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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.
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.
previewTestimony of A. A. Harris, in report and testimony of the select committee to investigate the causes of the removal of the Negroes from the southern states to the northern states, in three parts
United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Negro Exodus
A. A. Harris, a white resident of Ft. Scott, Kansas, gave this brief testimony on March 29, 1880, before the Senate select committee investigating the causes of the Exodus. Harris described his contact with the black Exodusters in his area, including their difficulty finding employment. The committee also asked Harris to speak in some detail about the general treatment of African-Americans in Kansas, including any discrimination against them, particularly in the world of politics. This committee was composed of three Democratic senators and two Republican senators: Daniel W. Voorhees (Dem., Indiana), Zebulon B. Vance (Dem., North Carolina), George H. Pendleton (Dem., Ohio), William Windom (Rep., Minnesota), and Henry W. Blair (Rep., New Hampshire). Senators Blair and Vance asked the questions presented in this testimony.
previewLeigh R. Webber to Miss Brown
Webber, L. R.
A letter written by Leigh R. Webber from "Steamer Robert Campbell Jr. near Liberty Mo.," is addressed to Miss Brown, a daughter of John Stillman Brown, a Unitarian minister who lived west of Lawrence, Kansas. Webber describes how his fellow troops have become more experienced soldiers "who fight for liberty and law." He discusses the march from Fort Riley to Fort Leavenworth and conditions on the boat that was taking them further south. He also mentiones William Brown's new law position with former Kansas Territory governor Wilson Shannon.
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