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Title
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The Governor's Mansion, Lecompton, Kansas Territory
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Description
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Harper's Weekly wood engraving of men on horseback outside of the governor's mansion in Lecompton, Kansas Territory. The house was built by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones and briefly resided in by Kansas Territorial Governor John W. Geary. In 1855, The "Bogus Legislature" selected the proslavery town of Lecompton as Kansas Territory's capital city. Meanwhile, Free-Staters continued to denounce the legislature as illegitimate.
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Object Type
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Image
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Date
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June 6, 1857
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Title
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U.S. vs. Charles Robinson
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Description
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These legal documents include a warrant, dated May 24, 1856, for the arrest of Charles Robinson for committing treason against the United States. Attached is a summary of a witness's testimony: “he had heard Charles Robinson, in common conversation, repeatedly urge upon the people the propriety and necessity of resisting the enforcement of the Territorial laws.” Also included is a motion to sever Robinson’s case from that of a co-defendant, as well as a motion for continuance, dated September 10, 1856. The court documents are from the First District Court of the United States, Douglas County, Kansas Territory.
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Object Type
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Legal Document
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Date
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May 24, 1856 and September 10, 1856
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Title
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Indictment Against Andrew Reeder et al.
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Description
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This indictment was issued against Andrew H. Reeder, Charles Robinson, James H. Lane, George W. Brown, George W. Dietzler, George W. Smith, Samuel N. Wood, and Gaius Jenkins for the crime of treason. The indictment, issued October 4, 1856 by the 3rd U.S. District Court of Kansas Territory, accuses Reeder and the others of “unlawfully and traitorously” assembling for the purpose of “overthrowing and subverting by force and violence” the government of Kansas Territory, among other crimes.
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Object Type
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Legal Document
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Date
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October 4, 1856
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Title
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Andrew H. Reeder
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Description
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Portrait of Andrew H. Reeder, first governor of the Kansas Territory.
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Object Type
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Image
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Date
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n.d.
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Title
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The Arrest of Governor Robinson by Marshall Donaldson
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Description
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Illustration of the arrest of Governor Charles Robinson by Marshall Donaldson in Lexington, Missouri on May 10, 1856. Charles Robinson, then considered the Kansas Territorial Governor by the Free-Staters' illegitimate Topeka legislature, was arrested for treason in Lexington, Missouri due to his faux "governorship" and his denouncements of the proslavery "Bogus Legislature." He was imprisoned at Lecompton, Kansas before being released on September 10, 1856. He was finally acquitted of the charges of treason on August 20, 1857. This image was originally published in the 1856 publication of "True History of the Kansas Wars" by O. N. Merrill.
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Object Type
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Image
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Date
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1856
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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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Jesse Connell
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Description
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This undated portrait depicts Jesse Connell, a Kentuckian who moved to Leavenworth, Kansas in 1855. Connell, a slave-owner, served as a delegate to the Lecompton Constitutional Convention in 1857, and was later elected to the Senate of the first Kansas State Legislature.
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Object Type
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Image
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Date
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n.d.
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Title
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Proclamation of Daniel Woodson
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Description
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This proclamation was issued July 4, 1856 by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Woodson forbids all persons claiming legislative authority or power in Kansas from assembling at Topeka, Kansas and from organizing, attempting to organize, or acting in any legislative capacity whatsoever. Woodson declares that this proclamation upholds President Pierce’s proclamation of February 11, 1856, which decreed that all such acts would be considered insurrectionary.
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Object Type
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Government Document
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Date
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July 4, 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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Kansas Executive Department Council Journal
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Description
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This excerpt from the 1855 Kansas Executive Committee Council Journal records the Council’s discussion of various proposed acts and bills. These acts and bills address topics such as coal mining, the territorial capital at Lecompton, Kansas, enacting a state census and state constitutional convention, enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law, and voting rights for American Indians. The journal also features correspondence from Andrew Reeder.
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Object Type
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Government Document
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Date
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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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Edward Fitch writes a letter to his father on September 19, 1855, four days after the Bogus Legislature’s Gag Law has gone into effect. He says he attended a meeting where he and others illegally spoke out against the Gag Law. He adds that Governor Shannon showed up “but refused to speak . . . he is a Dough face, Dough head + a Fool Knave Rascal and all.”
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Date
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September 19, 1855
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Title
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From Samuel Ayres to Lyman Langdon
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Description
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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.
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Date
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January 7, 1859
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Title
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Findings of the Grand Jury in Relation to the Herald of Freedom, Kansas Free State, and Free State Hotel
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Description
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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.
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Object Type
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Legal Document
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Title
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Wakarusa Treaty (Draft)
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Description
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This document is a draft of the Wakarusa Treaty, signed by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon, Charles Robinson, and James H. Lane on December 8, 1855, ending the Wakarusa War. The signers declare that they "have no knowledge of the previous--present or prospective existence of any organization in [Kansas] Territory for the resistance of the laws." They agree to “aid the Governor in securing a posse” to execute the laws, provided that accused individuals are arrested with “legal process” and receive a hearing before a U.S. District Court judge.
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Object Type
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Government Document
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Date
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December 8, 1855
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Title
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From E.V. Sumner to Daniel Woodson
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Description
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This dispatch, dated July 2, 1856, was sent by Col. E.V. Sumner at Headquarters, 1st Cavalry in camp at Topeka, Kansas, to Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Sumner states that he will be glad to meet the following day with Woodson, Judge Cato, Col. Isaacs, and U.S. Marshal Donalson. He asks Woodson to bring the Governor’s and President’s proclamations, along with his instructions under them, and the Governor’s letter about the Topeka legislature.
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Date
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July 2, 1856
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Title
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From William C. Connett, Jr. to James L. Thornberry
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Description
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This letter, dated April 28, 1855, was written by William C. Connett, Jr. in Sparta, Missouri to James L. Thornberry. William discusses the recent Kansas election and the “overthrow” of the Free Soil party, stating that he would not want to remain in Missouri if Kansas became a free state. He declares that the current political situation would improve if “you people of the free states let us alone in the management of our own domestic affairs.”
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Date
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April 28, 1855
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Title
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From Philip St. George Cooke to Daniel Woodson
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Description
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This dispatch, dated July 1, 1856, was sent by Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke at Headquarters, Ft. Riley, Kansas, to Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas. Cooke states that he received Woodson’s request for military aid dated June 29, 1856, and that he ordered Maj. H.H. Sibley to march in the direction of Topeka, Kansas, via the Santa Fe Road. Cooke encloses a copy of his instructions to Sibley.
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Date
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July 1, 1856
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Title
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Territory of Kansas vs. Charles Robinson
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Description
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These are legal documents filed in the 1857 case of the Territory of Kansas vs. Charles Robinson for the charge of usurpation of office. They include the official indictment, witness subpoenas, a motion to quash the charges, and a summary of grand jury testimony. Also included is a warrant for the arrest of Charles Robinson; addressed to the Sheriff of Douglas County, Kansas, it reads: “You are hereby commanded to arrest Charles Robinson, and have his body before the Judge of the First District Court . . . to answer an indictment found against him for unlawfully assuming and taking upon himself the Office of Governor of the Territory of Kansas.”
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Object Type
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Legal Document
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Date
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1857
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Title
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From Edward Fitch to Mr. Editor
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Description
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This letter, dated July 4, 1856, is from Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas to the editor of the Hopkinton (MA) Patriot. Fitch states that the Free State Legislature was supposed to convene that day in Topeka, but Colonel Sumner arrived with armed troops and, under orders from Washington, commanded everyone to leave. Fitch declares that “unless the North awakes and men (not fools) are placed in the Presidential chair this fall, Civil War must follow.” He also discusses a group of women who, in response to local rum selling, "took possession of the Liquor, which they spilled without mercy." He signs the letter “Yours for Free men, Free speech, Free Kansas, and Fre-mont.”
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Object Type
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Letter
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Date
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July 4, 1856
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