This correspondence was sent and received by Kansas State Temperance Union secretaries T.E. Stephens, A.D. Wilcox, and J.E. Everett. Each exchanged letters with religious leaders across the state, including Rev. H.G. Fraser from Ottawa, Rev. C.C. Brown of Tonganoxie, Rev. J.M. Leonard of Iola, Rev. R.A. Bolton of Junction City, Rev. James Kerr of Scandia, Rev. J.K. Miller of Manhattan, Rev. A.W. Cummings of Canton, Rev. John A. Holmes of Harper, Rev. W.H. Eaton of Cherryvale, Rev. H.H. Bowen of Glen Elder, and Rev. Fred Grey of Alton. Organizations involved in the temperance movement include the Kansas State Temperance Union (KSTU), the Twentieth Century Total Abstinence Union (TCTAU), the Anti-Cigarette League, the American Anti-Saloon League (AASL), the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and others. This collection also includes local subscription lists for those supporting the Kansas State Temperance Union in Phillipsburg, Lakin, LeRoy, Cimarron, Dodge City, Liberal, Greensburg, Cunningham, Sedgwick, Mount Hope and Colwich. Other correspondents include attorney John Wiswell in Columbus, Elmer Lawrence, publisher of The Sunbeam, a weekly Christian journal in Galena, and several members of the Independent Order of Good Templars, including George F. Fullinwider of El Dorado, S.S. Jackson of Scranton, and Mrs. Kate A. Billings of Clyde. Much of the correspondence concerns efforts to advance anti-liquor agendas in local, state, and national politics. Considerable correspondence with organizations in other states is included. Although Kansas was the first state to adopt a constitutional amendment prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in 1880, the law was largely unenforced.
![Temperance history correspondence - 1 [1858-1881]](https://img.kansasmemory.org/00333714.jpg)
