A Kansas Memory Podcast

Episode 10: "Those...who are fearful or faint-hearted, had better not come": Letters from the Rev. Samuel Adair

The documents used in the Adair podcast are available on Earlier Kansas Memory podcasts used documents from Territorial Kansas Online: A Virtual Repository for Territorial Kansas History, 1854-1861.

• Letter, [Samuel Adair] to Bro.[S.S.] Jocelyn
  November 16, 1854
  Samuel Adair and his family had just arrived in Kansas City, MO. He wrote to S. S. Jocelyn of the American Missionary Society. He described poor conditions for settlers in Kansas Territory, his and his wife's illnesses, the doctor who treated them owned slaves, etc. This appears to be a draft of a letter sent to Jocelyn.
• Letter, S.L. Adair to Rev. S.S. Jocelyn
  May 3, 1855
  Samuel Adair wrote from Osawatomie to thank Rev. Jocelyn, an official of the American Missionary Association, for his encouragement and fiscal support of $100. He said they will use it to pay what they owe and then make it last as long as possible. His wife has taken in sewing and washing to make ends meet but Adair asks Jocelyn not to share that information.
• Letter Adair to Jocelyn
  September 8, 1855
  This long letter was written in Osawatomie to Jocelyn, who was Samuel Adair's contact with the American Missionary Association. The first three pages dealt with some disagreement over Adair's salary and support that was to be provided by the association, his efforts on behalf of religion, and prospects for a "union" church building that would be shared by several denominations. The last page discussed economic conditions in Kansas Territory and the difficulty of getting items to Kansas either via the Missouri River or by overland freighting from St. Louis.
• S.L. Adair to the friends of Christ
  c. 1855
  This letter reported on the current religious situation in Osawatomie, Kansas Territory. According to the author, a missionary with the American Missionary Association, the residents had begun the preliminary steps for organizing a church. In Osawatomie there were a number of Baptists, Congregationalists, and Wesleyans, along with a large group who "make no profession of religion."
• Samuel Adair to the Free Mission Sewing Society of the First Congregational Church
  c. 1856
  Rev. Adair wrote from Osawatomie, K.T. and described the physical characteristics of Kansas as well as the efforts on behalf of the free state cause. The letter detailed efforts to establish Congregational churches in Kansas as well as discussing the activities of other denominations.