Error message
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in IslandoraSolrDisplayManagerResults->currentQueryDisplays() (line 222 of /var/www/drupal7/sites/all/modules/islandora_solr_display_manager/includes/islandora_solr_display_manager.inc).
Pages
-
-
Title
-
From Mary Savage to Jane Simpson
-
Description
-
This is an excerpt from a November 29, 1863 letter that Mary Savage wrote to Jane Simpson about Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence. She describes watching two bushwhackers murder her neighbor: “I can never efface from my memory the look and cry of anguish that he gave as he fell, the blood running in streams from his wounds.” Mary says the bushwhackers also threatened to kill her husband, but she saved his life by convincing them that he was sick and was not a member of the Kansas Militia. She writes that nearly every house in town burned down, but some “heroic” women put out a few of the fires. After the raid, she says, downtown Lawrence was reduced to “a heap of ashes.”
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
November 29, 1863
-
-
Title
-
From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
-
Description
-
This letter, dated September 21, 1856, is from Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas to his parents in Massachusetts. He tells them that he and his army regiment marched to Franklin the previous week in an attempt to defend the town from Border Ruffians. The Ruffians rode into town, burned several buildings, robbed Fitch of everything he owned, and then “dispersed in different directions . . . stealing and murdering as they went.” Fitch mentions his suspicion that Governor Geary is a traitor who has negotiated with the Border Ruffians.
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
September 21, 1856-September 28, 1856
-
-
Title
-
From R.G. Elliott to Dear Sister
-
Description
-
This letter, dated August 24, 1863, is from R.G. Elliott in Lawrence, Kansas to his sister. He informs her that he was taken prisoner during Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, but managed to escape. He states that troops from Kansas City are in pursuit of Quantrill's Raiders, but he does not believe they will catch them. Following the Raid, he writes, "We have been engaged ever since in burying the dead."
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
August 24, 1863
-
-
Title
-
From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
-
Description
-
On September 24, 1863, Abishai Stowell writes from camp in Springfield, Missouri to his sister. Stowell says he has been at home on furlough and that the family is "tolerably well." He reports that there is great excitement in Kansas about William Quantrill: "he burned Lawrence a week ago last Friday & killed about two hundred (200) citizens[.] The people blame Gens. Schofield & Ewing for letting them into Kansas."
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
September 24, 1863
-
-
Title
-
From Elizabeth S.C. Earl to Dear Mother
-
Description
-
This letter, dated September 22, 1863, is from Elizabeth S.C. Earl in Lawrence, Kansas to her mother. She assures her mother that she is safe and has survived Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence. She adds that "you cannot imagine the distress, and suffering, of our women and children," and states that the Raid left 180 women widows and 200 children orphans. Earl tells her mother that she has taken charge of the City Hotel after the owner was killed and his family went back East.
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
September 22, 1863
-
-
Title
-
From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
-
Description
-
Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas writes a letter to his parents on March 25, 1855, discussing controversy over the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society. Some consider it “a curse to the territory,” Fitch says, but he disagrees and claims it merely “has not done as much good as I wish it had.” He informs his parents, who live in Massachusetts, that he has turned his school into a boardinghouse to accommodate an influx of emigrants. He also mentions the upcoming state legislative election in Kansas and expresses concern that the pro-slavery ticket will win.
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
March 25, 1855
-
-
Title
-
From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
-
Description
-
This unsigned May 20, 1858 letter is presumably from Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas to his father in Massachusetts. Fitch criticizes the Lecompton Constitution and the English Bill due to their proslavery stance. He fears that those in the Kansas territory will accept the English Bill since it offers large amount of public lands to Kansas settlers. Though Fitch fears Kansas' entrance into the Union as a slave state, he ends his letter in an optimistic tone, remarking that it would be as impossible to make Kansas into a slave state “as it would be to make Hell out of Heaven.”
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
May 20, 1858
-
-
Title
-
From George Collamore to G.L. Stearns
-
Description
-
This letter was written on October 23, 1861 by George Collamore in Lawrence, Kansas to G.L. Stearns. Collamore writes that Kansas cannot expect a good harvest next year because so many men have volunteered for the service and left the state. He says that “large numbers of fugitives from Missouri…are daily arriving,” and many of them lack clothing for the winter. Collamore adds that “slavery is fast disappearing in Missouri,” and may be completely abolished within six months.
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
October 23, 1861
-
-
Title
-
From B. Hoonsley to George R. Smith
-
Description
-
On December 11, 1855, B. Hoonsley writes from Big Creek to Gen. George R. Smith. Hoonsley says that "all is confusion here," and reports a rumor that there is still fighting in Lawrence, Kansas, although "it may all be false." He adds that the destruction of Lawrence was predicted months ago by several men. Hoonsley informs Smith that he and two other men are "marked objects" and suggests that "the legislation ought to take immediate…action."
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
December 11, 1855
-
-
Title
-
From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
-
Description
-
Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas writes a letter on August 25, 1856 to his parents, who live in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Edward argues that Hopkinton, his hometown, should pay him for his contributions to the Free State cause in Kansas. He adds that a lot of his neighbors also need financial help and don’t have enough food or clothing. He writes that he recently attended the funeral of Captain Shombre, who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Fort Titus, and mentions that Major David S. Hoyt was killed the same week in an attack at Washington Creek.
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
August 25, 1856
-
-
Title
-
From Edward Fitch to Dear Friends at Home
-
Description
-
Edward Fitch writes a July 26, 1855 letter from aboard a steamboat on Lake Erie. He tells friends in his hometown of Hopkinton, Massachusetts that he is en route from Boston to Osawatomie, Kansas. He describes the other members of his travelling party, a group of nineteen emigrants he is taking to Kansas for the New England Emigrant Aid Company.
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
July 26, 1855
-
-
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
-
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
-
-
Title
-
From John Stillman Brown to John L. Rupur
-
Description
-
On September 1, 1863, John Stillman Brown writes a letter to John L. Rupur about Quantrill's August 21 Raid on Lawrence. He lists the names of friends who were killed in the raid, and describes watching the bushwhackers from a hill west of Lawrence "as they went to their work of death, burning and plunder." He also mentions seeing "the brave" Gen. James Henry Lane.
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
September 1, 1863
-
-
Title
-
From Josiah Miller to Dear Father and Mother
-
Description
-
This letter, dated January 25, 1856, is from Josiah Miller in Lawrence, Kansas to his parents living in a Southern state. Miller tells his parents about a recent election for Kansas state officers that ended in a skirmish between Free State men and proslavery men, including some from Missouri. He predicts that "this slavery question" will result in civil war, and urges his parents to move to a free state.
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
January 25, 1856
-
-
Title
-
From Sarah A. Fitch to My Dear Mother
-
Description
-
Sarah A. Fitch writes a letter to her mother on April 24, 1861 from Lawrence, Kansas. She discusses her son's health and reports that her husband Edward has postponed his trip to St. Louis after hearing news of the war’s commencement, and says, “I feel as tho I could fight when I read of the outrageous conduct of the South.” She mentions the possibility of Missouri seceding and predicts that Missourians will face trouble if they do not “let Kansas alone.”
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
April 24, 1861
-
-
Title
-
From F.L. Pilla to Dear Brother
-
Description
-
F.L. Pilla writes a letter to his brother on September 21, 1863. Pilla writes about Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, explaining that Lawrence is seven miles from his home in Eudora, Kansas. On the day of the Raid, he heard a rumor that Quantrill planned to target Eudora, and readied himself for a possible attack. The following day, he visited Lawrence and found "the best part of the City burned down" and "dead bodies laying around in all directions."
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
September 21, 1863
-
-
Title
-
From James H. Buxton to Daniel L. Chandler
-
Description
-
In a letter dated April 27, 1862, James H. Buxton writes from Lawrence, Kansas to Daniel L. Chandler. Buxton reports that the soldiers have left Lawrence and gone to Fort Riley, Kansas, although about two or three hundred remain in the hospital. He says he hopes "the war will not last long now for our men is gaining the victry very fast."
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
April 27, 1862
-
-
Title
-
From John W. Reid to John W. Geary
-
Description
-
John W. Reid writes a letter from Independence, Missouri to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary on September 20, 1856. Reid states that he obeyed Geary’s order to disband his troops and terminate an expedition to plunder Lawrence. He admits that “some bad men who were with us did commit some outrages . . . which I hope you will believe was beyond my control or power to prevent.”
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
September 20, 1856
-
-
Title
-
From James Henry Lane to R.M. Ainsworth
-
Description
-
This is a copy of a letter written by Gen. James Henry Lane, labeled the first letter of the Wakarusa War. In the letter, dated December 1, 1855 and addressed to R.M. Ainsworth, Lane writes that a Free State man, Charles Dow, was “cowardly + brutally murdered by a gang of Proslavery men” in Lawrence, Kansas. Violence and threats followed, Lane says, and according to rumors, “this city is to be demolished without delay.”
-
Object Type
-
Letter
-
Date
-
December 1, 1855
Pages