Ben Thompson
Date: Between 1881 and 1884
A photograph of Ben Thompson, who made his name as a gunman and a gambler before accepting a job as Marshal in Austin, Texas, in 1881.

Bob and Grat Dalton
Creator: Tackett
Date: October 5, 1892
Law enforcement officers hold up the bodies of Bob and Grat Dalton, who had been killed during an attempted robbery of the C. M. Condon and Company Bank in Coffeyville, Kansas. Coffeyville citizens shot and killed four Dalton gang members as they tried to escape. Emmett Dalton was wounded, captured, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Center-fire police revolver
Creator: Empire State Firearms Company
Date: between 1907 and 1909
Double-action center-fire revolver. Empire State model produced by the Meriden Firearms Company. The Meriden Firearms Company was a subsidiary of Sears and Roebuck Company from 1907 to 1909. The pistol was used on the Topeka City Police force.

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.

Citizens of Lawrence!
Date: Between 1859 and 1860
This document warns the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas Territory, that U.S Marshal Leonard Arms and his "piratical minions" were searching for slaves in Lawrence and urges the citizens to "know your rights and stand to them" to refuse him entry to their homes.

City prison, Topeka, Kansas
Date: June 05, 1914
This black and white photograph shows four police officers on horse back and a horse-drawn paddy wagon in front of the city prison at the northwest corner of 5th & Jackson Street in Topeka, Kansas.

Confiscated liquor, Coldwater, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
These two black and white photographs show county officials from Coldwater, Kansas, standing behind confiscated bottles of liquor. The first photograph identifies the gentlemen as the following: (left to right) Ed Baker, county attorney; George McDonald, marshal; Bill McCrary, sheriff; and Leonard Tony. The second image is an interior view of liquor that has been seized by officials.

Confiscated liquor, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
These four black and white photographs show a group of gentlemen, at least one with a badge, standing beside bottles of confiscated liquor in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. The liquor bottles are on the hood and running board of the car and on the ground.

Confiscated liquor, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
These four black and white photographs show bottles of confiscated liquor placed on the hood and running board of a car in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. In two of the images gentlemen wearing badges can be seen standing beside the liquor. These images are similar to ones that are associated with item number 226331 on Kansas Memory.

Criminal X-Ray
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: April 1915
Criminal X-Ray, Volume I, No. 3, published by The Kansas State Penitentiary for the Bureau of Identification. The booklet contains photographs, physical descriptions, sentencing information, and relatives of prison escapees, and parole violaters. The publication was used by police authories, sheriffs, and detective agencies to identify and arrest escapees and parole violaters. A reward is listed for each individual.

Dance card
Date: 1891
Multi-page dance card from the Second Annual Ball of the Topeka Police Relief Association, January 22, 1891. Belonged to John W. Gardiner, who was Topeka's Chief of Police from 1889 to 1892.

Dave [Mysterious Dave] Mather
Date: Between 1870 and 1879
A portrait of Dave Mather also known as Mysterious Dave. He was a resident of Dodge City, Kansas, in the early 1870's. Mather was a gambler, saloon owner, gunslinger,and assistant town marshal.

Dodge City Peace Commission
Date: Between 1882 and 1884
These three photos show different versions of the Dodge City Peace Commission as variations of a single photo negative. The first photo shows the commission with Wm. Tilghman (back right). The second photo shows the commission with W. F. Petillon (also back right). The third photo shows the commission without either Tilghman or Petillon. The other seven members left-to-right include (back row) Will Harris, Luke Short, and W. B. Masterson; (front row) Charles Bassett, Wyatt Earp, Frank McLain, and Neal Brown.

E. P. Lamborn correspondence and research papers
Creator: Lamborn, E. P. (Edward Parker), 1890-1978
Date: 1915-1965
This collection reflects E. P. Lamborn's life long interest in crime, criminals and law officers. E. P. Lamborn was an amateur historian and collector of sources on crime and criminals of the Middle West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His interests ranged from bandits, peace officers, famous detectives, and buffalo hunters. The Correspondence and Research section, presented here, contains much information on these topics from friends, relatives, companies, law officers, etc., who had some connection or dealings with these individuals. The arrangement for this section, generally, is alphabetical by last name of the correspondent. A detailed, searchable calendar of correspondents is available by clicking on "Text Version" below or by accessing the full collection finding aid in the link below. A transcription of this correspondence is not yet available. This series comprises boxes 2 and 3 of the E. P. Lamborn collection. You can find individual items in the order they are described in the "calendar of correspondents" by using the page selection feature available when you are looking at a full sized page image.

Edward J. Masterson
Date: Between 1872 and 1878
A formal portrait of Dodge City, Kansas, marshall Edward J. Masterson (1852-1878), older brother of William Barclay "Bat" Masterson. Marshall Ed Masterson was killed in a gunfight on April 9, 1878, in Dodge City from a chest wound he received while attempting to disarm drunken cowboy, Jack Wagner.

Ephraim Nute to [Unidentified recipient]
Creator: Nute, Ephraim
Date: February 14, 1859
Ephraim Nute wrote from Lawrence on February 14, 1859, regarding "the disaster that befel the last expedition from this place with fugitives." The party, led by Dr. John Doy, was in route to Oskaloosa when captured and taken to Missouri, where "the colored people, both free and slaves, have been shipped for the New Orleans market." Doy and his son had been jailed at Platte City, Missouri, and were to be tried for "stealing a slave from Weston." Nute was quite sure this operation had been betrayed from within, as "Great rewards were offered, spies sent out & men hired in this place to watch & aid in recovering the run away property."

Executive circular to metropolitan police commissioners
Creator: Lewelling, Lorenzo Dow, 1846-1900
Date: December 4, 1893
With this circular, Governor Lorenzo Dow Lewelling of Topeka, Kansas, appeals to police commissioners of Kansas cities to show restraint in the prosecution of the unemployed. The governor argues that high rates of unemployment are a product of the industrial system of production and not the fault of individuals. Since jobs are not available to all employable persons, he argues, unemployed persons should not be treated as criminals. The governor denounces the vagrancy law for first class cities included in the General Statutes of 1889, and similar city ordinances, which allowed for the arrest, imprisonment, or fine of "all vagrants, tramps, and confidence men and persons found in said city without visible means of support, or some legitimate business." The Kansas Legislature originally enacted the law in 1881. Governor Lewelling was the first People's Party (Populist) candidate to become governor. Republican opponents of the Populist governor dubbed this letter the "Tramp Circular."

George W. Brown to I. B. Donaldson
Creator: Brown, George W. (George Washington), 1820-1915
Date: July 9, 1856
George Washington Brown, editor of the "Herald of Freedom" newspaper, was one of seven free state leaders arrested on May 14, 1856, on charges of high treason and held prisoner by federal troops near Lecompton, Kansas Territory. Brown wrote to Israel B. Donaldson, the U.S. Marshal in Kansas, requesting that he terminate and settle a contract with his wife, Mrs. Lois Brown, for boarding the prisoners. Brown asked to board with fellow prisoners John Brown, Jr. and Henry H. Williams, and sought to distance himself from Charles Robinson and his followers.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, Kansas State Industrial Reformatory
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory. Topics in the correspondence cover but is not limited to inmate parole and passes to visit relatives, Reformatory employees, and employee salaries. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, Kansas State Industrial Reformatory applications
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to applications of employment with the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory, currently known as the Hutchinson Correctional Facitlity in Hutchinson, Kansas. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, Kansas penitentiaries
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to Kansas penitentiaries. Topics in the correspondence cover but is not limited to prison shipments, employee salaries and prison officer education. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, State Penitentiary applications
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to applications of employment with the State Penitentiary. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, State Penitentiary applications
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to applications of employment with the State Penitentiary. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, county officers
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1930
This file includes subject correspondence relating to county officers which is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, prohibition
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to prohibition. Topics in the correspondence cover but is not limited to law enforcement, prohibition law and violations. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.