1819 One cent coin from Fort Hays, 14EL301
Date: 1867-1889
This one cent coin was recovered by Kansas Historical Society archeologists during excavation at historic Fort Hays in Ellis County. The cent, now commonly called a penny, was also called a large cent. The Matron head design shown here was minted between 1816 and 1839. Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and is a State Historic Site.

Aaron Burr and Theodosia Prevost Burr letters
Date: 1786-1830
This collection of handwritten letters and documents from Aaron Burr and Burr's wife, Theodosia Prevost Burr, are part of the William Treadway autograph collection at the Kansas Historical Society. The Aaron Burr letters (which include two undated documents) cover the time period 1788-1830 and primarily relate to political affairs and Burr's law practice. The May 9, 1800 letter is addressed to George Clinton, a fellow Democratic-Republican and future vice-president. The October 14, 1801 letter is addressed to Elbridge Gerry, another fellow Democratic-Republican and future vice-president and the namesake of the term "gerrymandering." The letter dated August 5 [no year given] is addressed to Thomas Hunt Flandrau, Burr's law partner. The letter dated November 6, 1786 is from Burr's wife, Theodosia Prevost Burr, to Burr's sister Sarah "Sally" Burr Reeve and concerns a set of china that Theodosia was sending to Sally in the care of a Mr. Leveret.

Abraham Burnett
Date: Between 1850 and 1870
A portrait of Chief Abraham Burnett, 1812-1870, of the Pottawatomie Nation. Also known by his birth name, Nan-Wesh-Mah, and as Abram B. Burnett, in 1838 he and other Pottawatomies were removed from their homes in Indiana to the Mission Band Pottawatomie reservation in southeast Kansas Territory. In 1848, Burnett established a large farm in what was to become known as the Burnett Mound area along Shunganunga Creek in Topeka, Kansas, where he and his family farmed and traded horses until his death in 1870.

Abraham Still
Date: Between 1851 and 1854
Portrait of Dr. Abraham Still, physician, minister, and missionary at the Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission on the Wakarusa, 1851-1854. The mission was located in Section 8, T. 13, R. 21 E, a mile south of Eudora in northeastern Douglas County, Kansas.

Abstract of journals from the 1845 Kearny Expedition
Date: 1846
This excerpt from the congressional report of the Secretary of War includes the abstracts of two journals, one by Lieutenant William B. Franklin, a topographical engineer, and another by Lieutenant H.S. Turner of the 1st dragoons stationed at Fort Leavenworth. Under the command of Stephen Kearny, the 1st dragoons and their accompanying engineers left Fort Leavenworth on a military march, heading northwest on what would become the Oregon Trail, down along the Rocky Mountains to Mexican territory, and back up via the Santa Fe Trail. This march was intended as a display of the United States' military power to both native tribes and the British government (which at this time was exerting its authority over Oregon Territory). For the most part this abstract details their route, but it does include a transcription of a conversation between Kearny and a Sioux chief named Bull Tail.

Alexander W. Doniphan
Date: Between 1845 and 1847
This portrait engraving of Alexander W. Doniphan was copied from Doniphan's Expedition by John Taylor Hughes. Doniphan was a Colonel of the First regiment Missouri volunteers and a Liberty, Missouri, lawyer. Doniphan County, Kansas, and the town of Doniphan were named for Alexander W. Doniphan.

Andrew Jackson to Col. Francis Preston
Date: 1805
This is a handwritten letter from Andrew Jackson to Colonel Francis Preston, dated January 23, 1805, forwarding to him bank bills for one thousand dollars in payment of a debt for an unspecified purchase.

A new map of the United States of America
Creator: Thomas, Cowperthwait & C
Date: 1850
This map by surveyor J. H. Young depicts the United States of America and its territories. In the lower portion of the map information is provided about the proposed routes for the Great Pacific Railroad. Sections of the map have been enlarged to depict the Gold Region of California and the District of Columbia.

Annals of Kansas
Creator: Wilder, Daniel W. (Daniel Webster), 1832-1911
Date: 1886
Daniel Webster Wilder compiled a chronological history of Kansas from the first European contact (1541) to 1885. The early portion has entries for specific years but beginning in 1854, the entries are for specific days, providing detail about many events. The volume also contains charts with crop production, livestock holdings, precipitation, etc. A detailed index begins on page 1171.

Arrival of the Caravan at Santa Fe
Date: Between 1844 and 1845
This illustration from Josiah Gregg's Commerce on the Prairies depicts a caravan of Americans arriving in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Santa Fe Trail, opened in 1821 by William Bucknell, served as a freight route and passed through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Arrival of wagon caravan at Santa Fe
Date: 1844--1845
Photo of an illustration "Arrival of the caravan at Santa Fe" from Josiah Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies.

A. T. Chamblin to Hiero T. Wilson
Creator: Chamblin, A. T.
Date: July 7, 1853
A. T. Chamblin writes Hiero T. Wilson, a Fort Scott sutler, to inquire where H. Company is and if a George G. Newman is still part of the company. Mr. Chamblin was at that point located in St. Paul, Minnesota. This letter was contained in the Hiero T. Wilson Post Sutler's Day Book. In 1844, Hiero T. Wilson partnered with John A. Bugg as the post sutlers. Bugg had been named sutler in 1843 but sold his 1/2 interest to Wilson in 1849. A complete transcription is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Baby carriage
Date: 1811
This baby carriage was made in 1811 for George Geiger from a design drawn by his father, John, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. John Geiger had been apprenticed to a carriage maker as a youth but was a merchant when his son was born. John designed the baby carriage in the style of early 19th century coaches, with a heavy body and a canvas-covered top. Most of the work was done by an carriage maker, but John made the wheels. George Geiger moved to Ohio in 1831, then to Kansas in 1867. He remained in the state until his death in 1885.

Benjamin and Richard Rush papers
Creator: Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813
Date: 1791-1856
These original letters were written either by Benjamin Rush or his son Richard Rush, Esq. Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was also a physician, professor, and writer who many consider to be the "Father of American Psychiatry." Richard Rush held several political positions, including United States Attorney General, Secretary of Treasury, and Minister to England and France. Topics in this correspondence include yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia, news about family and friends/acquaintances, current reading, real estate and other property matters, religion and church, advice on health matters, legal and fiscal matters, publishing and writing, the American Revolution, the 1848 revolution in France and Major Poussin, politics and political careers, etc. Also with the papers are some court and legal documents from Richard Rush. These papers are part of the historic psychiatry material in the Menninger Archives.

Benjamin Franklin Akers
Date: Between 1854 and 1859
Portrait of Benjamin Franklin Akers (1829-1880), from Yorkshire, England, who came to America with his parents in 1842 and lived them in Ohio. He married Rosetta Maria Hungerford on November 12, 1851. In the early 1860s, Akers opened a livery stable in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he supplied horses to the army and ran mule and oxen freight trains to Denver. At the close of the Civil War, he entered into a partnership with Colonel Amasa Sprague. They purchased a tract of land adjoining the city of Lawrence, Kansas, and established the Kansas Stock Farm. Sprague and Akers erected stables, built a training course, and purchased the famous trotting stallion, Ethan Allen. After Akers' death in 1880, his wife Rosetta lost the farm. The land was sold and developed, but their house remains at 1645 Louisiana Street in Lawrence, Kansas.

Betty lamp
Date: between 1800 and 1850
Cast iron betty lamp that has been painted gold. Circular reservoir with protruding spout and wick support. Keyhole-shaped opening on cover plate for missing swiveling cover. Iron handle arches above reservoir opposite spout, ending in lug from which dangles a swiveling spike that is missing its hanging hook. The donor's grandfather claimed to have found this sperm oil lamp in the Tarrytown Road headquarters of General George Meade after the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Meade was placed in charge of the Union Army shortly before the battle. His Tarrytown headquarters was approximately 17 miles from the battlefield.

Black Hawk, Sauk Indian
Creator: Catlin, George, 1796-1872
Date: 1832
This portrait, painted by the well-known artist George Catlin, depicts the fierce leader of the Sauk and Fox tribe after his arrest in 1832. Black Hawk and some of his tribe had resisted removal from their land in Illinois to lands west of the Mississippi River, but the Black Hawk War, as it came to be known, ended in defeat. The original of this portrait is on exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The Sauk and Fox would eventually be relocated to Kansas.

Blood lancet
Creator: Wiegand and Snowden
Date: between 1820 and 1880
This brass lancet with wooden case was made by Wiegand and Snowden of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sometime between 1820 and 1880. The brass lever on its side releases the blade. The donor claimed the lancet was used by Dr. James Haller, who practiced in Middletown, Ohio, in the 1840s and 1850s. He later was a surgeon with General William T. Sherman's army during the Civil War.

Burnett's Mound, Shawnee County, Kansas
Date: Between 1850 and 1870
A drawing of Burnett's Mound, located in Shawnee County, Kansas. It was originally called Webster's Mound and possibly known as Knox's Mound.

Camp Comanche
Creator: Gregg, Josiah, 1806-1850
Date: Between 1831 and 1840
Camp Comanche, an illustration copied from Commerce Of The Prairies by Josiah Gregg.

Candle lantern
Date: between 1800 and 1850
This is a pressed and pierced tin candle lantern. Half-round lantern has clear glass pane beneath pierced conical top. Hinged metal door with snap latch opens to reveal candle socket on interior. Hiram C. Coville brought this lantern to Kansas Territory from Ohio. The Covilles were early settlers, landing first in Lawrence and quickly moving west to the Topeka area in 1855. Hiram was a soldier in the 2nd Kansas Militia, Company B, when he was killed during the Price Raid in 1864. His son, Allen, also used the lantern on the farm in Shawnee County.

Carey Mission letter, unknown author
Creator: Carey Missionaries
Date: February 19, 1828
In this letter from the Carey Mission (in Michigan Territory) the author details the expenditures accrued during the third quarter of 1827, part of which was a result of traveling expenses for four Native American students who left the Carey Mission for Worthington in Ohio.

Celebrated violet waltz varied for the guitar
Creator: Worrall, Henry, 1825-1902
Date: 1853
Guitarist Henry Worrall published his solo instrumental "Violet Waltz" with W.C. Peters & Sons of Cincinnati, Ohio. This copy comes from Worrall's personal collection. The many penciled notations included throughout this copy are presumed to be Worrall's. In the early twentieth century, Worrall's popular guitar instrumentals played a key role in the development of the guitar styles of southern rural folk musicians and country and blues musical idioms. Worrall moved to Topeka, Kansas, in 1868 where he died in 1902.

Chamfering drawknife
Date: between 1850 and 1860
Cooper's left-handed chamfering drawknife. James Cracroft used this tool while he was working as a cooper in Kansas from 1867 until his death in 1900. He brought coopering tools from Indiana at the close of the Civil War, first using them in Fort Scott, Kansas, until about 1880 and thereafter at Hartford, Kansas. Coopers made barrels using special tools like this chamfering knife.

Chimes of E
Creator: Worrall, Henry, 1825-1902
Date: Between 1850 and 1900
This document is Henry Worrall's original manuscript copy of a solo guitar instrumental he called "Chimes of E." This piece is presumed to be an original composition or arrangement by Worrall. In the early twentieth century, Worrall's popular guitar instrumentals played a key role in the development of the guitar styles of southern rural folk musicians and country and blues musical idioms. Worrall moved to Topeka, Kansas, in 1868 where he died in 1902.