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Title: From Orville Chester Brown to Friend Pomroy
Description: These are two drafts of a letter written by Orville Chester Brown to his friend Pomroy on December 12, 1861. Brown decries the evil of slavery, declaring that it has “poisoned and demoralized not only the social and political system, but the most sacred fountains of justice.” Congress will be meeting soon to discuss slavery, Brown says, and he hopes that they will end “the barbaric institution.” If slaves are legal property, he reasons, and if Congress has passed laws confiscating the property of rebels, then the rebels’ slaves should be confiscated and set free.
Date: December 12, 1861

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown
Description: Leigh R. Webber writes a letter from Lawrence, Kansas to Miss Brown on October 22, 1859. He reports on recent events in Kansas politics, mentioning that Charles Robinson was nominated for Governor and James Henry Lane plans to run for Senate if Kansas is admitted to the Union. He reports that John Brown has caused "quite a row in the East" and criticizes Brown's "insane madness against the Slave Power."
Date: October 22, 1859

Title: Diary Entries
Description: These unsigned diary entries discuss the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the election of the Bogus Legislature and subsequent protests, the arrest of John Brown, and violent Bushwhacker raids. The author describes the “tragic + bloody + exciting scenes” of life on the border of Kansas and Missouri.
Object Type: Diary
Date: 1854-1855

Title: Affidavit of Resolved Fuller
Description: Resolved Fuller of Jefferson County, Kansas swore this affidavit on or around September 20, 1856. He states that he was arrested the previous week by a group of men claiming to be Capt. Miller’s company. The company, Fuller says, also captured a Mr. Newell and his son, demanded information, and threatened to hang them. Fuller claims he was captured that morning by four strangers, held prisoner for a half hour, and then escaped.
Object Type: Legal Document

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: Sara Tappan Lawrence Robinson
Description: Portrait of Sara Robinson taken in 1857. The wife of Dr. Charles Robinson, Sara Robinson was a notable Free-State activist and author of Kansas: Its Interior and Exterior Life.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1857

Title: Correspondence of the Kansas Territory Executive Department
Description: This correspondence, dated January 7, 1858 through April 6, 1858, relates to contracts between the Kansas Territorial government and Charles A. Perry, Findley Patterson, and F.J. Marshall, to construct the capital building at Lecompton, Kansas. Perry, Patterson, and Marshall each claim that they have not been paid for contracted work on the capital building. Patterson’s letter dated March 10, 1858 refers to an upcoming Congressional vote on the "Kansas question."
Date: January 7, 1858-April 6, 1858

Title: From Daniel Woodson to William P. Richardson
Description: This order, dated August 30, 1856, was sent by Acting Kansas Governor Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Major General William P. Richardson, Kansas Militia, Northern Division. Woodson orders Richardson to occupy the area between Leavenworth and Lawrence to prevent General James Lane’s escape with his forces. Woodson states that he has ordered Major General Coffey, Kansas Militia, Southern Division, to proceed to or near Lawrence.
Date: August 30, 1856

Title: Petition to the Constitutional Convention of Kansas
Description: This is a petition sent to the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention of Kansas in support of equal political rights for Kansas women. The petition, dated 1859, protests against “any Constitutional distinctions based upon sex,” and is signed by Charles Robinson and 14 others. A second copy of the petition from Auburn, Shawnee County, Kansas is signed by 69 men and women.
Object Type: Petition
Date: 1859

Title: William D. Matthews
Description: Sepia carte de visite of William Dominick Matthews, Captain of the First Kansas Colored Volunteers, posing in uniform with cavalry saber.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Daniel Woodson to John Sedgwick
Description: This dispatch, dated July 7, 1856, was sent by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Major John Sedgwick. Woodson instructs Sedgwick to furnish Deputy Marshal William P. Fain with a small detachment of troops to assist him in issuing writs.
Date: July 7, 1856

Title: From Wilson Shannon to Franklin Pierce
Description: This letter, dated June 27, 1856, was written by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon in St. Louis to President Franklin Pierce. Shannon informs Pierce that after recent “troubles” in Kansas Territory, the area is no longer threatened by any “illegal military bodies” as far as he knows. Shannon believes that the presence of federal troops helped to restore peace, and states that these troops should be maintained in Kansas to help suppress future conflicts. Shannon is particularly concerned about the threat of civil unrest if the Free State legislature meets, as planned, on July 4, 1856.
Object Type: Letter
Date: June 27, 1856

Title: John Caldwell Calhoun
Description: John C. Calhoun, President of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: John Doy and Rescue Party
Description: Photograph taken by Amon Gilbert DaLee in Lawrence, Kansas Territory in the summer of 1859 depicting Dr. John Doy, his son Charles, and his rescue party, which freed him from the St. Joseph, MO jail on July 23, 1859, where he was being held on charges of abducting slaves.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1859

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written by Florella Brown Adair on January 13 and 14, 1861 at Martha’s, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella is glad to hear they received the barrels she sent, but was dismayed that they had to pay additional money for their delivery upon receipt, and that they had been broken open, seemingly on purpose. Florella writes of a man from Douglas County, Kansas who is in a nearby Ohio town collecting money to send home. She says he might collect so much from people they will not have as much to give to Osawatomie, Kansas; she also fears that Lykins County, Kansas will not receive its fair share of relief funds.
Date: January 13, 1861-January 14, 1861

Title: Documents Relating to United States vs. John Brown, Jr.
Description: These documents from May and June 1856 relate to the case United States versus John Brown Jr. and others for subverting the U.S. government. Included among the documents is a warrant for Brown’s arrest, signed by Judge S.G. Cato on May 28, 1856. Also included are two witness subpoenas, dated June 14, 1856; one is signed by Judge Cato, the other by Charles P. Bullock.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: May 28, 1856 and June 14, 1856

Title: Findings of the Grand Jury in Relation to the Herald of Freedom, Kansas Free State, and Free State Hotel
Description: This document describes the findings of the Grand Jury, 1st District Court, Douglas County, Kansas, regarding the Herald of Freedom and Kansas Free State newspapers, and the Free State Hotel in Lawrence, Kansas. Concluding that the two newspapers are guilty of publishing “inflammatory and seditious” reports, and that the Free State Hotel is clearly intended to be a military stronghold, the Grand Jury recommends the newspapers’ “abatement,” and the hotel’s removal. The document, ca. 1854-1860, is signed by Owen C. Stewart, Grand Jury foreman.
Object Type: Legal Document

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: Petition from Leavenworth Women
Description: This petition, written ca. September 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 16 women in Leavenworth, Kansas. The petitioners complain that they have been driven from their homes by a group of armed men. They say that some of their husbands have been imprisoned or extradited, “leaving us unprotected in the midst of a scene of general robbery and all too frequently of murder.” They also claim that the mayor of Leavenworth and other city officials were aware of the raids and failed to stop them. The petitioners ask Geary for his assistance.
Object Type: Petition

Title: From Daniel Woodson to William Hutchinson and H. Miles Moore
Description: This letter, dated September 3, 1856, was written by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson at Lecompton, Kansas to William Hutchinson and H. Miles Moore on behalf of the Kansas State Central Committee. Woodson refers to Gen. James Lane’s recent raid on Franklin, Kansas and several other areas of the Territory. He reminds Hutchinson and Moore about the proclamation issued August 25, 1856, declaring Kansas to be in a state of insurrection, and also cites the recent general order issued to Gen. Richardson and Gen. Coffey forbidding the burning of houses under any circumstances.
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 3, 1856

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

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