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Page 1 of 1, showing 5 records out of 5 total, starting on record 1, ending on 5

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Title | Creator | Date Made Visible | None

Cyrus Kurtz Holliday to Alfred and Edgar Huidekoper

Holliday, Cyrus Kurtz, 1826-1900

Cyrus K. Holliday, founder and prominent citizen of Topeka, Kansas Territory, wrote to Alfred Huidekoper and Edgar Huidekoper, old associates from Meadville, Pennsylvania, to tell them of investment opportunities. He described rural claims, Town Act investments, and loans. He gave examples of large returns, including those gained by former governor Andrew H. Reeder. The time was ripe since Kansas' free statehood seemed certain, the land was titled, securities were assured, and financial difficulties had left some land and property owners with no option but to sell sacrificially. Holliday also confirmed the discovery of gold in western Kansas Territory (now Colorado).

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John 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.

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John James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls

Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900

From Lawrence, K.T., where he went to lobby the territorial legislature on behalf of Sumner's city charter and a "Pikes Peak Express Company," John J. Ingalls wrote to tell his father about the journey that took him through Leavenworth. He made some interesting observations about the condition of the roads and the general discomfort involved in overland travel ("The coaches are constructed with special reference to safety in passing over corduroy roads, through sloughs and ravines, having no regard whatever to the comfort of the passengers."), as well as nice descriptions of both cities, Leavenworth and Lawrence.

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John James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls

Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900

Ingalls devoted much of his April 3, 1860, letter from Sumner to the territory's agricultural prospects, which were still not particularly good: "Corn, pork, and hides" were Kansas's only exports, and they were not very profitable as prices were low. "Considerable attention," wrote Ingalls, "is being paid to the hemp crop" and the wheat seemed to be doing pretty well; various kinds of fruit also "flourishes. . . . I have never seen finer apples than the farmers across the river bring to market. . . . But little is raised in Kansas yet, though much attention is being given to 'orchardizing' this spring." Ingalls was actually considering a move to the Gold County (Colorado) for better business prospects.

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Henry F. Parker to Hiram Hill

Parker, Henry F.

Henry Parker wrote from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts. Parker reported that currently he was only able to collect $33.33 in rent from Hill's tenants, a small fraction of what was owed. He added that many settlers were leaving for California and hopes for gold mining in the West; many homes and businesses were vacated. Parker closed by stating "I am sick of Kansas if Business is to go as it has the Last year".

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