The Kansas Territory, established by the Kansas-Nebraska Act on May 30, 1854, was central to the “Bleeding Kansas” era, a violent prelude to the American Civil War, marked by conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers. This period, which lasted until Kansas’ admission to the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861, is notable for events such as the Sack of Lawrence and the Pottawatomie Massacre. Genealogical research in this era is rich and complex, with records like territorial censuses, land claims, voter registrations, and newspaper accounts offering insights into ancestors’ lives and affiliations amidst the turmoil. The diverse influx of settlers into the Kansas Territory, alongside the displacement of Native American tribes such as the Kansa and Osage, underscores the transformative impact of this period on the region’s demographic and social landscape.
Articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at the Sac and Fox agency on this sixteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, by David Crawford, commissioner on the part of the United States, and the following-named delegates representing the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewas and the Munsee or Christian Indians, […]
Chester Thomas. There are two factors which loom larger than any others in determining the life and characters of an individual. They are, first, the stock from which he springs and of which he is naturally an expression, and second, his surroundings. The observance or non-observance of the virtues by successive generations of ancestors largely
These treaties were instrumental in establishing and defining the relationship between the United States and the Arapaho and Cheyenne Confederation. They also impacted the history of the tribe after it signed the initial treaty of 1825. Each succeeding treaty will show the historian a shrinking land mass controlled by the Arapaho and Cheyenne. Includes land cession maps detailing the land ceded by the Arapaho and Cheyenne.
Adoniram Judson Whitford. A special place in ranks of the pioneer business men of Kansas should be accorded the late Adoniram Judson Whitford of Manhattan. For over forty years he sold hardware in that city. When he opened his first stock of goods the Civil war was raging over the country. He began on a
Hon. Oliver Barber was one of the foremost figures in the life of Kansas during the territorial and early statehood period. The Barber family played many noteworthy parts in the making of Kansas a free state, and in those early years there was hardly a man more justly honored by his fellow citizens than Oliver
Harvey W. Ide was one of the men who bore a conspicuous part in the early history of that section of Kansas around Leavenworth. He arrived when Kansas was a territory, and at the height of the epoch-making struggle over the slavery question. He was long distinguished as a lawyer, for many years was judge
Cornatzer—Cyrus Cicero Cornatzer, whose Shawnee name is See-tah-way-see-cab, and who belongs to the Rabbit Clan, was born February 11, 1853 on One Hundred and Ten Mile Creek in Kansas Territory. He is the son of Samuel M. and Caroline Cornatzer. The former was born May 6, 1824 in Oxford, North Carolina, and the latter was
Henry William Wulfekuhler. The late Henry William Wulfekuhler, who helped to build the City of Leavenworth and for nearly a half century was identified with its commercial and financial history, was of German nativity, his birth having occurred at Osnabruck, in the Province of Hanover, August 9, 1834. His father and grandfather before him, both
Col. Lewis R. Jewell. In Northern Kansas is a county, one of the fairest and most prosperous in the state, which by its name honors one of the most distinguished characters in the early annals of this commonwealth. A pioneer in the development of the lands of Southeastern Kansas, and a soldier who went to
Aldamar P. Elder. One of the names that will always have significance in Kansas history is that of Elder. Over the state at large it is most closely associated with the career of the late Peter Percival Elder, who came to Kansas when it was a territory, was prominent in many ways during the early
Rev. Josiah B. McAfee was one of the remarkable men of the State of Kansas, and it would be difficult to mention any line of activity or notable development from early pioneer days without giving a full measure of credit to this honored citizen. All over the great expense of the commonwealth may be found
