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John 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.

Robert 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.

John James Ingalls

A uncased sixth plate ambrotype portrait of John James Ingalls. He came to the Kansas Territory in the late 1850s. Ingalls, a lawyer and politician, represented Atchison County at the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention, July, 1859. In January, 1860 and 1861, he was an officer of the council when the legislature met at Lecompton. At the Republican Convention at Lawrence, April, 1860, Ingalls was elected to represent the Kansas Territory at the Chicago National Convention. He later served in the Kansas and the United States Senate.

William Addison Phillips

Portrait of William Addison Phillips, an author, lawyer, journalist and politician. In 1857, Phillips attended the Constitution Convention at Topeka and the Free State Conventions at Centropolis, Lawrence, and Grasshopper Falls. He founded the town of Salina in April, 1858. In that same month and year, Phillips was nominated at the Topeka Free-State Convention under the Leavenworth Constitution to serve as a supreme court judge. He attended the Convention at Osawatomie and the Republican State Convention at Lawrence in 1859. Phillips served in the Kansas Volunteer Regiments and rose to the rank of colonel. From March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1875 Phillips was an at large representative to the United States Congress and from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1879 he represented the First District.

Benjamin Stringfellow

Portrait of Benjamin Stringfellow, attorney and pro-slavery activist. In 1838, Stringfellow settled in Missouri, where he served in the house of representatives, and was attorney general for four years. After moving to Weston, Missouri, he became a member and officer of the Platte County Self-Defensive Association (an aggressive pro-slavery organization). He wrote a pamphlet entitled "Negro Slavery No Evil, or the North and the South." In 1858, Stringfellow moved to Atchison, Kansas Territory, where he helped build the town and was an attorney for the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad.

Harry Walter Colmery, as a young man.

Portrait of Harry W. Colmery as a young man.

Harry Walter Colmery as a young boy.

Portrait of Harry W. Colmery, 1890-1979, taken when he was a young boy.

Harry Walter Colmery with his wife Minerva and children

Harry W. Colmery, his wife Minerva (Mina), and their children Harry Jr., Mary, and Sarah are standing by a car.

Richard Dean Rogers and Alvin Springer

A photograph of Richard Dean Rogers and Alvin Springer, members of Springer and Rogers law firm, Manhattan, Kansas.

Vern and Pearl Miller

A photograph of Vern Miller, Kansas Attorney General, with his aunt Pearl Miller.