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Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: In this August 10, 1856 letter to his parents in Massachusetts, Edward Fitch reports a rumor that Border Ruffians plan to attack Lawrence, Kansas. He says he has been gathering firearms in preparation, but worries that “this may be the last letter” he ever writes. He also tells them about the Battle of Franklin and relates a rumor that Colonel Lane was there.
Date: August 10, 1856

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: In this January 20, 1856 letter to his parents in Massachusetts, Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas writes that Missourians launched an attack near Leavenworth on Election Day and tried to confiscate the ballot boxes. Fitch predicts an imminent war, and laments: “How long O Lord must we suffer thus. I hope you will raise an army in the East and March through Missouri and Proclaim liberty to the slave.” Included is a copy of a September 15, 1855 broadside published by John Speer that challenges the Bogus Legislature.
Date: January 20, 1856

Title: Charles Otis Fitch
Description: This black and white photograph, taken circa 1890, depicts Charles Otis Fitch, son of Edward and Sarah Fitch. He was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1860. At the age of three, he survived Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, but his family’s house was burned down and his father was killed in the attack.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas writes a letter to his parents on March 25, 1855, discussing controversy over the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society. Some consider it “a curse to the territory,” Fitch says, but he disagrees and claims it merely “has not done as much good as I wish it had.” He informs his parents, who live in Massachusetts, that he has turned his school into a boardinghouse to accommodate an influx of emigrants. He also mentions the upcoming state legislative election in Kansas and expresses concern that the pro-slavery ticket will win.
Object Type: Letter
Date: March 25, 1855

Title: From James H. Lane to Charles A. Foster
Description: This note, dated December 5, 1855, was sent by James H. Lane in Lawrence, Kansas, to Charles A. Foster. The note reads: “We want every true Free State man in Kansas at Lawrence immediately,” probably referring to the conflict known as the Wakarusa War.
Date: December 5, 1855

Title: The Western Dispatch.
Description: This is the August 17, 1856 evening issue of the Western Dispatch, printed in Independence, Missouri. The newspaper announces that war is "being waged by the Abolitionists," and reports that James Henry Lane, John Brown, and their forces have robbed several Kansas residents and driven them into Missouri. The paper also mentions that Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon requested aid from the U.S. military, but was refused. A last minute extra, printed at the bottom of the paper, states that Lane and his men have captured Lecompton.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: August 17, 1856

Title: From Israel B. Donalson to Daniel Woodson
Description: This letter, dated September 1, 1856, was written by U.S. Marshal Israel B. Donalson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Donalson states that a large number of armed men, probably commanded by Gen. James Lane, are entering Kansas daily for the purpose of driving citizens from the Territory, robbing and burning houses, and committing murder. Donalson does not possess enough troops to suppress Lane’s men, and is submitting the facts of the situation to Woodson so he can determine a course of action.
Date: September 1, 1856

Title: Edward Payson Fitch, Jr.
Description: This black and white photograph, taken circa 1890, depicts Edward Payson Fitch, Jr., son of Edward and Sarah Fitch. He was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1863. As a baby, he survived Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, but his family’s house was burned down and his father was killed in the attack.
Object Type: Image

Title: Julia Sumner Fitch
Description: This black and white photograph, taken circa 1890, portrays Julia Sumner Fitch. Julia was born to Edward and Sarah Fitch in Lawrence, Kansas in 1858. At the age of five, she survived Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, but her family’s house was burned down and her father was killed in the attack.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Daniel Woodson to Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke
Description: This letter, dated September 1, 1856, was written by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke near Lecompton. Woodson instructs Cooke to proceed immediately with U.S. troops to Topeka, Kansas and disarm all insurrectionists, burn their fortifications and breastworks, and take as prisoner any man found in arms against the Territorial government. Woodson also directs Cooke to station a detachment of troops near the road leading from the Nebraska line to Topeka, to “intercept all aggressive invaders…that may make their appearance.”
Date: September 1, 1856

Title: From William Clarke Quantrill to William W. Scott
Description: William Clarke Quantrill writes a letter from Olathe, Kansas to William W. Scott on January 22, 1858. Quantrill reports the results of a recent election on the Lecompton Constitution, which he refers to as the "Lecompton swindle." He mentions a recent skirmish at Fort Scott and declares it "a pity" that the Kansas settlers "had not shot every Missourian that was there." He also calls James Henry Lane "as good a man as we have here" and describes Kansas Democrats as "rascals."
Date: January 22, 1858

Title: From Samuel Ayres to Lyman Langdon
Description: Samuel Ayres writes a letter from Centreville, Linn County, Kansas, to Lyman Langdon on January 7, 1859. The letter includes a copy of a December 30, 1858 article from the Lawrence Republican titled “Who is Responsible?” The article argues that the guerrilla violence in Linn and Bourbon Counties is not the fault of the Free State supporters, as many have argued, but is rather the fault of the proslavery Democrats. The article also explains how Captain Montgomery has tried to defend Free Staters: “his practice has been to warn an offender to leave in a given time . . . If he does not leave at that time, a company of men called ‘jay-hawkers’ goes and takes a part of his property . . . and otherwise frightens him, thus compelling him to leave.” Ayres ends the letter with the news that he has been instructed to put Linn County under martial law.
Date: January 7, 1859

Title: From John M. Schofield to Thomas Carney
Description: This letter, written on the letterhead of Headquarters, Department of the Missouri and dated August 29, 1863, was sent by John M. Schofield in St. Louis to Kansas Governor Thomas Carney in Topeka, Kansas. Writing in the aftermath of Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas, Major General Schofield states his hope that President Lincoln will appoint a Court of Inquiry to investigate the raid. Schofield refers to a meeting proposed for September 8, 1863 in Paola, Kansas, in which participants plan to enter Missouri “to recover their stolen property.” Schofield emphasizes the need to preempt this potentially violent meeting.
Date: August 29, 1863

Title: Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, Kansas
Description: Stereograph by Alexander Gardner depicting Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence, Kansas. Founded by members of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society (later renamed the New England Emigrant Aid Company) in 1854, Lawrence was a center of Free-State activism during the Border War.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1867

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: In this November 21, 1856 letter to his parents, Edward Fitch describes attending a fundraising dinner in Lawrence, Kansas for the Free State Prisoners in Lecompton. He reports that Governor Geary was not there and that, according to rumors, Judge Lecompton had ordered Geary arrested. He mentions that Governor Robinson and Lieutenant Governor Roberts were both in attendance and gave optimistic speeches about the future of Kansas as a free state.
Object Type: Letter
Date: November 21, 1856

Title: Writ Relating to United States vs. James Lane, Wilson Shannon, and David S. McIntosh
Description: This writ, dated March 19, 1860, relates to the case Kansas Territory, U.S. District Court, 2nd District versus James H. Lane, Wilson Shannon, and David S. McIntosh for forfeited recognizance. The writ is signed by L. McArthur, Clerk of the Second U.S. District Court in Kansas Territory.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: March 19, 1860

Title: From Philip St. George Cooke to Daniel Woodson
Description: This letter, dated September 2, 1856, was written by Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke at Headquarters, in camp near Lecompton, Kansas, to Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Cooke contends that Woodson’s recent order to put down an insurrection at Topeka, Kansas is “simply a call upon me to make war upon the town of Topeka,” in defiance of both the law and his instructions from commanding officers. Cooke adds that Woodson’s order to "intercept aggressive invaders" from the north is “clearly inconsistent with my last instructions,” and therefore he cannot comply with it.
Date: September 2, 1856

Title: War in Kansas!
Description: This 1856 broadside announces the commencement of civil war in Kansas. It urges the citizens of Lafayette County, Missouri to gather with their guns and horses in Lexington on August 20, and "put an end to Abolitionism in Kansas." The broadside, signed by twelve men, reports that John Brown, James Henry Lane, and their forces have launched several guerrilla attacks upon Kansas residents, and are now "advancing upon us--the next breath from Kansas may bring to our ears the death shrieks of our Fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, neighbors and friends."
Object Type: Broadside
Date: August 1856

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Mother
Description: Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas writes a letter to his mother in Massachusetts on June 15, 1856. He voices disappointment with James Buchanan and predicts that if John C. Fremont is not elected president, Kansas will be admitted to the Union as a slave state. Yet he expresses optimism that “the death knell of slavery has been tolled.” He reports that Colonel Sumner has been gathering troops in Palmyra, Kansas, and he predicts that violence will ensue. He adds that in Lawrence, a number of Free State men have been robbed, and that “Men are being found dead more or less every little while.”
Date: June 15, 1856

Title: From Julia Mariata to Unknown
Description: In this October 5, 1856 letter, Julia Mariata describes the arrest and capture of her brother-in-law, H. Miles Moore. On October 2, Mariata says, she and Moore left Lawrence, Kansas and stopped at the American Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, where Moore was arrested and taken away by a group of men. A Mr. King told Mariata that Moore was arrested because he had served as Adjutant General under Gen. Lane, and that “he was considered guilty of High Treason!”
Date: October 5, 1856

Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865

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