Alva Wycoff at the Logan County sheriff's office, Logan County, Kansas
Date: 1916
Alva Wycoff, born 1881 in Indiana, sits in the Logan County, Kansas sheriff's office in the county courthouse.

Center-fire revolver
Creator: Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company
Date: 1884
Colt Single Action nickel-plated Army Revolver with ivory handle. 45 caliber. Ornately engraved throughout. Presented to Patrick F. Sughrue by the citizens of Dodge City on December 18, 1884. Sughrue served as Constable of Dodge City from 1877 to 1879 and then as Sherriff of Ford County from 1884 to 1888. Sughrue gave the pistol to his son in 1904 after his son suffered a severe injury. His son later had the pistol engraved to commemorate its initial presentation to his father.

Chalkey McCarty Beeson
Date: Between 1895 and 1900
A photograph showing Chalkey McCarty Beeson seated on his horse. He came to Dodge City from Colorado in 1875. During his life, he owned the Long Branch Saloon and a cattle ranch, organized the Cowboy Band, served as sheriff and was a state legislator representing District 101 Dodge City and Ford County for the sessions 1903, SS1903, 1905, 1907, SS1908.

Charles F. Morse to Governor George T. Anthony
Creator: Morse, Charles F. (Charles Fessenden), 1839-1926
Date: May 21, 1878
Charles Fessenden Morse, general superintendent of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail Road Company (AT&SF) of Topeka, Kansas, writes to Governor George Tobey Anthony, also of Topeka, concerning a strike of railroad employees occurring in the company's Eastern Division. The report describes the activities of the striking engineers and firemen and Morse's response during a five day period from April 3 through April 8, 1878. Organized strikes occurred on several AT&SF lines in Kansas east of Newton. Morse primarily discusses the actions of striking workers at Emporia and Topeka. The report further discusses the inadequate response by local law enforcement and the eventual use of the State Militia to restore law and order. This strike followed the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 which began in West Virginia but spread quickly across the country.

Chauncey Belden Whitney
Date: Between 1868 and 1873
A portrait of Chauncey Belden Whitney, an early Ellsworth County settler and law enforcement officer. He served as Ellsworth County Sheriff 1871-1873; Under Sheriff, 1870; Ellsworth Township Constable, 1867-1873; and Ellsworth Marshall 1871-1872. On August 15, 1873, Whitney was killed in the line of duty by Bill Thompson. In addition to his law enforcement duties, Chauncey Whitney served as a civilian scout during the Indian Wars and was involved in the Battle of Beecher's Island. In July, 1869, he was a first lieutenant of Company A, Second battalion, Kansas State Militia, and provided settlers' protection against hostile Indians.

County officials on courthouse steps in Alma, Kansas
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
Photograph of county officials standing on the courthouse steps in Alma, Kansas. Herman J. Palenske, second from left in the front row, served as Wabaunsee County Sheriff from 1890-1894. Willis G. Weaver, clerk of the District Court of Wabaunsee County, Jerry B. Fields, treasurer of Wabaunsee County, and Theodore S. Spielman, probate judge of Wabaunsee County, are also present in the photograph.

Elect Vern Miller, Democrat sheriff
Date: June 17, 1962
A political advertisement for Vern Miller, who was the Democratic candidate for Sedgwick County Sheriff, Wichita, Kansas.

G. B. Woodford to Governor John Martin
Creator: Woodward, C.B.
Date: April 1, 1886
In this letter, the local authorities of Labette County, Kansas, plead with Kansas governor John Martin for militia support to preserve order in Parsons during the railroad strike of 1886. In February 1885, railroad shop workers walked off the job because of a cut in pay and reduced hours of work. Governor Martin was able to negotiate a settlement to the strike but problems continued throughout Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, County Sherriff
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929
This file includes subject correspondence relating to the County Sherriff's Office which is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, County Sherriff
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1930
This file includes subject correspondence relating to the County Sherriff's Office which is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, Sheriff appointments
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to the appointment of Sheriffs in Kansas counties. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

How will you vote
Creator: The Christian Citizens' League of Topeka
Date: 1897
A leaflet distributed by The Christian Citizens' League of Topeka, asking the public who will they vote for in the election for Sheriff of Shawnee County. The two candidates being the incumbent, R.B. Kepley, and the other, Porter S. Cook, who the League endorses. At the bottom of the leaflet is a letter from Porter Cook, telling why he should be elected Sheriff.

Hugh A. Cook
Date: Between 1856 and 1860
A cased daguerreotype of Hugh A. Cook, 1827 -1901, sheriff of Franklin County, Kansas.

Hugh A. Cook
Date: Between 1870 and 1889
Portrait of Hugh A. Cook, second Sheriff of Franklin County, Kansas.

Hugh A. Cook
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
Mounted tintype portrait of Hugh A. Cook taken during the Civil War. He was the second Sheriff of Franklin County, Kansas.

Hugh A. Cook with his wife and children
Creator: Lamon, W. H.
Date: 1866
Portrait of Mr. & Mrs. Hugh A. Cook with three children and their dog. Cook was the second Sheriff of Franklin County, Kansas. Photo taken by W. H. Lamon of Lawrence, Kansas.

Hugh A. Cook with his wife and children
Creator: Lamon, W. H.
Date: 1865
Portrait of Mr. & Mrs. Hugh A. Cook and their three eldest children. He was the second Sheriff of Franklin County, Kansas. Photo taken by W. H. Lamon, Lawrence, Kansas.

Interior view of the sheriff's office, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Date: Between 1930 and 1935
This is an interior view of the Sheriff's Office, located in the new Wabaunsee County Courthouse in Alma, Kansas. Sheriff August Thowe is seated at the left with Undersheriff Gus Kratzer seated right.

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
Date: Between 1850 and 1870
This cabinet card shows James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, (1837-1876). The legendary lawman and gun-slinger began his career in 1858 as a peace officer of the Monticello Township in the Kansas Territory of Johnson County. For a number of years Hickok also worked as a government scout, guide and deputy U.S. marshal across the Great Plains. In 1869 Hickok was elected marshal of Hays, Kansas and sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas. A role he served until 1870. In 1871, he was hired as Abilene, Kansas' town marshal. As marshal he earned fame for being a quick draw and for spending most of his time playing cards. Hickok was killed on August 1, 1876 while playing a game of poker at a saloon in the Deadwood, Dakota Territory.

Letter : J. B. Tomlinson to Governor William Stanley
Creator: Tomlinson, J. B.
Date: January 19, 1901
The warden of the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, J. B. Tomlinson, writes Governor William Eugene Stanley, of Topeka, concerning the events preceding the lynching of Fred Alexander, an African American man, on January 15, 1901. Alexander was charged with the rape and murder of Pearl Forbes and the rape of Eva Roth, white women from Leavenworth. Local citizens formed the Leavenworth Vigilante Committee to lynch Alexander. The State Penitentiary at Lansing held Alexander to protect him from the mob pending confession or trial. The letter discusses the formation of the mob, their demands and intentions, and the appointment of special deputies to guard the prison. The letter also describes the sheriff's failure to protect the prisoner. Tomlinson released Alexander to the Leavenworth County sheriff on January 15 for a preliminary hearing at Leavenworth. A mob took Alexander from the county jail that afternoon and burned him alive in broad daylight. Alexander consistently maintained his innocence. Although criminal executions were legal in Kansas until 1907, no state executions had occurred since 1870 due to previous governors' refusals to order sentences of execution. Such lynchings may have been motivated, in part, by some citizens' lack of confidence in the state's criminal justice system.

Rescue of Jacob Branson, 1855
Creator: Holloway, J. N.
Date: 1855
Jacob Branson and other Free-State men became angry when the Pro-slavery authorities took no action when Charles W. Dow was killed by Franklin N. Coleman, a Pro-slavery man, in late 1855. Branson made threats against Coleman. A Pro-slavery posse headed by Sheriff Jones arrested Branson at his home, but a group of Free-State men rescued Branson near the Wakarusa River south of Lawrence. This illustration depicts the "Rescue of Branson," and was copied from "History of Kansas" by J. N. Holloway.

Richard W. Barta
Date: November 20, 2009
This is a photograph of Shawnee County Sheriff Richard W. Barta, who was the Shawnee County Sheriff for 12 years and in the law enforcement community for more than four decades. Barta resigned in 2012 to allow undersheriff Herman Jones to run for sheriff.

Vern Miller
Date: Between 1964 and 1970
A photograph of Vern Miller, Sedgwick County Sheriff, seated at his desk. He served as Sheriff from 1964 to 1970.

Vern Miller
Date: Between 1970 and 1974
A photograph showing Vern Miller, Kansas Attorney General. A native of Wichita, Kansas, he was hired as a Sedgwick County Deputy Sheriff and served from 1949-1954. In 1958, Miller was elected Sedgwick County Marshal and served two terms. He was elected Sedgwick County Sheriff in 1964 and re-elected twice. At the beginning of his second term, he graduated from Oklahoma City University Law School. In 1970, Miller was elected Kansas State Attorney General and served two terms. After an unsuccessful bid for governor, he started a private practice in Wichita, Kansas. From 1976-1980, he served as Sedgwick County Prosecuting Attorney.

Vern Miller
Date: 1959
A photograph showing Vern Miller, Sedgwick County Marshal, looking at marijuana plants.