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Title | Creator | Date Made Visible | None
Jonathan Crews to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Crews, Jonathan
Jonathan Crews, writing from LaPorte, Indiana, expressed strong proslavery views on the situation in Kansas. Crews described his trip home to Indiana from Kansas and discussed several Indiana court cases involving his business interests.
previewJohn James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
On the first leg of his move to Sumner, Kansas Territory, John J. Ingalls, a 24-year-old Massachusetts lawyer, wrote this brief letter from Boston, Mass., to his father, Elias T. Ingalls. Here Ingalls wrote regarding the fare and "the best method of getting West."
previewJohn James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
Much of this interesting letter, dated November 21, 1858, from Sumner, Kansas Territory, describes the Ingalls law practice and the nature of a "frontier" court proceedings that often attracted "nearly all the population." According to Ingalls, "the chief difficulty arising [in the courts came] from the conflict of the two Codes, adopted by two hostile legislatures, each of which had adherents who call the other 'bogus.'" Ingalls also discussed the business of land sales, as something many others successfully combined with the practice of law.
previewJohn James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
The biggest share of this 8-page letter is devoted to comments on the weather and the environment, in and around Atchison, where Ingalls now had a law practice (for a time, he continued to live in Sumner). He missed some aspects of "Massachusetts weather," but overall he thought Kansas superior: "I have not had a cold in six months and but one or two since I came here . . . [and] The attacks of melancholy and despondency to which I was once a prey have also almost entirely disappeared." Ingalls also wrote of two arson fires--"a large grocery house" and "the steamer Hesperian," and the expected fate of the suspect then in custody.
previewJohn James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
In this rather lengthy letter from his home in Sumner, Ingalls commented on many different facets of his personal and professional life to date in Kansas Territory and about his prospects for the future; these included his law practice (now mostly in Atchison), his interest in journalism and politics, and his interest in a variety of speculative opportunities. The future of Kansas looked good to Ingalls, despite continued problems with drought that was forcing many to sell out.
previewCharles Chadwick to Hiram Hill
Chadwick, Charles
Charles Chadwick wrote from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts, regarding the land dispute between Hill and Robert Robetaille, a Wyandot Indian. Chadwick had been advised by Robert Lawrence (perhaps a local attorney) to correspond with a Nathaniel Pope Causin, Prosecutor of Indian Claims, in Washington. Chadwick, for Lawrence's support and assistance, had advised that Hill would pay him. Chadwick was to pass along Causin's card once he received it from Mr. Lawrence. The lands in questions had originally been set aside for the settlement of Native American tribes.
previewNathaniel Pope Causin to Hiram Hill
Causin, Nathanial Pope
Nathaniel Pope Causin wrote from Washington to Hiram Hill in Williamsburgh, Massachusetts. Causin had received word from Robert Lawrence and Charles Chadwick of the Territorial Kansas land claim dispute between Hill and Robetaille, a Wyandot Indian. Causin confirmed he would represent Hill in Hill's lawsuit to maintain ownership of his claim. Causin awaited Robert Lawrence's arrival in Washington in order to proceed aggressively, but would continue making necessary contacts.
previewCharles Chadwick to Hiram Hill
Chadwick, Charles
Charles Chawick wrote from Quindaro, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts, to tell him that it appeared favorable that Hill would win possession of the land disputed by Robert Robetaille, a Wyandot Indian. However, Chadwick feared that the decision may not be made as easily as he had earlier anticipated, since Robert Lawrence had been seen in Leavenworth and had not traveled to Washington to work with Nathaniel Causin. Nonetheless, Abelard Guthrie had given up trying to obtain the land as well, leaving Hiram as the only other claimant. The land in question had originally been set aside for settlement by Native American tribes.
previewJohn A. Halderman
John Halderman grew up in Kentucky and was trained as a lawyer. He came to Kansas Territory in 1854 and served as the personal secretary to the first territorial governor Andrew Reeder. In 1855, he served as secretary to the first territorial council. He ultimately separated himself from the pro-slavery Lecompton movement. He was the first probate judge of Leavenworth County. He served as a major of the First Kansas volunteers during the Civil War and lived most of the rest of his life in Leavenworth.
previewRobert Byington Mitchell
Nichols, A. C.
Robert B. Mitchell settled in Paris, Linn County, Kansas Territory, in 1856. He was born in Ohio and studied law. He was active in free state territorial politics. He served in the Territorial House of Representatives in 1857 and 1858, was a member of the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention, and was appointed Territorial Treasurer on February 11, 1859. He was part of the free state supporters who followed Charles Hamilton and his band after the Marais des Cygnes massacre. After the territorial period he served as a brigadier general in the Second Kansas Volunteer Cavalry and held the appointed post of Governor of New Mexico from 1866 to 1869.
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