Kenneth Spencer Research Library Archival Collections

Overview Richards and William Connelley corresponded about Kansas territorial history. Richards, who participated in the border wars between Kansas Territory and Missouri (1854-1861), recounted the events for Connelley, a historian. The letters, dated 1902-1909, were written approximately 50 years after the events. Connelley and Richards were specifically interested in detailing the border war involvement of Richards himself as well as James Lane, John Brown, William Quantrill, and Governor...

Overview Dark Command, a film based on the novel by William Riley Burnett, relates the exploits of William Quantrill and his raid on Lawrence, Kansas, during the Civil War. With such movie stars as John Wayne, Walter Pidgeon, Claire Trevor and Roy Rogers, the film had its premiere showing in Lawrence on April 4, 1940. This collection is comprised of area newspaper clippings about the film's debut and preparations for the gala which included a parade, a ball and a reenactment of the burning of the...

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Episodes in Kansas history; three incidents included in The Gun and the Gospel. Lawrence? ca. 1896?

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This letter from George Edwin Young, a survivor of William Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863, was written to his father two days following the massacre. A typed and annotated transcription of the letter is included.

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The accounts in this collection relate to Reuben Randlett's experiences in the 1856 sacking of Lawrence, Kansas; his activities as a spy among the raiders; the Battle of Black Jack; the dissolution of the Free State legislature in Topeka on July 4, 1856; and Randlett's captivity by William C. Quantrill in 1862. The collection also includes a photograph of Randlett.

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This collection of letters was apparently written by two sisters living in Lawrence from 1859 to sometime after 1863. The letters are written to their mother and brother who lived in Westinfield, Connecticut, and concern events in Lawrence prior to and during the Civil War.

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The first two letters are from Banks, who preceded Hutchings to Lawrence, and they describe Lawrence, the lawyers, and law practice in the area. The third letter written by W. B. West mentions Quantrill's raid and asks about job opportunities in Lawrence.

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F.L. Pilla was a minister in Eudora, Kansas at the time of Confederate ally William C. Quantrill's attack on Lawrence, Kansas in mid-August 1863. Pilla writes to his brother recounting this news and indicating that there was some fear that Eudora might have been one of Quantrill's targets.

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Two volumes of mounted newspaper clippings collected by Watson Library staff from numerous publications circa 1863-1963, on the life of William Clark Quantrill and the raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863. Volume one contains newspaper articles on the James brothers, Frank and Jesse and volume two contains articles on survivors and reunions of the Raid on Lawrence

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This collection consists of copied and original correspondence, clippings, photographs, and other related materials regarding the life of Oscar Eugene Learnard, his family, and the early history of Lawrence, Kansas.

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Reminiscences of Quantrill's raid upon the city of Lawrence, Kansas, thrilling narratives by living eye witnesses. Kansas City, Missouri, Isaac P. Moore, Printer and binder. Compiled and arranged by John C. Shea, the letters were originally written for the Chicago Times.

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The history of our ancestors. Being a record of the Riggs, Baldridge, and Agnew families together with fragmentary data as to other cognate families. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1915.

Overview This collection includes letters from William Clarke Quantrill to his mother, Caroline Clarke Quantrill, preceding and up to the raid of Lawrence, Kansas in 1863. Also included in the collection is the correspondence of William W. Scott, editor of the Iron Valley Reporter and friend of Mrs. Quantrill, who attempted to help Mrs. Quantrill obtain the truth about her son. This correspondence consists of letters between Scott and people who allegedly had known...

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Letters to Scott concerning Quantrill's Raid, including one from Charles F. Taylor who was one of Quantrill's men, and concerning William C. Quantrill's family genealogy.