1880 census of Farmer Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 1, 1880 through June 2, 1880
This excerpt of a census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of settlers in Farmer Township in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The county included a black population (B=Black) who had settled there in 1879 with the help of the Freedmen's Relief Association.

1880 census of Nicodemus Township, Graham County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 8, 1880 through June 23, 1880
This census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of both white and black settlers in Nicodemus Township in Graham County, Kansas. This township had been settled by African Americans in 1877 along the south fork of the Solomon River.

1880 census of Rock Creek Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 11, 1880
This excerpt of a census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of settlers in Rock Creek Township in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The county included a black population (B=Black) who had settled there in 1879 with the help of the Freedmen's Relief Association.

1888 Missouri Pacific railway system map
Creator: Rand McNally & Co., Engravers, Chicago
Date: 1888
This 1888 map illustrates the following rail lines: Mo.Pac, St. L., I, MT'N & S'N, MO., Kan. & Tex, Cent, BR. Un. Pac, INT & GT, and North'N, Texas & Pacific.

18th Infantry Band, Fort Hays, Kansas
Date: 1886
This is a view of the members of the 18th Infantry Band at Fort Hays, Kansas. Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

1987 Annual Report of the Kansas Historical Society
Date: 1987
The annual report prepared for the Kansas Historical Society from 1987. This report was prepared by the Administration Division and the leadership team of the Kansas State Historical Society.

1988 Annual Report of the Kansas Historical Society
Date: 1988
The annual report prepared for the Kansas Historical Society from 1988. This report was prepared by the Administration Division and the leadership team of the Kansas State Historical Society.

200 block of Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Kansas
Creator: Leonard & Martin
Date: Between January 01, 1875 and December 31, 1885
224 to 234 block of Kansas Avenue. The city of Topeka was founded in 1857 along the banks of the Kansas River in present day Shawnee County.

4th Cavalry musician with helicon at Fort Riley, Kansas
Date: Possibly between 1864 and 1884
This is a photo of a 4th Cavalry musician, holding a helicon (a predecessor of the sousaphone), at Fort Riley, Kansas.

4th of July parade in Eskridge, Kansas
Date: Between 1881 and 1889
Two photographs showing the 4th of July parade on Main Street in Eskridge, Kansas. The first photograph is a view of the east side of Main Street looking toward the intersection of 1st and Main. The town of Eskridge had moved to this location only six years before this photo was taken. The second photograph, looking south on Main Street from 1st Avenue, is a rare view of the west side of Main Street prior to the 1890 fire which destroyed all of the block down to the Trusler Building. In 1913, fire destroyed the exact same portion of that block. In this view, a re-enactment of Bill Cole's Last Ride, a story of Indians attacking Cole and the Smith boys, who were overland mail carriers.

50 Camp, Crawford County, Kansas
Date: Between 1870 and 1920
A photograph of 50 Camp, or Camp 50, a small unincorporated community in Crawford County approximately 2 miles west of Arma. It was a company town of Central Coal and Coke and continues as a small residential community. Visible is a mine and mining equipment.

8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry monument at Missionary Ridge
Creator: Schmedling Photographer
Date: Between 1870 and 1900
These are three photographs of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry monument on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

A
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883 : St. John)
Date: 1879-1883
This file includes letters on topics such as agriculture, the American Institute of Christian Philosophy, bondsmen, and acknowledgement of receipts. In the first letter to Kansas Governor St. John the person requests the governor speak to the Legislature to adjust measures in securing the Fort Hays reservation as a school for the promotion of agriculture. There is a letter from Joe Anderson of Kansas City, Kansas requesting that Governor St. John be a bondsman for the Olathe Asylum. Other letters in this file discuss appointments, advocacy for temporary amendments, as well as other matters.

A.A. Jones' wagon shop, Bennington, Kansas
Date: Between 1880 and 1900
This photograph shows a group of men standing in the showroom of the A.A. Jones' wagon shop in Bennington, Kansas. According to the back of the photograph the business sold Studebaker, Courtland and Bradley Buggies along with water pumps.

A.A. Rassicot family
Date: Between 1870 and 1899
This photograph shows the A.A. Rassicot family leaving Ransom, Kansas in a covered wagon heading to St. Anne, Illinois.

A. Barnes to Governor John St. John
Creator: Barnes, A.
Date: August 22, 1880
A letter from A. Barnes of Junction City to Kansas Governor St. John. Barnes sends a list of speakers he would prefer attend the upcoming campaign and also references a controversial temperance article written by noted Kansas lawyer, Judge Humphrey.

Abbie Bright correspondence
Creator: Bright, Abbie, 1848-1926
Date: 1861-1903
Abbie Bright was born on a farm near Danville, Pennsylvania, on December 17, 1848. She had three brothers, Dennis, Hiram and Philip, all of whom enlisted in the army when the Civil War broke out. Abbie had three sisters, Rebecca, Peninah, and Mary, all of whom aided the war effort. In 1870 Abbie traveled to Indiana and Kansas to visit Hiram and Philip and wrote an account of her trip in a diary (also available on Kansas Memory as record unit 223662). While in Kansas she acquired 160 acres as an investment. This series of correspondence includes letters describing the brother's wartime activities. There are also letters to and from other individuals who were involved in the Civil War. These writings make a significant contribution to Civil War research. Other letters pertain to Philip and Abbie Bright's westward migration. Philip moved to Wyoming, Kansas, Texas, and Arizona but died in 1873 and the letters at that time mostly concern his death. The 1902 and 1903 correspondence apparently regards the sale of Abbie's land in Kansas. A complete transcription is available by clicking on "Text Version" below.

Abbie Bright diary
Creator: Bright, Abbie, 1848-1926
Date: 1868-1921
Born in Pennsylvania in 1848, Abbie Bright traveled to Kansas in 1870 as a young woman and her diary is primarily an account of this trip. It gives excellent accounts of daily life and settlement activities. The "diary" is actually composed of two different manuscripts and both are presented here. The first is an eighty-six page loose-leaf diary with consistent entries from September 2, 1870 - December 20, 1871. The second is a bound composition book with 129 written pages. This book begins with a childhood reminiscence written in Iowa in 1914 (p1-23), followed by a reminiscence of her Kansas trip written in Iowa in 1921 (p24-36) that covers Aug 23, 1870 - Jan 30, 1871. The book then includes some recipes dated 1868-1871 and a receipt dated 1884 (p37-41), and finally consistent diary entries from February 2, 1871 - December 21, 1871 (p41-129). A complete, revised transcription of both manuscripts is available by clicking on "Text Version" below. A previous, annotated transcription that combines the 1870-1871 entries from both manuscripts was published in the Kansas Historical Quarterly in 1971 and is available through a link below.

A.B. Campbell to Governor John Martin
Creator: Campbell, A. B.
Date: April 4, 1886
The Kansas adjutant general at Parsons sends a telegram to Governor John Martin of Topeka asking the governor for permission to furnish the mayor of Parsons with one hundred guns to preserve peace in the city. A strike of railroad workers on the Missouri Pacific Railroad at Parsons led company and city officials to ask the governor to arm citizens and for call out the militia.

A.B. Campbell to Governor John Martin
Creator: Campbell, A. B.
Date: April 9, 1886
Adjutant General Colonel A. B. Campbell of Parsons, Kansas, writes Kansas Governor John Martin of Topeka. He informs the governor that citizens are putting together a force of fifty special police to respond to striking railroad workers. Railroad employees at Parsons were striking and the governor granted permission to provide citizens with arms to keep the peace.

A.B. Campbell to Governor John Martin
Creator: Campbell, A. B.
Date: April 1, 1886
A.B. Campbell, Kansas Adjutant General, of Parsons, telegrams Kansas Governor John Martin, of Topeka, stating that another railroad engine has been killed and that he is leaving to investigate. This is in response to the local authority's request for National Guard troops during the railroad strike in the three state area.

A. B. Ferguson to Governor John St. John
Creator: Ferguson, A. B.
Date: August 18, 1880
This is a letter from A. B. Ferguson, Burlingame, Kansas, to Kansas Governor John St. John inviting the Governor to a Sunday School gathering the next day at Burlingame.

Abigail Walton
Date: Between 1885 and 1890
This is a studio portrait of Abigail Walton, a resident of Harveyville, Kansas.

Abijah Wells
Creator: Purnelle Brothers
Date: Between 1880 and 1885
This is a carte-de-visite showing Abijah Wells who was an early pioneer, lawyer, and financier in Nemaha County, Kansas. He was born June 12, 1840, the son of William R. and Betsy K. Skinner Wells. The family came to Kansas in 1857, and soon after their arrival, William became involved in the free-state movement. Abijah attended Centralia College and later attended Kansas State Agricultural College. Early in life, Abijah decided to enter the legal profession, and after college, he entered the law office of J. E. Taylor, where he studied law. He was admitted to the Nemaha County bar in 1866 and practiced law all his life except for four years while a member of the Kansas Court of Appeals. In that same year, he married Loretta C. Williams, the daughter of Captain Arthur William Williams and Mary Angeline Nordyke. In early 1881, he became the editor and owner of the Seneca Tribune and later that year sold the paper. Wells held many offices including clerk of the district court, register of deeds, superintendent of education, mayor of Seneca, and the Seneca school board for a number of years. In addition to his legal career, he was vice-president of the National Bank of Seneca and involved in various financial interests. Abijah Wells died March 1, 1915 in Los Angeles, California.

Abilene, Kansas, looking northwest from the Courthouse
Date: 1886
Photograph of Abilene, Kansas, in Dickinson County, looking northwest from the Courthouse, 1886.