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Abraham Lincoln

An engraving of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the Civil War, saving the Union and ending slavery, only to be assassinated as the war was virtually over. Before becoming the first Republican elected to the Presidency, Lincoln was a lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, and a member of the United States House of Representatives.

Abraham Lincoln

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln. In December 1859, Lincoln traveled to the Kansas Territory and spoke at Elwood, Troy, Doniphan, Atchison, and Leavenworth. His speeches covered several issues including preventing the expansion of slavery, the theory of popular sovereignty, and the evils of states seceding from the Union. In 1860, Lincoln received the Republican party's nomination for president. Although Kansans liked him the delegation from the territory did not support his nomination. He won the election, and on February 22, 1861, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Lincoln raised the United States flag bearing a 34th star, honoring Kansas as the newest state.

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.

William Alfred Peffer

Leonard, J. H.

William Alfred Peffer was the first Populist senator elected to U.S. Congress. He was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1831. As a young man he traveled across the country, living in California, Indiana, Missouri, and Illinois. After the outbreak of Civil War, Peffer enlisted in the 83rd Illinois Infantry, entering as a private and working his way up to the rank of second lieutenant. He read law while still in the military, and after his discharge in 1865 he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Clarksville, Tennessee. Five years later he moved to Fredonia, Kansas, where he established another practice and edited the Fredonia Journal. Peffer served as a state senator from 1874 to 1876, and during his tenure he relocated to Coffeyville, Kansas, where he assumed editorial control of the Coffeyville Journal. Then, in 1881, he launched the Populist publication Kansas Farmer, one of his best-known contributions to this agrarian reform movement. Peffer was instrumental in the creation of the People?s (Populist) Party, serving as a Populist U.S. Senator from 1891 to 1897 and running again (unsuccessfully) for re-election in 1896. Two years later, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for Governor of Kansas, losing the election to Republican William Stanley. Peffer died in 1912 in Grenola, Kansas, at the age of 81.

Harry Walter Colmery

New York Times Studios

This is a portrait of Harry W Colmery, 1890-1979, Topeka attorney, American Legion National Commander, and author of the G.I. Bill of Rights.

Harry Walter Colmery, American Legion Commander, speaking at the dedication of the Flanders Field Chapel, Waeregham, Belgium

American Battle Monuments Commission

Photograph of Harry W. Colmey, American Legion National Commander, speaking at the dedication of the Flanders Field Chapel, Waeregham, Belgium, August 8, 1937.

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.