1851 Colt Navy Revolver
Creator: Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company
Date: between 1851 and 1852
1851 Colt Navy Revolver with engraved cylinder. Six shot, .36 caliber single action steel revolver with walnut grips. William F. Arny reportedly gave this Colt Navy revolver to John Brown in 1856 in recognition of his efforts for the Free State cause. According to Arny, Brown returned the revolver to him when he learned that Arny did not support his methods. Arny came to Kansas in 1857 and was involved in the Free State movement, serving as a delegate to the Grasshopper Falls Convention and as a member of the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention. He was also elected to the first State Legislature. Arny donated the revolver to the Kansas Historical Society in 1879. Alternatively, it is possible that the revolver was one of fifty purchased by John Brown supporters back East and sent to him in Kansas. Because he was keeping a low profile, Brown couldn't receive the shipment and the revolvers were distributed to Kansans who might be able to use them to support the cause. Brown later attempted to retrieve the weapons with little success. Arny may have received this revolver and kept it until the time of donation.

1855 rescue of free stater Jacob Branson
Creator: Abbott, James Burnett, 1818-1897
Date: Between 1855 and 1860
James Abbott, a free state activist who participated in several Kansas Territory conflicts (including the rescues of John Doy and Jacob Branson), wrote this account of the 1855 rescue of Jacob Branson. In his account, Sheriff Jones, supported by the proslavery "bogus" legislature, had arrested Jacob Branson, a free state man who witnessed the murder of Charles W. Dow by Franklin Coleman, a proslavery neighbor. Abbott and his cohorts successfully rescued Branson, although their actions were controversial even among fellow free state supporters. Certain aspects of Abbott's account of these events disagreed with an earlier account provided by Samuel Wood, and Abbott addressed those discrepancies in this document. [Abbott's account, obtained either by handwritten manuscript or personal interview, is presented here as an annotated typed transcript.]

8,000 students affected, state officials see no trouble adjusting schools to new rule
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: May 17, 1954
This article discusses how the state of Kansas will work to conform to the ruling made in the Brown v. Board of Education decision on May 17, 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that the segregation of schools based on race was unconstitutional. Many cities in Kansas, including Topeka, Atchison, Salina, Wichita, and Pittsburg were already working to integrate their schools. Topeka had an estimated 625 African American students who would be affected by the court's ruling, and the article lists the numbers for other cities and towns in the state.

Aaron D. Stevens to Jennie Dunbar
Creator: Stevens, Aaron D.
Date: December 3, 1859
From his jail cell at Charles Town, Virginia, abolitionist Aaron Dwight Stevens, 1831-1860, wrote his dear friend, Jennie Dunbar, regarding his actions and prospects ("Slavery demands that we should hang for its protection") and that he regretted nothing except that he would not live to "see this Country free." Stevens, reported to be one of abolitionist John Brown's bravest men, used the alias Captain Charles Whipple while following Brown. Stevens was convicted of treason and conspiring with slaves for his part in Brown's October 16, 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and was hung at Charles Town on March 16, 1860.

Aaron Dwight Stevens
Creator: Moore, J. S.
Date: 1856
A cabinet card of Aaron Dwight Stevens, 1831-1860. Stevens, reported to be one of abolitionist John Brown's bravest men, used the alias Captain Charles Whipple while following Brown. Stevens was convicted of treason and conspiring with slaves for his part in Brown's October 16, 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and was hung at Charles Town, Virginia on March 16, 1860.

Aaron Dwight Stevens
Creator: Reader, Samuel James, 1836-1914
Date: 1856
A cyanotype of Aaron Dwight Stevens, 1831-1860, from a drawing made by Samuel J. Reader of Shawnee County, Kansas Territory. Stevens, reported to be one of abolitionist John Brown's bravest men, used the alias Captain Charles Whipple while following Brown. Stevens was convicted of treason and conspiring with slaves for his part in Brown's October 16, 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and was hung at Charles Town, Virginia on March 16, 1860.

Aaron Dwight Stevens
Creator: Hinton, Richard J. (Richard Josiah), 1830-1901
Date: 1856
A pen sketch of Aaron Dwight Stevens, 1831-1860, published in Richard Hinton's book, "John Brown and His Men." Stevens, reported to be one of abolitionist John Brown's bravest men, used the alias Captain Charles Whipple while following Brown. Stevens was convicted of treason and conspiring with slaves for his part in Brown's October 16, 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and was hung at Charles Town, Virginia on March 16, 1860.

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.

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.

A. B. Nettleton to Governor John St. John
Creator: Nettleton, A. B.
Date: November 08, 1880
A letter from editor A. B. Nettleton of the Minneapolis Tribune to Kansas Governor St. John seeking answers to several probing and relevant questions regarding the disposition and implementation of the recently adopted prohibition amendment.

A boquet of flowers in rhyme on the liquor trade
Creator: Hampe, H. W.
Date: 1890
A small pamphlet written by Reverend H.W. Hampe on the duty and work of the Gospel Ministry to "strike at the root of all evils in Church", one being the liquor trade, and the need for all to be independent from "King Alcohol".

About labor trusts
Creator: Martin, George W. (George Washington), 1841-1914
Date: June 6, 1900
A letter written by George W. Martin of Kansas, to Representative Chester I. Long in Washington, D.C., on labor trusts and their economic impact on the nation.

Abraham (Bullet Hole) Ellis
Creator: Martin Leonard V.
Date: Between 1862 and 1889
This sepia colored photograph shows Abraham (Bullet Hole) Ellis. Abraham was elected to the Kansas Territorial Legislature in 1858 and to the first Kansas state legislature of 1861. In 1862, Ellis was shot by William Quantrill, the bullet passed through a sash and fur cap, crushing both plates of the skull and lodging against the inner lining. It lay buried in the wound for seventy hours. Abraham wouldn't fully recover from the wound for five months. The ball and twenty-seven pieces of bone are now in the Army and Navy Medical Museum in Washington, D.C.

Absalom White territorial loss claim
Creator: Strickler, Hiram Jackson
Date: 1859
Report of H.L. Strickler, Commissioner to Audit Claims of Citizens of the Territory of Kansas, contained in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set of congressional and executive documents. Absalom White filed claim #246 for the loss of an arm as a result of being struck by a bullet at a battle with southerners near the H. T. Titus [probably Henry C.] home in Douglas County. The arm was subsequently amputated. The claim was not allowed on the grounds that White was "engaged in rebellion and making unwarranted attack on the person and property of a private citizen." Each claimant had to submit an itemized list and have two witnesses attest to the losses claimed. Even though many of these claims were approved for payment, no funds were ever appropriated or distributed.

A census of residents on Big Sugar Creek, Kansas Territory
Creator: Hyatt, Thaddeus
Date: 1857
This account identifies the names and origins of both free-state and pro-slavery settlers who lived on Big Sugar Creek, Kansas Territory. The account, presumably collected by Thaddeus Hyatt or some other member of the National Kansas Committee, begins with a brief description of the area, and mentions particular cases of settlers who had noteworthy experiences. Of the 25 pro-slavery residents identified, only two owned slaves.

A census of residents on the Little Osage River, Kansas Territory
Date: 1857
This brief report describes the settlers along the Little Osage River, Kansas Territory, and notes that it is occupied mostly by proslavery settlers (there are only three or four free state residents identified). The report mentions Enoch Osbourne (presumably a free-state settler) who was driven from his land, and suggests that there is a need for free-state men to settle on this creek.

A common-sense view of the anarchist case, with some points apparently unnoticed by others
Creator: Clemens, G. C. (Gaspar Christopher), 1849-1906
Date: 1890s
This pamphlet, apparently, was written by G. C. Clemens. It presents the populist perspective on events related to the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, Illinois, on May 4, 1886. It is dedicated to Gov. Oglesby of Illinois who commuted the sentences of two of the men convicted in the case from death to life terms. The original is fragile but most of the text is available. A few letters or a word may be missing from what were the inside margins of the item.

A. C. Pettitt to Governor John St. John
Creator: Pettitt, A. C.
Date: May 22, 1880
In this letter, the State Executive Committee Chairman of New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, speaking for the prohibitionists of his state, sends Kansas Governor St. John a hearty note of support for his efforts to suppress the "Liquor Traffic" in Kansas.

A. C. Pierce to Governor John St. John
Creator: Pierce, A. C.
Date: November 10, 1880
A letter from A. C. Pierce of Junction City to Kansas Governor St. John in which Pierce comments on organizing the House and expresses doubt about candidates being considered for Speaker and Clerk.

A. Crabb to Governor John St. John
Creator: Crabb, A.
Date: June 10, 1880
This letter from Reverend Crabb thanks Kansas Governor St. John for the temperance information sent him, and he pledges his support for the Governor in the upcoming election. Crabb has little doubt the prohibition amendment will pass. The letter was written in Omio, Kansas.

A. Crabb to Governor John St. John
Creator: Crabb, A.
Date: May 28, 1880
In this letter from Rev. Crabb of Omio, Kansas, he regrets not having a place where the Kansas Governor can present a temperance lecture and asks for statistical information related to intemperance to help his community battle the opposition.

A Crisis for the Husbandman
Creator: Daniels, Percy
Date: 1889--1891
The contents of this book are six lectures that were delivered to the Girard, Kansas, Grange by Colonel Percy Daniels, a civil engineer. The chapters correspond to individual speeches with titles such as "The Condition of Agriculture," "The Cause, a Living Octopus and a Dead Industry," "The Cause, The Annual Penalty Imposed on Labor," Our Idolatry--the Golden Calf," "The Remedy," and "American Despots to the Rear." Reviews of various lectures as well as some addition materials are included. Daniels later served as a Populist Lieutenant Governor of Kansas. Dates in the publication range from 1889 through 1891. It was published by Western Herald Print of Girard, Kansas.

Adair-Brown cabin, Osawatomie, Kansas
Date: Between 1912 and 1928
These two postcards show a view of the Adair-Brown cabin in Osawatomie, Kansas. The structure, built around 1854 by Samuel Glenn, was later sold in 1855 to John Brown's brother-in-law Samuel Lyle Adair. The cabin provided a home for the Adair family but was frequently used by Brown for abolitionist activities. In 1912, the structure was moved to the highest point in the John Brown Memorial Park which is also the site of the "Battle of Osawatomie" where John Brown and thirty free-state defenders fought in 1856 against 250 pro-slavery militia men. A stone pavilion was built in 1928 to protect the cabin's exterior. The state legislature appointed the Kansas Historical Society to maintain the site and in 1971 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Adair-Brown cabin, Osawatomie, Kansas
Date: Between 1912 and 1928
This sepia-colored postcard shows a view of the Adair-Brown cabin in Osawatomie, Kansas. The structure, built around 1854 by Samuel Glenn, was later sold in 1855 to John Brown's brother-in-law Samuel Lyle Adair. The cabin provided a home for the Adair family but was frequently used by Brown for abolitionist activities. In 1912, the structure was moved to the highest point in the John Brown Memorial Park which is also the site of the "Battle of Osawatomie" where John Brown and thirty free-state defenders fought in 1856 against 250 pro-slavery militia men. A stone pavilion was built in 1928 to protect the cabin's exterior. The state legislature appointed the Kansas Historical Society to maintain the site and in 1971 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Adair-Brown cabin, Osawatomie, Kansas
Date: Between 1912 and 1928
This sepia-colored postcard shows a view of the caretakers cottage (on left) and the Adair-Brown cabin in Osawatomie, Kansas. The structure, built around 1854 by Samuel Glenn, was later sold in 1855 to John Brown's brother-in-law Samuel Lyle Adair. The cabin provided a home for the Adair family but was frequently used by Brown for abolitionist activities. In 1912, the structure was moved to the highest point in the John Brown Memorial Park which is also the site of the "Battle of Osawatomie" where John Brown and thirty free-state defenders fought in 1856 against 250 pro-slavery militia men. A stone pavilion was built in 1928 to protect the cabin's exterior. The state legislature appointed the Kansas Historical Society to maintain the site and in 1971 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.