty volunteers
Date: ca. January 1857
Among the articles itemized in this "Memorandum of articles wanted as an outfit for fifty volunteers to serve under my [John Brown?] direction during the Kansas war" are wagons, horses, blankets, frying pans, etc., at an estimated cost of $1,774.

Citizens Alliance No. 41
Creator: Zercher, Daniel C.,
Date: 1890s
A People's Party Citizens Alliance publication enumerating their political platform, resolution and by-laws.

Distribution of land in New York Indians Reservation
Creator: Greenwood, A. B.
Date: June 9, 1860
This list documents the distribution of the New York Indian lands in Kansas Territory according to provisions of a treaty dated January 15, 1838. The list identified the names of New York Indians entitled to 320 acres within the territory's New York Reservation. It was submitted to the Secretary of the Interior on June 9, 1860, and approved on June 16, 1860.

Free State Plan of Action
Creator: Higginson, Thomas Wentworth
Date: November 5, 1856
This document lays out the plan of action proposed by Charles Robinson at a meeting of free state leaders in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 5, 1856. Most likely these notes from the meeting were written by Reverend Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a radical abolitionist from Massachusetts. Six resolutions were passed, some focusing on emigration and others on land sales or fundraising. The back of the document lists the names of those present at the meeting, including such influential figures as Senator Henry Wilson and Eli Thayer.

Hesston Corporation memo
Creator: Hesston Corporation
Date: January 29, 1982
This memo from the Hesston Corporation is printed for employees announcing a plant closure. This publication funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

James Hanway's account of the Pottawatomie Massacre
Creator: Hanway, James
Date: 1856
This is a five-page account of the May 24, 1856, killings on Pottawatomie Creek, apparently written by James Hanway shortly after the incident. Hanway identified the five pro-slavery victims by name and wrote: "The settlement is plunged into a perfect commotion. A meeting of the settlers was held on the 26th and they mutually agreed to protect each other from foreign or internal foes. All men of real good sense, condemned these midnight assassinations and also the killing of men who are attending to their concerns." This was a somewhat different perspective of the situation than expressed by Hanway in his 1860 letter to James Redpath. Nevertheless, Hanway wrote, the responsibility for "all such blood tragedies" lay with the pro-slavery men.

List of cases related to Indian depredation claims
Creator: Blackford, W.D.
Date: 1898
This item is a list of Indian depredation claims handled by H. W. Farnsworth of Topeka, Kansas, and attorney William D. Blackford of Washington D.C. The name of the claimant, as well as the dollar amount, is listed under the name of the offending party's tribe. The origin of the dollar amount is not clear.

List of individuals and clothing needed by them
Creator: Cutler, A.
Date: 1856
According to an attached note that cited the November 15, 1856, issue of the "Herald of Freedom," this "list of individuals and clothing" identifies supplies needed by a group of free-state prisoners being held at Lecompton, Kansas Territory. A note at the end is signed by A. Cutler (or Cutter) and addressed to Mr. J. Crocker. The list identifies shirts, shoes, socks, pants, hats, and blankets, but a Porterfield "needed" a "half pint brandy."

List of persons accompanying the second regular party sent by the N. E. A. Co. to Kansas Terr.
Date: March 20, 1855
This item lists of the names, residences, and former occupations of the members of the second party sent by the New England Emigrant Aid Company to Kansas Territory, under the charge of J. L. Farwell of Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

Maple Grove Cemetery of Wichita Memorandum
Creator: Maple Grove Cemetery (Sedgwick County, Kan.)
Date: 1899
This Maple Grove Cemetery Company form from February 20, 1899 is signed by Andrew Fabrique of Wichita. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Marmiton Creek census
Date: 1857
This document identifies the names and origins of the residents of Marmiton (Marmaton) Creek, which is a small branch of the Osage River near Fort Scott, Kansas. It lists the settlers who were free state or proslavery (or noncommittal) and the number of families who were in distress and needed relief aid. The first page lists the total number of settlers in each of the four categories (the proslavery residents outnumbered the free staters 47 to 33),and includes a brief description of the area and its prospects for development.

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.

Memoranda on the Populist War
Creator: Lewelling, Lorenzo Dow, 1846-1900
Date: February 17, 1893
This memorandum details the agreement between Populist governor Lorenzo Lewelling and the Republican (Douglass) House that ended the standoff known as the Legislative (or Populist) War of 1893. During this conflict, the Republican Party and the Populist Party both claimed to have a legal majority in the state House of Representatives, coming to blows over possession of Representative Hall in the statehouse. Among other things, this agreement dictated that "no arrests -- be made by either House," and that the militia be disbanded before more soldiers arrived in Topeka. Attached to the agreement is a statement by George Douglass, leader of the Republicans, stating that this memorandum was not intended to determine which house was legitimately elected. Both documents were signed by Governor Lewelling, Douglas, D. W. Eastman, and J. K. Cubbison. Also attached is a letter from Lewelling to George Martin, head of the Kansas State Historical Society; Lewelling wanted to ensure that a copy of the document would be preserved for posterity.

Memorandum, proceedings in grand jurors' room
Creator: Emery, James S., 1826-1899
Date: September 14, 1858
A memorandum showing the proceedings in the grand juror's room, September 14, 1858, from the James Stanley Emery collection. James Stanley Emery was born in Franklin County, Maine in 1826. Educated at Waterville College, he was admitted to the bar in New York in 1854. Involved with the New England Emigrant Aid Company, Emery came to Kansas with the second party of immigrants to ensure that it became an anti-slavery state when it entered the Union. He worked in numerous states for the cause through the following years. Emery was a member of the Leavenworth constitutional convention and served on the Kansas Legislature in 1862 and 1863. He was a lawyer and also worked as a journalist for the New York Daily Times. President Abraham Lincoln appointed Emery U.S. District Attorney for Kansas in 1864. In 1891 he was president of the Kansas State Historical Society. Emery died in Lawrence in 1899.

National Kansas Committee Resolutions
Creator: National Kansas Committee
Date: January 24, 1857
"At a meeting of the National Kansas Committee held at the Astor House in the City of New York," January 1, 1857, it was resolved that $5,000 should be committed to John Brown for "any defensive measures that may become necessary." The committee also authorized a set amount of "arms & supplies."

New England Emigrant Aid Company Texan Committee, Report
Creator: New England Emigrant Aid Company. Texan Committee
Date: March 8, 1860
Samuel Cabot submitted a report of the Texan Committee to the New England Emigrant Aid Company Executive Committee. The committee recommended that the Company take action to settle portions of Texas northwest of San Antonio with antislavery advocates as part of the effort to halt the westward advance of slavery. Cabot expressed the committee's view that the only peaceful solution to the slavery issue required demonstrating to slaveholders the superiority of free labor over slave labor; the committee believed West Texas a logical place for this demonstration to occur.

Receipt and memorandum concerning weapons and ammunition
Creator: Miller, Joseph C.
Date: September 27, 1856
This receipt, which provides a detailed listing of revolvers, knives, cartridges, and other weapons and ammunition, declared that these weapons were "received of Chas. Robinson." The following page is a memorandum by Preston Plumb, who writes that he received the weapons and ammunition listed on the receipt in Iowa City, Iowa "on or about the 4th of September 1856." The weapons were to be delivered to J. M. Winchell in Kansas but were to be used for the "defense of Kanzas." Several hundred weapons were involved.

Reception of John Brown & party at Grinnell, Iowa
Date: February 26, 1859
John Brown wrote these notes on the generous "Reception of Brown & Party at Grinnell, Iowa," where they were "kept for two days free of cost," re-supplied, and provided with significant cash for there journey north. Brown also mentioned friends at Tabor and "our reception among the Quaker Friends" at Sprindale, Iowa, on February 26.

Relief aid receipt, Lawrence, Kansas Territory
Creator: Ketcham, Justus G.
Date: November 12, 1856
Itemized list of clothing, food, and other provisions issued by the Kansas Central Committee to Dr. Samuel E. Martin for distribution "in Topeka and vicinity among the destitute."

Resolution of the Boston Preacher's Meeting
Date: July 20, 1857
This resolution, "unanimously adopted" by the members of the Boston Preacher's Meeting, approved the establishment of Blue Mont Central College near Manhattan, Kansas Territory, by Reverend Joseph Denison, an "old friend" of the Boston Preachers. Denison had emigrated to K.T. following Isaac Goodnow, and was working with him to obtain support for the college.

Resolution of the Kansas and Nebraska Annual Conference
Date: April 16, 1859
This copy of a resolution, drafted by the Kansas and Nebraska Annual Conference of Omaha City, Nebraska Territory, resolved to approve the efforts of the Trustees of Bluemont Cental College in Manhattan, Kansas Territory, to "erect a noble college edifice" and to support Isaac Goodnow's continuation as Agent.