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Title: U.S. vs. Charles Robinson
Description: 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.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: May 24, 1856 and September 10, 1856

Title: Indictment Against Andrew Reeder et al.
Description: 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.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 4, 1856

Title: Kansas Executive Department Council Journal
Description: 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.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1855

Title: Statement of Wilson Shannon
Description: This statement by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon was written ca. December 1855. Shannon describes the series of events leading to the Wakarusa War, beginning with the murder of a Free State supporter named Charles Dow by Franklin Coleman, a proslavery man. To address the subsequent civil unrest in Douglas County, Kansas, Shannon asks General Richardson, General Strickler, and Col. Sumner to supply troops and assist Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones in restoring order.
Object Type: Government Document

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: 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: 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: Wakarusa Treaty (Draft)
Description: 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.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: December 8, 1855

Title: Territory of Kansas vs. Charles Robinson
Description: 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.”
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: 1857

Title: From Daniel Woodson to E.V. Sumner
Description: This dispatch, dated June 30, 1856, was sent by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Col. E.V. Sumner at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Woodson states that the “bogus Legislature” of Free-Staters will undoubtedly meet at Topeka on July 4, 1856, and that Gen. Lane’s forces are believed to be approaching Topeka. Woodson has ordered Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke to secure the area between Fort Riley, Kansas, and Topeka. He instructs Sumner to go to Topeka personally with at least two more companies of U.S. troops.
Date: June 30, 1856

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