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Title | Creator | Date Made Visible | None
Ke Kahn [Joseph Napolean Bourassa] to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Bourassa, Joseph Napolean, 1810-1878
Joseph N. Bourassa, a Pottawatomie Indian who signed this letter with his Indian name of Ke Kahn, wrote to Thomas N. Stinson, a Tecumseh resident and Indian trader. Bourassa, writing from Council Grove, Kansas Territory, described his efforts to recruit musicians and dancers for a New Year's Eve ball.
previewNational Kansas Committee, request for clothing and provisions
National Kansas Committee
This advertisement was attached to a receipt for the placement of a notice in the New York Times. The advertisement included information about how the people of New England could aid the fight for freedom in Kansas--both with funds and with labor. It also gave the names of National Kansas Committee members and an address for their New York office.
previewCyrus Kurtz Holliday to Mary Dillon Holliday
Holliday, Cyrus Kurtz, 1826-1900
Cyrus K. Holliday, the founder of Topeka, Kansas Territory, wrote from Lawrence, Kansas Territory to his wife, Mary Holliday, in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He told her of his planned trip up the Kansas River, his pleasure in the people of Kansas Territory, and a Thanksgiving dinner he attended. Unwilling to return to Pennsylvania, Holliday expressed desire that Mary come to Kansas Territory and described the construction of a friend's sod-covered "mansion," one such as Clarina I. H. Nichols, a lecturer and writer, inhabited.
previewMary Dillon Holliday to Cyrus Kurtz Holliday
Holliday, Mary Dillon Jones, 1833-1908
Mary Holliday wrote from Meadville, Pennsylvania to her husband Cyrus K. Holliday in Kansas Territory. This, the second letter he received from her, reported the health of his brother George Holliday's family and mentioned her giving money, earned by selling a locket, to his mother. Mary Holliday eloquently expressed her love and the difficulty of their separation. After joking that her cooking skill should meet Kansas Territory standards, she mentioned the plans of Lowry Trowbridge and George Merriman, Pennsylvanians with Kansas fever.
previewMary Dillon Holliday to Cyrus Kurtz Holliday
Holliday, Mary Dillon Jones, 1833-1908
Mary Holliday wrote from Meadville, Pennsylvania to her husband, Cyrus K. Holliday at Topeka, Kansas Territory. A thoughtful review of the previous year, her letter gave thanks for protection from harm despite sorrows and calamities. Using Biblical allusions and paraphrases, she joyfully expressed hope that eternal bliss begins with a well lived life, and encouraged her husband to consider misspent time and to carry out good New Year's resolutions.
previewWilliam B. Hutchinson to Cyrus Kurtz Holliday
Hutchinson, William , 1823-1904
William B. Hutchinson of Lawrence, Kansas Territory wrote to Cyrus K. Holliday in Topeka, K. T., requesting support for a People's Mass Convention in Topeka on July 4. The gathering Free-Staters would be armed in case of opposition. Colonel Edwin V. Sumner had received orders on June 4th from K. T. Governor Wilson Shannon to disband unlawful military forces. The camp from which Hutchinson wrote had complied, but John W. Whitfield and his troops, camped at Bull Creek, refused. Hutchinson described northern enthusiasm to aid financially the free state cause. John H. Reeder and James H. Lane were speaking in northern states.
previewCyrus Kurtz Holliday to Mary Dillon Holliday
Holliday, Cyrus Kurtz, 1826-1900
During a lull, Cyrus K. Holliday reported from Topeka, Kansas Territory to his wife, Mary Holliday, in Meadville, Pennsylvania that Colonel Edwin V. Sumner had forced proslavery troops back to Missouri and camped on the border. Two free state men from Wisconsin had killed proslavery supporters near Osawatomie. Governor Wilson Shannon had resigned. A "large mass convention" was planned for July 2nd and 3rd, with a meeting of the free state legislature on the 4th. Cyrus advised Mary and Mr. Nichols to wait until after the 4th to travel to the territory.
previewWilliam Y. Roberts and Samuel Clarke Pomeroy to Cyrus Kurtz Holliday
Roberts, William Y
William Y. Roberts and Samuel C. Pomeroy reported their activities from Willard's, a hotel popular with wealthy congressmen in Washington, D. C., to Cyrus K. Holliday in Topeka, Kansas Territory. They described the legislators' and President Franklin Pierce's eagerness to resolve K. T. troubles. While approving the July 4th meeting of the free state legislature, they cautioned Holliday to promote peace.
previewCyrus Kurtz Holliday to Mary Dillon Holliday
Holliday, Cyrus Kurtz, 1826-1900
Cyrus K. Holliday, soon to return to Topeka after a productive territorial legislative session in Lawrence, wrote to his wife, Mary Holliday, in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He wrote about a festival held at the Eldridge House, and reported on several other incidents of note: the arrest of John W. Doy, captured by Missourians while helping former slaves travel to Iowa; John Brown's avoidance of capture by [John P.] Woods (at the Battle of the Spurs on January 31, 1859); and Charles Fischer's escape after being twice arrested as "a fugitive slave." Holliday also wrote that the legislature had passed and Governor Samuel Medary would approve a bill granting Josephine Branscomb a divorce. Despite Holliday's efforts, the constitutional convention would be held at Wyandotte in July. He had refused [Alfred L.] Winans' request for a recommendation.
previewJohn James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
On the first day of the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention, Ingalls wrote from Wyandotte, Kansas, with observation on the city and the nature of the convention, which he considered "not a very superior one." Nevertheless, the Republicans had a big majority, and Ingalls was "on some of the most important committees in the convention and shall be obliged to do some hard work."
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