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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: Medical Record of Examination of Recruits
Description: This is a bound volume of records noting the medical examinations of men recruited to the Union Army in Kansas. The records, dating from November 5, 1864 to April 20, 1865, include the recruits' names, ages, country or state of birth, occupation, height, complexion, eye and hair color, chest measurements, race, and town or county of residence.
Date: November 5, 1864-April 20, 1865

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: The Osawatomie Battlefield
Description: Osawatomie Battlefield courtesy of Oswald Garrison Villard's John Brown 1800-1859: A Biography Fifty Years After. On August 30, 1856, Abolitionist John Brown and 40 other Free-Staters unsuccessfully defended the town of Osawatomie, Kansas against 250-300 border ruffians under John W. Reid. The Free-Staters were routed, Osawatomie was burned, and one of Brown's sons was killed, but Brown escaped with his life and earned the nickname "Osawatomie Brown" for his spirited defense.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Friends at Home
Description: 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.
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 26, 1855

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 John Brown to Orson Day
Description: This letter, dated February 21, 1856, is from John Brown at his homestead in Osawatomie, Kansas to Orson Day in White Hall, New York. Brown states that he and his family will be ready for Day's arrival in early April. He gives Day instructions and advice on travelling through Kansas City and Westport, Missouri, and assures him that "The Contractors on the route from here to Westport are good Free State men; & Friends."
Object Type: Letter
Date: February 21, 1856

Title: Diary of Jonathan B. Fuller
Description: This is an excerpt from the diary of Rev. Jonathan B. Fuller. Fuller, a pastor in Kansas City, Missouri, writes about visiting military hospitals, leading prayer meetings for soldiers, and hearing the sounds of muskets in nearby skirmishes. His diary entries, dated June 4, 1864 - June 25, 1865, also describe the Battle of Westport, and mention the movements of Gen. Price and Col. Jennison, and the assassination of President Lincoln.
Object Type: Diary
Date: June 4, 1864-June 25, 1865

Title: From John Brown, Jr. to Orson Day
Description: This letter, dated January 23, 1856, is from John Brown, Jr. at his homestead in Osawatomie, Kansas to Orson Day in White Hall, New York. Brown provides instructions on how to safely travel to Kansas by railroad or boat. He advises Day to purchase a cooking stove in St. Louis, and tells him that if he takes a boat from there, he will land in Kansas City, "a small town on the Western border of Mo." before travelling to Osawatomie, Kansas.
Date: January 23, 1856

Title: From John Brown to Orson Day
Description: This letter, dated December 14, 1855, is from John Brown to Orson Day of White Hall, New York. Writing from his homestead in Osawatomie, Kansas, Brown tells Day that he has just returned from the "Kansas War" and that he believes Kansas Territory is now "entirely in the power of the Free State men." He announces that on the following day, Kansas residents will vote on whether to adopt the Free State Constitution. Brown also informs Day that he has secured a piece of land for him in Kansas.
Date: December 14, 1855

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