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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: Statement of C.W. Babcock
Description: This is C.W. Babcock’s sworn statement to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Dated October 11, 1856, the statement claims that a man named Castleman, posing as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, unlawfully arrested Babcock in Topeka, forcibly moved him to Lecompton, and held him there for three hours.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 11, 1856

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 Sara Robinson to My Dear Sister
Description: This letter is from Sara Robinson, the wife of Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, to her sister. Robinson, writing from Lawrence, Kansas on January 5, 1858, tells her sister that an election was held yesterday for the Lecompton Constitution. She states that Charles opposed the constitution and that voting against it was the only option that "promised victory to the Free State men." She also mentions that he has been attending sessions of the Topeka Legislature.
Date: January 5, 1858

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 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 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 Philip St. George Cooke to John W. Geary
Description: This dispatch, dated September 16, 1856, is from Lieut. Col. Philip St. George Cooke to Gov. John W. Geary. Cooke states that after returning to camp near Lecompton, he discovered that 101 prisoners who were taken at the Battle of Hickory Point are now being held at the camp. Cooke asks Geary to send a “proper civil officer” to take the prisoners into custody.
Date: September 16, 1856

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 Wilson Shannon to E.V. Sumner
Description: This letter, dated June 23, 1856, was sent by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon in Lecompton, Kansas, to Col. E.V. Sumner. Shannon, who is leaving for St. Louis, instructs Sumner to station U.S. troops in areas where disturbances have recently occurred, and to station two companies at Topeka before the Free State legislative assembly meets on July 4th. Shannon believes that “if this body meets, enacts laws, and seeks to enforce them…civil war will be the inevitable result.” He orders Sumner to disband the assembly by force if necessary.
Date: June 23, 1856

Title: Nebraska and Kanzas
Description: This color map, ca. 1854-1861, is entitled “Nebraska and Kanzas.” It was printed by J.H. Colton and Co. in New York.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1854-1861

Title: New Sectional Map of Kansas
Description: This color map, drafted in 1859 by Robert L. Ream, was published by Stevenson and Morris of St. Louis, and printed by A. Janicke and Co. of St. Louis. The map is entitled “New Sectional Map of Kansas,” and was compiled from the field notes in the Surveyor General’s office.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1859

Title: Sectional Map of the Territory of Kansas
Description: This color map, entitled “Sectional Map of the Territory of Kansas,” was compiled from the field notes in the Surveyor General’s office. It was published in 1857 by John Halsall in St. Louis.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1857

Title: Kansas and Nebraska 1856
Description: This color map, entitled “Kansas and Nebraska 1856,” was printed by J.G. Wells in New York.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1856

Title: Map Showing the Progress of the Public Surveys in the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska
Description: This black-and-white map, signed by Ward B. Burnett, Surveyor General, was issued by the Surveyor General’s office in Nebraska City, Nebraska Territory on October 1, 1860. The map shows the progress of the public surveys in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and was produced to accompany the Surveyor General’s 1860 annual report.
Object Type: Map
Date: October 1, 1860

Title: Map Showing the Progress of the Public Surveys in the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska
Description: This black-and-white map, signed by Ward B. Burnett, Surveyor General, was issued by the Surveyor General’s office in Nebraska City, Nebraska Territory on October 1, 1859. The map shows the progress of the public surveys in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and was produced to accompany the Surveyor General’s 1859 annual report.
Object Type: Map
Date: October 1, 1859

Title: Map Showing the Progress of the Public Surveys in Kansas and Nebraska
Description: This black-and-white map, signed by Mark W. Delahay, Surveyor General, was issued by the Surveyor General’s office in Leavenworth, Kansas on September 2, 1861. The map shows the progress of the public surveys in Kansas and Nebraska, and was produced to accompany the Surveyor General’s report of 1861.
Object Type: Map
Date: September 2, 1861

Title: From Wilson Shannon to E.V. Sumner
Description: This dispatch, dated April 20, 1856, was sent by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon in Lecompton, Kansas, to Col. E.V. Sumner. Shannon states that after Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones arrested a man named S.N. Wood, he was forcibly rescued by a band of men. In order to recapture Wood and make several additional arrests, Shannon instructs Sumner to send an officer and six U.S. troops to Lecompton to assist Jones. Shannon indicates that he prefers to employ U.S. troops for this purpose because of their political neutrality.
Date: April 20, 1856

Title: Map Showing the Progress of the Public Surveys in the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska
Description: This black-and-white map, signed by J. Calhoun, Surveyor General, was issued by the Surveyor General’s office in Lecompton, Kansas Territory in October 1857. The map shows the progress of the public surveys in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and was produced to accompany the Surveyor General’s 1857 annual report.
Date: October 1857

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

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