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Title
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Court Martial Proceedings Against Capt. John E. Stewart
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Description
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This document details the court martial proceedings at Kansas City, Missouri against Capt. John E. Stewart, Co. C, 9th Kansas Volunteers on November 18, 1863. Stewart is accused of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a Gentleman” by misrepresenting himself as a Missouri citizen to Kansas City election officials on November 5, 1863. Stewart pleaded not guilty and was acquitted. On the last page of the document, General Ewing writes a response in which he asks the court to reconsider the verdict.
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Date
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November 18, 1863
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Title
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From W.B. Spaulding to Daniel Peterson Woodbury
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Description
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This letter, dated April 17, 1858, is from W.B. Spaulding in Quincy, Illinois to Daniel Peterson Woodbury in New Hampshire. Spaulding criticizes James Buchanan for approving the Lecompton Constitution for Kansas Territory, and predicts that it will cause trouble for his administration and for the Democratic Party. He adds that "the whole proceedings seem to have been a farce."
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Date
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April 17, 1858
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Dear Mother
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Description
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This unsigned April 11, 1858 letter, presumably from Edward Fitch to his mother, discusses the immigrants living in Kansas Territory. The Irish immigrants, Fitch says, are predominantly pro-slavery, while the German immigrants are mostly supporters of the Free State Party. He also describes to his mother the spring flowers in Lawrence, Kansas and his beautiful baby.
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Date
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April 11, 1858
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Title
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Letters Sent (Provost Marshal, Northern District of Kansas)
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Description
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This notebook contains copies of correspondence sent by the Provost Marshal's Office, Northern District of Kansas in Leavenworth, Kansas, between January and August 1865. The correspondence addresses topics such as enrollment, desertions, and reports of muster. Participants in the correspondence include Provost Marshal General James B. Fry and Capt. J. McCahon, Provost Marshal for the Northern District of Kansas.
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Date
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January 1865-August 1865
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
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Description
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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.
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Object Type
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Letter
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Date
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March 25, 1855
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
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Description
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This unsigned May 20, 1858 letter is presumably from Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas to his father in Massachusetts. Fitch criticizes the Lecompton Constitution and the English Bill due to their proslavery stance. He fears that those in the Kansas territory will accept the English Bill since it offers large amount of public lands to Kansas settlers. Though Fitch fears Kansas' entrance into the Union as a slave state, he ends his letter in an optimistic tone, remarking that it would be as impossible to make Kansas into a slave state “as it would be to make Hell out of Heaven.”
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Object Type
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Letter
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Date
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May 20, 1858
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Title
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From Sara Robinson to My Dear Sister
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Description
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This letter is from Sara Robinson, the wife of Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, to her sister. Robinson, writing from Lawrence, Kansas on January 5, 1858, tells her sister that an election was held yesterday for the Lecompton Constitution. She states that Charles opposed the constitution and that voting against it was the only option that "promised victory to the Free State men." She also mentions that he has been attending sessions of the Topeka Legislature.
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Date
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January 5, 1858
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Title
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Constitution Hall, Lecompton, Kansas
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Description
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Photograph of Constitution Hall, site of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention on January 12, 1857. Constitution Hall was built in 1856 and restored in 1991.
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Object Type
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Image
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Date
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1933
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
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Description
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Edward Fitch writes a letter to his parents from Lawrence, Kansas on May 5, 1861. He tells them that if Missouri secedes, Kansas will have to fight. He asks how people in Massachusetts feel about the war, and expresses hope that the “Yankees” will go to battle with the South and not stop until slavery is eradicated. “War is terrible,” he says, “but sometimes it is necessary for the good of the whole world.”
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Date
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May 5, 1861
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Title
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Excerpt from John Deering's Diary
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Description
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This excerpt from John Deering’s diary was written between January 5 and June 7, 1858. Deering, who arrived in Kansas Territory from Maine in March 1857, describes daily life in Douglas County, Kansas. Deering records his purchase of a new claim after his own was “taken by Indians,” and his efforts to build a shop in Prairie City, Kansas. On February 27, Deering writes that he attended an election to nominate delegates for the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention. On April 23, he notes that he heard Jim Lane and others speak about the constitution.
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Object Type
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Diary
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Date
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January 5, 1858-June 7, 1858
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Title
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From B. Hoonsley to George R. Smith
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Description
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On December 11, 1855, B. Hoonsley writes from Big Creek to Gen. George R. Smith. Hoonsley says that "all is confusion here," and reports a rumor that there is still fighting in Lawrence, Kansas, although "it may all be false." He adds that the destruction of Lawrence was predicted months ago by several men. Hoonsley informs Smith that he and two other men are "marked objects" and suggests that "the legislation ought to take immediate…action."
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Object Type
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Letter
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Date
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December 11, 1855
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Title
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From James Griffing to Unknown
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Description
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This letter, dated January 10, 1854 but presumably written January 10, 1855, was sent by James Griffing in Wyandotte County, Kansas to an unknown recipient. James discusses pioneer life in Kansas Territory, claiming that it is not at all dangerous: “Our society is mostly all from the East, and you feel just as much composed as when in New England.” Although James believes Missourians are more dangerous than the American Indians, he insists “there is no more reason for a person who attends to his own business to be afraid here” than anywhere else.
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Date
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January 10, 1855
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
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Description
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Edward Fitch writes a letter from Lawrence, Kansas to his parents in Massachusetts on February 24, 1856. He says that the Free State Legislature plans to meet next month in Topeka, and that President Pierce has proclaimed them traitors. Fitch predicts that the Missourians will attack Kansas, “but if they try it we shall have a bloody time out here.” He finishes the letter on March 9 and tells his parents that the Legislature met in Topeka, and that no violence occurred.
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Date
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February 24, 1856-March 9, 1856
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Title
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From James Griffing to Augusta
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Description
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This July 9, 1855 letter was written by James Griffing at Ottawa Creek, Kansas, to Augusta. James writes that he is “travelling the rounds of another preacher’s circuit,” currently staying with an Ottawa Indian named “Jones” (possibly “Ottawa Jones”). James criticizes the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Bogus Legislature, and describes an inspiring speech given by Charles Robinson in Lawrence, Kansas on Independence Day.
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Date
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July 9, 1855
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
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Description
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Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas writes a letter on August 25, 1856 to his parents, who live in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Edward argues that Hopkinton, his hometown, should pay him for his contributions to the Free State cause in Kansas. He adds that a lot of his neighbors also need financial help and don’t have enough food or clothing. He writes that he recently attended the funeral of Captain Shombre, who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Fort Titus, and mentions that Major David S. Hoyt was killed the same week in an attack at Washington Creek.
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Object Type
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Letter
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Date
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August 25, 1856
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Dear Friends at Home
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Description
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Edward Fitch writes a July 26, 1855 letter from aboard a steamboat on Lake Erie. He tells friends in his hometown of Hopkinton, Massachusetts that he is en route from Boston to Osawatomie, Kansas. He describes the other members of his travelling party, a group of nineteen emigrants he is taking to Kansas for the New England Emigrant Aid Company.
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Object Type
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Letter
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Date
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July 26, 1855
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Title
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Map of Douglas County, Kansas
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Description
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This map of Douglas County, Kansas Territory was drawn by I. Cooper Stuck in July of 1857. The map is marked with the locations of individual people's land claims.
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Object Type
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Map
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Date
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July 1857
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Title
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Diary of Lewis Timothy Litchfield
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Description
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This is an excerpt from the diary of Lewis Thomas Litchfield, written between 1854 and 1855. Litchfield writes about leaving Boston and travelling to Kansas with a party from the Emigrant Aid Society. He describes the pioneer camp established near the junction of the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers, voting to name the settlement "Lawrence," and construction of the first building. Litchfield also mentions a burgeoning conflict between the Kansas settlers and the Missourians.
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Object Type
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Diary
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Date
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1854-1855
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
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Description
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Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas, writes a letter to his parents in Massachusetts on August 9, 1857, announcing that Kansas has voted to ratify the Topeka Constitution. He adds that Free State supporters appear to comprise a majority in Kansas. Fitch complains about a recent Herald of Freedom article on the apportionment of the Kansas Legislature, and claims that it is “the most damning piece of villany ever perpetrated by any men or set of men.”
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Date
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August 9, 1857
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Title
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Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, Kansas
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Description
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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.
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Object Type
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Image
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Date
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1867
Pages