Bluemont Central College records
Date: 1855-1869
Series of records in the Isaac T. Goodnow collection relating to Bluemont Central College and its successor, the Kansas State Agricultural College, in Manhattan, Kansas. Goodnow was a land agent for the college from 1867-1873.

Bounty Land Grant for Franklin Loomis Crane
Creator: United States. General Land Office
Date: June 1, 1860
A bounty land grant was originally issued to Oliver Brown, a private during the War of 1812. This document declares that the tract of land described has been turned over to Franklin Crane, a resident of Topeka, who most likely purchased it from the original owner. This was done in accordance with an act of Congress passed on March 3, 1855, entitled "An Act in addition to certain Acts granting Bounty Land to certain Officers and Soldiers who have been engaged in the Military Service of the United States." It was signed by President James Buchanan.

East Abilene Town Company records
Date: 1887-1900
The East Abilene Town Company was organized and incorporated in 1887 with L. A. Bigger of Hutchinson, Kansas as its president. M. A. Low was principal stockholder. The company originally purchased 445 acres of land which was platted into the first addition of the Kansas Town and Land Company to Abilene, Kansas. Mr. Bigger was also President of the Reno Town Company in which the Kansas Town and Land Company owned controlling interest. Materials include the company charter and bylaws, director's minutes, general correspondence, leases and land contracts, treasurer's statements and expense accounts, tax lists and certificates, legal documents, and ledger books.

Golden Belt Town Company records
Date: 1886-1897
The Golden Belt Town Company was incorporated in 1886. It was chartered to buy and sell land on the right of way of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway in south-central Kansas, including the communities of Waldeck, Durham, Tampa, Ramona, Lincolnville, Furley, and Peck. The company also owned an undivided one-half interest in the Lost Springs, Aulne, Elbing, Whitewater, and Gladys townsites. Mr. F. H. Kollock of Peabody, Kansas, was named president and served until his death in 1895, at which time Samuel T. Howe assumed the position. G. H. Blackwelder of Wichita was secretary, G. W. Hurd of Abilene was treasurer, and A. Clark of Peabody was general agent. These company records include director's minutes, correspondence, financial statements, land contracts and deeds, and several books containing applications for lots and price lists.

Henry Kuhn collection, record [and recipe] book
Creator: Kuhn, Henry, 1830-1900
Date: 1856-1859
This record book includes a territorial map of Shannon township, Atchison County, Kansas, drawn by Henry Kuhn, county surveyor of Atchison County from 1856-1858. It also includes a registry of voters of Atchison and Shannon townships printed in 1859 and signed by Kuhn as township clerk. It also includes an alphabetical list of section owners. Later the book was used to record cooking and baking recipes. Henry Kuhn was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on February 2nd, 1830. In 1854 he moved his family to Atchison County, Kansas Territory, where he was the first superintendent of public instruction, county surveyor, and helped organize the First National Bank. Kuhn enlisted in the Eighth Kansas Infantry in September 1861. He served under Colonel John A. Martin (Kansas Governor 1885 - 1889) until the end of the war. His last active rank was commissioned Captain. From 1865 to 1891 he resided at Fort Leavenworth where he organized the German Savings Bank, built the city's first railroad, and was chief clerk and acting agent for the Indian agency in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Then he moved to Marion County where he farmed and raised stock. In 1890 he began publishing the "Marion Times." In February 1899 he moved back to Atchison and published the "Atchison Champion." In the autumn of 1899 he moved to Topeka where he died June 11th, 1900.

Isaac T. Goodnow property records
Date: Between 1858 and 1895
Series of personal property records belonging to the Isaac T. Goodnow collection. Isaac Goodnow was an early resident of Manhattan, Kansas, and was a free-state supporter. He was a delegate to the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention and was one of the founders of Bluemont Central College. Included in these documents are land deeds, mortgages, assessment lists, and lot lists.

Kansas Land Survey Plats
Date: Bulk 1857-1861
These eighteen land survey plat maps show townships 18 through 23 south, ranges 23 through 25, east of the 6th principal meridian. The U.S. Surveyor General began surveying Kansas after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Plat maps were created at that time to document the surveys. The plats show public lands within the territory divided by range, township and section. Townships were measured in six mile increments starting from the Kansas-Nebraska border. Ranges were numbered in six mile increments east and west from the Six Prime Meridian, which crosses through present day Wichita, Kansas. This system is still the basis for legal land description in the state.

Kansas Town and Land Company U. S. land patents
Creator: United States. General Land Office
Date: 1874-1896
Land patents issued by the United States General Land Office to Albert O. Baldwin, William O. Alphin, Nora B. Asher, Samuel Bayne, James R. Blades, William H. Blood, John W. Brownlee, Robert L. Butts, Martha A. Davidson, Erving M. Davis, Chesley W. Jones, A. B. Montgomery, Seymour S. Rogers, Ada E. Scates, Isaac D. Smith, James Smith, Herbert H. Springer, George H. Storch, John Sheppard, and Alfred O. Yeatman. Also included is a declaration from the federal government, referencing the June 28, 1862 treaty that established the Kickapoo Indian Reservation, which grants O-Ketch-Kum-Me a designated forty acres.

Kansas Town and Land Company agent's statements
Date: 1888-1891
Lots lists and correspondence, arranged by townsite, relating to the business activities and sales of each townsite agent of the Kansas Town and Land Company. The Kansas Town and Land Company was chartered in 1887 to buy and sell lands on the right of way of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company. Townsites in Kansas include Agra, Aiken, Arkalom, Athol, Bonham, Brewster, Clayton, Dana, Dresden, Edson, Goodland, Groveland, Herington, Horton, Jasper, Jennings, Kanorado, Keats, Kensington, Liberal, Mahaska, Minneola, Narka, Neva, New Lebanon, Phillipsburg, Prairie View, Rexford, Selden, Severn, Smith Center, and Stuttgart. Townsites in Colorado include Arriba, Claremont, Limon, New Burlington, Peyton, and Siebert. Townsites in Nebraska include Murdock and Nora. Agents include G. A. Spaulding, F. O. Marshall, T. A. Scales, J. W. Weyand, G. B. Ohle, L. L. French, R. M. Day, Albert Harris, A. B. Montgomery, F. H. McClellan, Monroe Davis Herington, W. H. Kemper, George W. Ragon, R. M. Day, Hazen C. Ladd, E. W. Sandison, John S. Gillett, Edward Stone, E. W. Hall, W. J. Clark, P. C. Glenn, Ira Thompson, S. G. Hopkins, G. W. Buckley, Daniel W. Relihan, William A. Clute, R. S. Newell, C. A. Beery, J. H. Slater, C. G. McGhee, H. F. Hendricks, and Jacob Ritterbush.

Kansas land survey plats
Creator: U.S. Surveyor General of Kansas and Nebraska
Date: 1855-1861
The U.S. Surveyor General began surveying Kansas after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Plat maps were created at that time to document the surveys. The plats show public lands within the territory divided by range, township and section. Townships were measured in six mile increments starting from the Kansas-Nebraska border. Ranges were numbered in six mile increments east and west from the Sixth Prime Meridian, which crosses through present day Wichita, Kansas. This system is still the basis for legal land description in the state. The Kansas Historical Society acquired a collection of these original plats previously held by the Kansas Secretary of State. The National Archives and the Bureau of Land Management also hold copies of the plats. The sixteen plats presented here are from the Kansas Historical Society collection but are not included in the National Archives copies. These plats cover portions of Douglas, Jefferson, Johnson, Shawnee and Wyandotte counties. Kansas land surveyors are the most frequent users of these maps. They use them to verify section corners when surveying land. A complete collection of the original plats is available in the Society's Center for Historical Research. The plats are also available on microfilm (AR 137-143). For more information on these plats and the accompanying field notes, click on the Land Survey Maps link below.

Kansas land survey plats
Creator: U.S. Surveyor General of Kansas and Nebraska
Date: 1857-1861
Six land survey plat maps showing townships 11 through 15 south, range 16 east. The U.S. Surveyor General began surveying Kansas after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Plat maps were created at that time to document the surveys. The plats show public lands within the territory divided by range, township and section. Townships were measured in six mile increments starting from the Kansas-Nebraska border. Ranges were numbered in six mile increments east and west from the Sixth Prime Meridian, which crosses through present day Wichita, Kansas. This system is still the basis for legal land description in the state. The Kansas Historical Society acquired a collection of these original plats previously held by the Kansas Secretary of State. The National Archives and the Bureau of Land Management also hold copies of the plats. Kansas land surveyors are the most frequent users of these maps. They use them to verify section corners when surveying land.

Land Office, Kickapoo, Kansas Territory, notice
Creator: United States. General Land Office
Date: June 12, 1858
Issued by John W. Whitfield, land office register and former proslavery territorial delegate to Congress, on June 12, 1858, this one-page notice informed Sol Miller of a counter claim made against some preemption land in which Miller (referred to as "an adverse claimant") apparently held an interest. The notice was also signed by Daniel Woodson, receiver, who had served as the first secretary of the territory of Kansas and on several occasions in 1855 and 1856 as acting governor.

Land Patent to Francis Doran
Creator: United States. General Land Office
Date: 1864
This is a land patent issued to Francis Doran for the purchase of 160 acres on the Kansas Indian Trust Lands. The property was located in the southeast quarter of Section 14 in Township 15 South, Range 8 east, Morris County, Kansas.

Land Survey Plats and Tract Books, Township 9 South, Range 111 West
Date: 1860
Hand-colored plat map of Kansas from original surveys for Township 9 South, Range 111 West. This plat map shows significant geographical landmarks such as rivers and other waterways, as well as man-made features such as roads and trails, boundaries of Native American reservations, and other landmarks. See series 194481 for microfilmed copies of original plat maps from 1854-1884.

Land contract between the Union Pacific Railway Company and Alice Moore
Date: January 12, 1893
Land contract made between the Union Pacific Railway Company and Miss Alice Moore of Arapahoe County, Colorado. Moore bought 160 acres in Wallace County, Kansas, from the railroad for $880.

Land patent transferring property from Benjamin Hendley Miller to Fannie [Fanny] Wiggins
Date: April 01, 1861
This is a land patent transferring property from Benjamin Hendley Miller to Fannie [Fanny] Wiggins. He received the land for his service in the United States Flotilla during the War of 1812. Miller received 159 acres in the northeast quarter of Section 6, Township 23, Range 18 in Anderson County, Kansas. Fannie [Fanny] Wiggins received the property on April 1, 1861. She married Josiah S. Kelly and settled near Geneva, Kansas. In 1864, the Kellys decided to move to Idaho. While on the trip, they encountered a band of Sioux. She was captured and several members of their party were killed; however, Josiah was able to escape. After nine months as a captive, she escaped. Fanny and Josiah returned to Kansas and started a hotel in Ellsworth. In 1867, Josiah contracted cholera and died. Later, she married William F. Gordon and lived in Washington, D.C. until her death on November 15, 1904.

Land sale document, Elizabeth Ironsides to James N. Big Knife
Creator: Abbott, James Burnett, 1818-1897
Date: May 09, 1862
This item indicates that Shawnee Indian Elizabeth Ironsides sold 80 acres of land to James N. Big Knife of Lexington, Kansas, on May 9, 1862. The sale of the land and the transfer of the warrant for the land was witnessed by H.A. Burgess, interpreter Matthew King, Indian Agent James Burnett Abbott, and one other man.

Manhattan Town Association records
Date: 1855-1891
Documents relating to the Manhattan Town Association found in the Isaac T. Goodnow collection. These documents include the first known tax bill in Manhattan, Kansas, as well as numerous stock certificates and land contracts.

Petitions for annexed land
Date: Between 1857 and 1887
Petitions signed by citizens of Pottawatomie County, Kansas, for the land lying east of the 6th Principle meridian to be annexed by Riley County, Kansas. The petition specifies land "commencing at the point in Township 10 south Range 9 east of 6th principal meridian where the line between sections 14 and 15 strikes the north bank of the Kansas River thence north along said line to the north boundary of the county."

South Arkansas Valley Town Company records
Date: 1887-1917
The South Arkansas Valley Town Company was organized and incorporated in 1887 to do business from Dodge City, Kansas. It was chartered to buy and sell land in the Bloom and Kingsdown townsites of Ford County on the right of way of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway. W. C. Shinn, President of the Directors, purchased 382 shares of company stock in the name of C. F. Jilson (trustee for the CRI&P). The company was disbanded and the final dividend paid in 1906. These records include correspondence, land contracts, financial statements, town lot price lists, and assorted ledgers.

Township No. 42 south of range XXV east of the 6, principal meridian
Date: Between 1850 and 1860
A plat map showing township 42, range 25, east of the 6th principal meridian. The U.S. Surveyor General began surveying Kansas after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Plat maps were created at that time to document the surveys. The plats show public lands within the territory divided by range, township and section. Townships were measured in six mile increments starting from the Kansas-Nebraska border. Ranges were numbered in six mile increments east and west from the Sixth Prime Meridian, which crosses through present day Wichita, Kansas. This system is still the basis for legal land description in the state.

U.S. General Land Office patents
Date: 1860-1873
Three land patents issued by the United States General Land Office for land in Township 10 South, Range 7 East in Riley County, Kansas. Isaac T. Goodnow was granted 160 acres in the northeast quarter of section 14. William E. Goodnow was granted 80 acres in the eastern half of the southwest quarter of section 14. Blue Mont Central College Association was granted 160 acres in the southwest quarter of section 12.

Union Stock Yards Company records
Date: 1885-1915
Located in North Topeka, Kansas, the Union Stock Yards Company was organized and incorporated in 1885 with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company owning 131 or 310 shares of stock. The company operated until 1898, at which time C. F. Jilson (trustee for the CRI&P) acquired the deed. The CRI&P operated the business at a loss from 1898 to 1900, when it failed. In 1904, the CRI&P bought the remaining stock holders interest and transferred the land to the Kansas Town and Land Company. These records include the company charter, land contracts, livestock reports, correspondence, financial statements, and meeting minutes.

United States Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, St. Louis, Missouri. Volume 1, Field notes
Creator: United States. Office of Indian Affairs. Central Superintendency
Date: 1830-1838
This volume includes field notes and surveys of Indian lands and some treaties made between the U. S. and various Indian tribes (1830-1838). Included are several maps of Indian reservations in Kansas. William Clark (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) served as Indian Superintendent for the central superintendency until his death in 1838. Partial funding for the digitization of these records was provided by the National Park Service.