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Title: Map of Douglas County, Kansas
Description: 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.
Object Type: Map
Date: July 1857

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: Diary of Lewis Timothy Litchfield
Description: 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.
Object Type: Diary
Date: 1854-1855

Title: From George E. Young to My Dear Father
Description: This letter, dated August 23, 1863, is from George E. Young in Minneola, Kansas to his father. Young writes that he was in Lawrence on the day of Quantrill's Raid and "came very near being killed." He describes how the attackers approached the boarding house where he was staying, ordered all the women and children to leave, then lined up the men and shot at them. Young tells his father that he ran away and hid in a nearby cellar, narrowly escaping death.
Date: August 23, 1863

Title: From F.R. Newell to Rev. H.D. Fisher
Description: This letter, dated August 30, 1863, was written by F.R. Newell in St. Louis, to Rev. H.D. Fisher. Newell offers sympathy to Fisher and his family in the wake of Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas, declaring, “God grant that the raid of Lawrence may be for the healing of the nation, even as his tender compassion alone, can bind up the hearts that are broken!" Newell states that he has plenty to do in St. Louis after the recent arrival of "contrabands."
Date: August 30, 1863

Title: The Kansas War & Other Matters
Description: This poem was written in 1863 by S.S. Wiciszg, a soldier serving near Hardeeville, South Carolina. Wiciszg describes himself as "a soldier just from Lawrence" and decries the violence and guerrilla warfare in Kansas during the border wars. The poem condemns the Border Ruffians and the Doniphan Tigers. It also criticizes the political climate, and mentions the Free Soilers, Wilson Shannon, Horace Greely, and Arthur Tappan.
Object Type: Document
Date: 1863

Title: From George Collamore to G.L. Stearns
Description: This letter was written on May 2 and 7, 1861 by George Collamore in Leavenworth, Kansas to G.L. Stearns in Boston. Collamore writes that Kansas is under threat of attack from Missouri and the Cherokee and Osage Indians, and that Kansas’s defenses are weak. He reports that Gov. Robinson offered him the position of Quartermaster General of the Kansas Militia, which he temporarily accepted. Collamore asks Stearns to send “thick colored blankets” and other items to Kansas, urging Stearns to keep his activities secret and to be cautious about what he writes in future letters.
Object Type: Letter
Date: May 2, 1861 and May 7, 1861

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 Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: 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.”
Date: August 9, 1857

Title: From James W. Denver to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on August 18, 1858 by Kansas Gov. James W. Denver in Lecompton, Kansas, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Denver writes that he disagrees with Stewart's decision to "station an armed force along the borders” in response to "the unsettled state of affairs" in southeastern Kansas. Denver asserts that after he sent U.S. and volunteer troops to the “troubled districts,” peace has been fully restored, and that “the only marauders now in this Territory are organized bands of horse thieves, such as are too common in all new countries.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: August 18, 1858

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 Edmund G. Ross to My Dear Wife
Description: Edmund G. Ross, a captain in the 11th Kansas Cavalry, writes a letter to his wife on June 15, 1864. He informs her that he has just arrived in Olathe from Lawrence, Kansas, and has heard rumors of “a great scare along the border” of Kansas and Missouri. Ross predicts that Kansas troops will soon cross into Missouri to fight the Bushwhackers.
Date: June 15, 1864

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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