Wilson Shannon

This letter was written ca. December 25, 1855 by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon to an unknown recipient. Shannon states that on December 9, 1855, he was at a party in Lawrence, Kansas when Charles Robinson informed him that “a large irregular force” was threatening to attack the town. Robinson asked Shannon to give him and James Lane written authority to defend Lawrence by force. Shannon signed Robinson’s paper, but later discovered that the threatened attack was a ruse devised by “tricksters who by fraudulent representations were seeking to obtain an advantage over me.”

Bleeding Kansas, Bloodletting Missouri
Jayhawkers
Guerrillas
Wakarusa War

Wilson Shannon
Charles Robinson
James Henry Lane
Samuel J Jones

Lawrence, Kansas
Douglas County, Kansas

Kansas Historical Society

Kansas Territorial Records, 27-01-01-01, Folder 35

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