Jump to Navigation

Governor Records - Crawford, 1865-1868

S. J. Crawford administration
Jan. 9, 1865 - Nov. 4, 1868

Collection Summary

Repository

Kansas State Historical Society (Topeka)

Creator

Kansas. Governor (1865-1868 : Crawford)

Title

Kansas Governor S. J. Crawford records
Portion of title: Records
Other titles

  • Records of the Kansas Governor’s Office : administration of Governor S. J. Crawford (1865-1868)
  • Records of the Office of the Governor of Kansas : S. J. Crawford administration (1865-1868)
  • Correspondence files

Dates

1865-1868

Quantity

1 ft. (3 boxes)
2 v.

Abstract

Third governor of the State of Kansas, 1865 - 1868; of Topeka, Kan.

Correspondence and an Index to official state matters. The 4 correspondence series include Letters received & proclamations, a volume of Copies of letters sent, a partial Letter press book, and a volume of Copies of telegrams received & sent. Letters received and proclamations, the largest series, contains correspondence arranged by subject, general correspondence, correspondence with other states, and correspondence with state departments. All of the correspondence series address similar subjects: appointments to state & local offices, state finance & taxation, county affairs, criminal & judicial matters, Indians & military affairs, federal agencies & issues, land, livestock, politics, a memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, Civil War damage claims, railroads, relief, roads, the Kansas Legislature, suffrage for African Americans & women, and the administration of state institutions. The Index to official state matters consists of a list of “state actions,” mostly bonds approved. Additional records of Governor Crawford’s administration are in separate series common to several governors including an Executive record (Official record), 1861 - 1879; Executive proclamations, 1861 - 1980; Pardon & parole files: Women’s Industrial Farm, 1863 - 1919; Appointments registers, 1865 - 1885; and Pardons, 1865 - 1883.

Identification

Record group 252.

Consult the Detailed Description of the Records section below for locations of individual series and folders.

Language

Text is in English.

Notes

This finding aid describes materials held by the Kansas State Historical Society. Materials may be used in the Research Room in the society’s Center for Historical Research during regular research hours. Support for telephone, mail, and online reference and research is limited.

This finding aid describes materials on microfilm held by the Kansas State Historical Society. Microfilm may be used in the Research Room in the society’s Center for Historical Research during regular research hours. Microfilm may also be borrowed through interlibrary loan for your use at a participating public, academic, or research library. Information on interlibrary loan is available from the Kansas State Historical Society and on its web site, http://www.kshs.org. Support for telephone, mail and online research and reference is limited.

In a continuing effort to improve the completeness and accuracy of finding aids, revisions are made as more or new information becomes available. Consequently finding aids in paper format, on microfilm, and on the Society’s web site may differ slightly.

Descriptions are often based on a preliminary inspection of the material. As such, they may contain misspellings or other inaccuracies based on folder headings and other sources within the materials. As the collections are arranged and as time permits, these finding aids are improved and corrected. If you spot an error, please feel free to report it to the reference staff or an archivist.

Biography and History

History of the Office of the Governor

The Wyandotte Constitution of 1859 established the office of the governor of the State of Kansas. Some of the more important duties, functions, and responsibilities of the governor are to see that the laws are faithfully executed, to require written explanations from other executive officers - at that time the lieutenant governor, secretary of State, auditor, treasurer, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction - upon any subject relating to their respective duties, convene the Legislature by proclamation on extraordinary occasions, communicate in writing such information as he may possess in reference to the condition of the State at the commencement of every legislative session, recommend such measures as he may deem expedient, and commission officers of the State.

No formal qualifications for the governor have been legislated, aside from the provision that no member of Congress or officer of the State or United States can serve. The governor is elected by a plurality, not a necessarily a majority, of votes cast. The governor takes office the second Monday in January following election. He was authorized to hire a private secretary, pardon attorney, and other staff as appropriations permitted.

By 1865, the governor had the power to appoint Militia officers and members of six part - time boards - boards of directors or regents of the State Penitentiary (now Lansing Correctional Facility), the State University (now the University of Kansas), the Normal School (now Emporia State University), and the State Agricultural College (now Kansas State University); a Board of Visitors for the latter; and the Bureau of Immigration - but no full - time administrators. In 1865, a surgeon general, subject to Senate confirmation, was added to the roster of gubernatorial appointees; in 1867, a three-member Commission for Care of Destitute Orphans and Children of State Soldiers; and the following year the State librarian.

Biography of S. J. Crawford

Samuel Johnson Crawford was born 10 April 1835, near Bedford (Lawrence County), Indiana. He was the son of William Crawford, a farmer, and Jane Morrow Crawford. His grandfather, James F. Crawford, served as a Revolutionary War soldier. He was educated at local country schools and read law at Bedford. He later attended the Law School of Cincinnati College and graduated with a law degree in 1858. He served as an Army captain in the Civil War and advanced to the breveted rank of brigadier general. Later he served in the Indian Nations campaign of 1868 - 69. He married Isabel Marshall Chase on 27 November 1866; they had one son and one daughter. He died 21 October 1913 in Topeka, Kansas, and is buried at Topeka Cemetery.

Samuel J. Crawford was one of the first members of the Kansas Legislature and, at the age of twenty - nine, he was the State’s youngest governor. He was also the first governor to have both peacetime service and election to a second term. Crawford arrived in the Kansas Territory to begin the practice of law at Garnett on 1 March 1859. He was a man of strong personal conviction and possessed many talents and leadership qualities essential for the troubled times of Kansas in the 1860s; he would not long remain a struggling lawyer in Garnett. In May of 1859 he attended the Osawatomie State convention and participated in the organization of the first Republican Party in Kansas. In September of the same year he was a delegate to the Republican State convention at Topeka; the convention placed in nomination the State officers required under the Wyandotte Constitution. In November of 1859, Samuel Crawford was elected a member of the first State Legislature, and helped in effecting the State government into full operation.

At the close of the first session of the Legislature, the country was engulfed in the Civil War. Crawford resigned his legislative seat to become a captain in the 2nd Kansas Volunteer Infantry and participated in the Southwest Missouri campaigns led by General Nathaniel Lyon; he played a crucial role in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. In March of 1862, Captain Crawford was assigned the command of Troop A, 2nd Kansas Cavalry, and soon afterwards the full command of a battalion in the same regiment. In the 2nd Kansas Cavalry he participated in missions with General James G. Blunt in southwest Missouri, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory until the early fall of 1862. At the battle of old Fort Wayne, he led his battalion in the charge and captured an entire Confederate battery of artillery. On 12 March 1863, he was promoted to command the 2nd Kansas Cavalry and joined General Blunt at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, for an expedition southward through the Choctaw Nation. This campaign ended with the taking of Fort Smith, Arkansas; Colonel Crawford was heroic in the capture of many prisoners, wagons, horses, a Confederate paymaster and $40,000 of Confederate money. While still in active service, Colonel Crawford was nominated for governor of Kansas on 8 September 1864. He was granted a leave of absence on 1 October, however upon his arrival in Kansas he learned of Confederate General Sterling Price’s massive raid through Missouri and reported at once to the staff of General Samuel Curtis. Hence, Crawford participated in every battle of this campaign from Westport, Missouri, to Mine Creek, Kansas. For his bravery and meritorious service on the field of battle he earned the rank of breveted brigadier general on 13 April 1865. In 1868, he organized a regiment of cavalry and joined General Philip Henry Sheridan in a fight against the Plains Indians; in the dead of winter and under the greatest of difficulties the Indians were overtaken and forced to surrender.

Samuel Crawford was elected governor over the Republican Union candidate Solon O. Thacher. James McGrew, of Wyandotte - now part of Kansas City - became his lieutenant governor. Crawford’s long leave from the State and lack of civilian administrative experience caused some people concern for his potential liability. But he enjoyed immense popularity, particularly during his first year as governor, from both the citizenry and the press because of his distinguished war record. Rapid and noteworthy developments happened during his two - term governorship: The War ended, the State’s population doubled, and thirty - six counties created, one of which was Crawford County. Of national interest was Crawford’s appointment of a successor to re-elected Senator James H. Lane, who had committed suicide from severe depression. He passed over many prominent political figures and through nepotism named Edmund G. Ross, whom he considered a fearless soldier and war hero. Ross later cast one of crucial votes for acquittal in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, much to Crawford’s surprise.

In 1866, Samuel Crawford was reelected for a second term over National Union Candidate J. L. McDowell. For his second term, Crawford picked Nehemiah Green, who he had first met at the Republican Party convention in September 1866, for his lieutenant governor. Crawford’s second term was more difficult for him politically, yet he looked upon it as coming under “auspicious circumstances.” In his message to the Legislature he said, “Ours is a government of the people and when their wishes are made known via the ballot box it is our solemn duty to comply accordingly therefore, we will do our duty to serve those who have chosen us to serve.” An important event occurred in his second term of office when the Kansas Legislature elected two United States senators. There was also debate over eliminating reference to sex and race in election eligibility criteria during Crawford’s second term. There was not widespread opposition to expanding the vote to include blacks and women but white male voters would not approve any such change to the policy in 1867.

History has it that Governor Crawford was anti-Indian and, he opposed the treaty making procedure for buying the Cherokee Neutral Tract and the Osage lands. His protest, along with the hostility in the lower house of Congress, led to an end of treaty making with the Indians altogether. While settlements expanded across the State of Kansas and the railroads extended along their routes, more Kansas settlers were killed by hostile Indians during Crawford’s last two years as governor then in all the years of the State and territorial periods combined. Governor Crawford’s resolution was to remove all Indian tribes from the Kansas reservations. To provide security for the settlers, he ordered the recruitment of the 18th Kansas Cavalry and the Frontier Battalion to mobilize westward to the Plains; the troops marched 2,200 miles in four months without ever achieving their goal of tracking down the Indians. New laws to permit counties to vote bonds for new railroad construction, to allow State taxes to build State buildings, to support forestation in Kansas, and to establish a State geological survey were passed during his administration.

In 1868, Crawford tried to obtain the Republican nomination for the United States Congress and failed. However, he did receive permission to recruit the 19th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry for service under General George Armstrong Custer and join General Sheridan to fight the Indians in a deadly winter campaign. Over thirteen hundred men were recruited in three weeks. Crawford resigned his governorship on 4 November 1868, the day after the general election, to take command of the Kansas regiment as its colonel. He held that post until 2 March 1869.

Suspicions among many increased when he left his twenty - year - old wife and a four - month - old daughter behind to join his regiment. But his actions were consistent with his attitude and record during his governorship with the aggressive nature of some tribal Indians, particularly the hostile tribes of western Kansas. In the end, the 19th Cavalry’s objective was never realized because Custer, all along, only wanted his own troops to engage the Indians.

In 1869, Crawford returned home from the Indian front and moved his family to Emporia, Kansas; there he practiced law and became a real estate promoter. This was an era of massive corruption and a time when scandal permeated State and national politics. Crawford joined a Republican reform faction known as the “purifiers” and as a candidate in 1871 he was defeated in his try for the United States Senate by Alexander Caldwell of Leavenworth. In 1872 he won the presidency of the State Liberal Republican purifier convention. This splinter party fused with the Democrats in 1872 but lost. Crawford was then politically inactive until 1876 when he became the independent Greenback candidate for Congress. At that time most of his law practice had moved to Topeka, and he also maintained an office in Washington, D.C. In 1878 he was the unsuccessful Independent candidate for a non-existent “ghost” seat in Congress running on the assumption that Kansas needed an additional seat because of its population explosion.

On 5 March 1877, Crawford was appointed by Governor George Anthony as Kansas State agent, in which he prosecuted the State’s claims against the federal government for a percentage of the amount received. Topeka continued to be his home, but he spent much of his time in Washington, D.C.; at his farm near Baxter Springs, Kansas; and on summer vacations on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.

Samuel J. Crawford’s memoirs of his glory years in the 1860s were published shortly before his death. His work Kansas in the Sixties attracted much attention as a snapshot of conditions in early Kansas history. Crawford’s only daughter Florence was the wife of Governor Arthur Capper. George Marshall Crawford, the only son of Governor Crawford, was born at Emporia on 10 July 1872; for a number of years he was a prominent newspaperman and publisher of the Topeka Capital.

Scope and Contents of the Records

Governor Crawford’s records consist of five series in sixty - two folders and two volumes.

The primary series is Letters Received and Proclamations, 1865 - 1868 (series 03412). Items in this series are mostly letters received by Governor Crawford, though there may also be proclamations and a few petitions, reports, copies of letters sent, and other types of documents. The letters and proclamations are organized into four subseries: (1) Correspondence Arranged by Subject; (2) Correspondence, General; (3) Correspondence with Other States; and (4) Correspondence with State Departments.

Some proclamations may have been interfiled with other items received relating to the subjects of the proclamations. Other proclamations are in a separate series - Executive Proclamations, 1861 - 1980 (no. 3450), described below - common to several governors.

Documents, though they may have been addressed to Governor Crawford, that are dated or pertain to the time period after his resignation on 4 November 1868 are filed with the records of his successor, Nehemiah Green.

The subseries Correspondence Arranged by Subject contains twenty-three topics in forty folders.

The Applications file, 1867 - 68 (box 1, folders 1 - 3), contains documents and signed petitions for appointments of Blind Asylum (now Kansas State School for the Blind) superintendent, miscellaneous administrative positions, and Kansas State Penitentiary (now Lansing Correctional Facility) officials; other applications appear in the Commissioners of Deeds, Justices of the Peace, and Notaries Public files, described below. The Autograph and State Seal file (box 1, folder 4) contains a copy of the first seal of the State of Kansas. The State Bonds file, 1868 (box 1, folder 5), contains documents of bonds’ purchase and legal settlements in the State of New York. The Claims File, 1865 - 67 (box 1, folder 6), pertains to the reimbursement for a State claim for the purchase of horses and accommodations provided to State officials. The Commissioner of Deeds file (box 1, folders 7 - 8) contains correspondence and requests pertaining to the appointment of commissioners of deeds to represent Kansas in other States. The County Affairs file, 1865 - 68 (box 1, folders 9 - 26), contains documents concerning the counties of Allen, Butler, Chase, Cherokee, Clay, Cloud, Crawford, Davis (now Geary), Dickinson, Ellis, Ellsworth, Greenwood, Howard, Jackson, Morris, Ottawa, Saline, and Wilson. The Criminal Matters file, 1865 - 68 (box 1, folder 27), is a collection of letters, petitions, arrest warrants for criminals at large and documentation for those incarcerated. The Federal Government file, 1865 - 68 (box 1, folder 28), contains a variety of letters from various federal offices; included are requests for statistics and natural history specimens, letters about Kansas funds on deposit in the federal treasury, disposition of items awarded the State at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1867, the proposed Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, war debts, Cherokee and Wyandot lands, education grants, and post offices. The Immigration file, 1865 - 68 (box 1, folder 29), contains letters and petitions promoting the position of State agent for worldwide immigration to Kansas. In the Indians file, 1867 - 68 (box 1, folder 30 - box 2, folder 2), the Governor requests permission to raise a 5,000 man regiment to thwart off hostile Indian raids in western Kansas and reinstates commissions for recruiting. A major effort was taken to increase security by adopting new fortifications, troop stationing, and accepting requests for military commissions for the 19th Cavalry Regiment, and the file reflects correspondence with the federal government on promoting new designs of the Office of Indian Affairs, United States Department of the Interior, to enhance Indian relations. The Justice of the Peace file (box 2, folders 2 - 3), 1865 - 68, contains correspondence and applications pertaining to appointments to that office. The Lands file, 1865 - 68 (box 2, folder 4), contains correspondence on the availability of land for new settlements and railroads. The Livestock file, 1864 - 67 (box 2, folders 5 - 6), concerns the alleged theft of cattle from Indian lands and the importing shipments of Texas cattle to western Kansas and the improprieties of Texas cattlemen. The Military Affairs file, 1865 - 68 (box 2, folder 7), concerns officer and enlisted personnel matters of administration. The Notaries Public file, 1865 - 68 (box 2, folders 8 - 9), contains correspondence and requests for appointments. The Political file, 1868 (box 3, folder 1) deals with political action to request that Governor Crawford not remove troops from Fort Scott before the election of 1868 and to solicit support of a battlefield publication supporting Republican values. The President Lincoln file, 1865 (box 3, folder 2), pertains to the national grief at the President’s death and correspondence from the National Lincoln Monument Commission on the subject of erecting a memorial to Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois. The Price Raid Claims file, 1867 (box 3, folder 3), pertains to claims filed for compensation from the Price Raid of 1864 in Kansas. The Railroads file, 1865 - 68 (box 3, folder 4), concerns the coordination of northwest Pacific rail routes through Kansas and Indian lands. The Relief Request file, 1868 (box 3, folder 5), pertains to the need for aid in drought stricken areas of Kansas. The Requests for Information file, 1865 - 68 (box 3, folder 6), contains letters asking for details about a proposed stagecoach route from Council Grove via the Arkansas River to Texas and State provided education programs to soldiers and orphans. The Roads file, 1865 - 68 (box 3, folder 7), contains petitions and correspondence pertaining to the appointment and performance of road commissioners as well as monitoring the work of surveyors and contractors to build a State road from Lawrence to Fort Scott and other roads as prescribed by law. The Suffrage of Women and Blacks file, 1867 - 68 (box 3, folder 8), concerns an adopted State resolution to avail rights and freedoms to women and African Americans. The Taxation file, 1866 - 67 (box 3, folder 9), contains correspondence relating to Kansas suits in the United States Supreme Court involving taxation and issues pertaining to the taxing of Indians.

The “Correspondence, General” subseries, 1865 - 68, consists of one folder (box 3, folder 10) pertaining to broad based issues of State infrastructure.

The Correspondence with Other States subseries, 1867 - 68 (box 3, folder 11) pertains to the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Correspondence with State Departments subseries, 1865 - 68 (box 3, folders 12 - 21), contains petitions and letters relating to the creation, operation, or staffing of the State Agricultural College (now Kansas State University) and a Kansas State agent to sell lands for the College; the Attorney General’s Office; the Kansas Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb (now the Kansas School for the Deaf); the Kansas Institution for the Education of the Blind (now the Kansas State School for the Blind); the State Insane Asylum at Osawatomie (now Osawatomie State Hospital); the Legislature; the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia (now Emporia State University); the State Penitentiary, Lansing (now Lansing Correctional Facility); and the State superintendent of public instruction (now the commissioner of education). An “Account of Sales of Agricul’l College Lands, from Sept. 24, 1868, to Jan. 16, 1869,” during the Crawford and Nehemiah Green administrations, submitted by I. T. Goodnow, agent, 1869 February 10, is in the records of Governor James Madison Harvey, Correspondence (series 03414), State Agency Files (subseries 2), Agricultural College folder (file unit 1) (records of Governor Harvey’s administration, box 3, folder 1A).

The series Copies of Telegrams Received and Sent, 1864 - 1868 (no. 03459), contains copies of both incoming (1864 September 15 - 1868 October 27) and outgoing (1865 February 22 - 1868 September 11) telegraphic messages. Subjects contained in the telegrams duplicate those in the Letters Received and Proclamations, 1865 - 1868 (series 03412).

The Copies of Letters Sent volume (series 03460) contains holograph (handwritten) copies of letters sent by Governor Crawford dated 1865 January 14- 1867 December 27. Other letters sent by the Governor, 1865 February - November, were copied into a Letter Press Book (series 03397), described below. Why some outgoing letters were copied longhand and placed in one volume and why others were copied into the letterpress book is unknown. As may be expected, topics represented in the letters sent primarily reflect those in the Letters Received and Proclamations, 1865 - 1868 (series 03412).

There is also a Letter Press Book, February - November 1865 (series 03397), annotated “volume 0,” containing copies of letters sent by the Governor. Other letters sent by the Governor, 1865 - 1867, were copied into a volume of Copies of Letters Sent (series 03460), described above. Why some outgoing letters were copied into the letterpress book and why others were copied longhand and placed in the other volume is unknown. Subjects of the letters sent in the letterpress book are mostly the same as those in the Letters Received and Proclamations, 1865 - 1868 (series 03412). The volume also contains copies of letters sent by Secretary of State W. W. H. Lawrence, circa 1863 January 28 - September 24.

Aside from telegrams, no communications sent by Governor Crawford after 27 December 1867 appear in these records.

There is also an Index to Official State Matters, 1865 - 1868 (series 09034), in box 3 of Crawford's records, consisting of a list of “state actions” (folder 22), mostly bonds approved, that appears to be in Governor Crawford's handwriting. The list contains page numbers for each “action,” but they do not correspond to any records from the Crawford administration in the state archives.

Additional files that record the actions of the Crawford administration may be found in the series Executive Record (Official Record) (no. 05968), Executive Proclamations (no. 03450), Pardon and Parole Files from the Women’s Industrial Farm (no. 03660), and Pardons (no. 03789). These series contain records of a number of governors.

The series Executive Record (Official Record) (no. 05968) provides chronological summaries of the Governor’s official actions, including in some cases summaries of communications sent. Pages 169 - 215 of the Executive Record (Official Record) contain information about documents created during Crawford’s tenure.

Folder 2 of box 1 of Executive Proclamations (series 03450) contains proclamations and messages issued during the Crawford administration.

An Appointments Register, 1865 - 1868, for the Crawford Administration forms part of the series Appointments Registers, 1865 - 1885 (no. 03462). The folder consists of a list of four handwritten pages believed to have been written by Governor Crawford. Each entry contains the appointee’s name, position, and appointment date; the entries are roughly chronological.

Some of the files in the series Pardon and Parole Files: Women’s Industrial Farm (no. 03660) are from the Crawford administration. The records are arranged alphabetically by inmates’ names, so identifying records for this period would require looking at each file and determining its date. There are restrictions on access to these records.

Entries in the first volume of Pardons (series 03789) for the period 13 January 1865 through 4 November 1868, numbers 1 - 50, contain information about pardons issued by Samuel Crawford.

Records of other offices of Kansas government - particularly the secretary of State, record group 622, and attorney general, record group 82 - will give additional information about State activities during this period. Papers of other prominent political figures of the time, most of which are held by the Kansas State Historical Society, may also offer insights about Kansas politics and government during the Crawford administration. Further information on the military effort against Indians in Kansas after the Civil War may be found in the records of the Adjutant General’s Office, record group 34; the Military history manuscript collection, no. 617; and personal papers of individual officers and soldiers in the manuscripts collection.

The Society’s manuscript collection has a one - folder collection of Samuel Crawford’s personal papers: Copies of Letters Sent and Essay, 1868 - 1905 (S. J. Crawford miscellaneous collection); a finding aid is available on the Society’s web site or in the Kansas State Historical Society’s Reference Room. The Kansas Collection of the University of Kansas libraries (Lawrence) also has a collection of Crawford’s papers consisting of 68 items pertaining to negotiations for settlement of a land sale in Oklahoma Territory for the Cheyenne and Arapaho; a finding aid is on - line at http://ead.diglib.ku.edu/xml/ksrl.kc.crawfordsamuel.html.

Organization of the Records

Subgroup. Organized by type of material and format.

Contents: Ser. 03412. Letters and proclamations received, 1865-1868 - ser. 03459. Copies of telegrams received and sent, 1864-1868 - ser. 03460. Copies of letters sent, 1865-1868 - ser. 03397. Letter press book, Feb.-Nov. 1865 - ser. 09034. Index to official state matters, 1865-1868.

Related Records

Records of the Kansas Adjutant General’s Office, record group 34
Records of the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, record group 82
Records of the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office, record group 622

Other Finding Aid

Finding aid available in the repository and on its web site, http://www.kshs.org.

Bibliography

Drury, James W. The Government of Kansas. 3d ed. Lawrence: Regents Press of Kansas, © 1980. Available in the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) Reference Room: call no. K 350.7 D845 1980.

Harder, Marvin A. The Governor of Kansas: An Analysis of Decision-Making Opportunities, Constraints, and Resources. Topeka, Kans.: Capitol Complex Center, University of Kansas, 1981, © 1982. Available in the KSHS Reference Room: call no. SP 378 Z C172 pam.v.1 no. 1 .

Socolofsky, Homer E. Kansas Governors. Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of Kansas, © 1990. Available in the KSHS Reference Room: call no. K BB So13.

Index Terms

Persons

Crawford, S. J. (Samuel Johnson), 1835-1913. (subject and co-creator)
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865-Monuments.

Corporate Names

Kansas. Governor (1865-1868 : Crawford)-Archives.
Kansas. Governor (1865-1868 : Crawford)-Records and correspondence.
Kansas. Legislature.

Geographic Names

Kansas-Military policy.
Kansas-Officials and employees-Selection and appointment.
Kansas-Politics and government-1865-1950.
United States-History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Claims.

Subjects

African Americans-Suffrage-Kansas.
Civil-military relations-Kansas.
Court administration-Kansas.
Criminal justice, Administration of-Kansas.
Federal government-Kansas.
Federal government-United States.
Finance, Public-Kansas.
Indians of North America-Government relations-1789-1869.
Indians of North America-Kansas.
Land use-Kansas.
Livestock-Kansas.
Public institutions-Kansas.
Public welfare-Kansas.
Roads-Kansas.
State courts-Kansas.
State-local relations-Kansas.
Taxation-Kansas.
Women-Suffrage-Kansas.

Document Types

Government correspondence-Kansas.
Memorandums-Kansas.
Public records-Kansas.

Occupations

Governors–Kansas–Archives.

Restrictions on Access

None

Restrictions on Use

Notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Most documents created by governmental entities, including the State of Kansas, are considered in the public domain, although copyright to documents found in public records that were written by individuals or organizations and sent to government agencies may be owned by the writers or their heirs.

Preferred Citation

Note: [document, folder, subseries, or series description], Crawford administration (1865 -1868), records of the Kansas Governor’s Office, State archives record group 252, Library and Archives Division, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka.

Bibliography: Kansas, Governor’s Office, Crawford administration (1865 - 1868), State archives record group 252, Library and Archives Division, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka.

Acquisition Information

Transfer: Office of the Governor, date unknown

Processing Information

Inventory written by David F. Manning, volunteer, 2005.

Time spent in researching and writing this inventory has been donated by the author. Administrative expenses paid by the Kansas State Historical Society.

Accruals

No additional records are expected.

Detailed Description of the Records

Series 03412. Letters Received and Proclamations, 1865 - 1868. 1 ft. (72 folders). 027-03-06-05 thru 027-03-06-07

Mostly letters received by Governor Crawford, though there may also be proclamations and a few petitions, reports, copies of letters sent, and other types of documents. Subject files include applications for appointment to State or local office, the State seal, bonds, claims, county affairs, criminal matters, correspondence with federal agencies, immigration, Indians, lands, livestock, military affairs, political matters, a memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, Price Raid claims, railroads, drought relief, requests for information, roads, suffrage of women & African Americans, and taxation. The general correspondence subseries, 1865 - 1868, relates to nonspecific State concerns. The Correspondence with Other States subseries, 1867 - 1868, pertains to the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Correspondence with State Departments subseries, 1865 - 1868, contains petitions and letters relating to the creation, operation, or staffing of State institutions. Other communications received and sent by the governor are described in the series below. Other proclamations are in a separate series - Executive Proclamations, 1861 - 1980 (series 05968) - described below.

Organized into 4 subseries based on topic: (1) subject files, (2) general correspondence, (3) correspondence with other States, and (4) correspondence with State departments.

Subseries 1. Correspondence Arranged by Subject, 1865 - 1868. 1 ft. (49 folders)
  • box 1, folder 1. Applications: Blind Asylum, Superintendent, 1868
  • box 1, folder 2. Applications: Miscellaneous posts, 1865 - 1867
  • box 1, folder 3. Applications: Penitentiary, Kansas State, 1868
  • box 1, folder 4. Autograph and State seal
  • box 1, folder 5. Bonds, State, 1868
  • box 1, folder 6. Claims, 1865 - 1867
  • box 1, folder 7. Commissioners of deeds, folder 1865 - 1867
  • box 1, folder 8. Commissioners of deeds: 1868
  • box 1, folder 9. County affairs: Allen
  • box 1, folder 10. County affairs: Butler, 1867
  • box 1, folder 11. County affairs: Chase, 1868
  • box 1, folder 12. County affairs: Cherokee, 1867 - 1868
  • box 1, folder 13. County affairs: Clay, 1868
  • box 1, folder 14. County affairs: Cloud, 1868
  • box 1, folder 15. County affairs: Crawford, 1868
  • box 1, folder 16. County affairs: Davis
  • box 1, folder 17. County affairs: Dickinson, 1868
  • box 1, folder 18. County affairs: Ellis, 1867 - 1868
  • box 1, folder 19. County affairs: Ellsworth, 1867
  • box 1, folder 20. County affairs: Greenwood, 1865
  • box 1, folder 21. County affairs: Howard, 1867
  • box 1, folder 22. County affairs: Jackson, 1867 - 1868
  • box 1, folder 23. County affairs: Morris, 1865
  • box 1, folder 24. County affairs: Ottawa, 22 Feb. 1868
  • box 1, folder 25. County affairs: Saline, 1868
  • box 1, folder 26. County affairs: Wilson, 1865
  • box 1, folder 27. Criminal matters, 1865 - 1868
  • box 1, folder 28. Federal government, 1865 - 1868
  • box 1, folder 29. Immigration, 1865 - 1868
  • box 1, folder 30. Indians: 1867
  • box 1, folder 31. Indians: Jan. - Sept. 1868
  • box 2, folder 1. Indians: Oct. - Nov. 1868
  • box 2, folder 2. Justices of the peace: 1865 - 1867
  • box 2, folder 3. Justices of the peace: 1868
  • box 2, folder 4. Lands, 1865 - 1868
  • box 2, folder 5. Livestock: Alleged theft of Indian cattle, 1865 - 1867
  • box 2, folder 6. Livestock: Texas cattle, 1867
  • box 2, folder 7. Military affairs, 1865 - 1868
  • box 2, folder 8. Notaries public, folder 1865 - 1867
  • box 2, folder 9. Notaries public, folder 1868
  • box 3, folder 1. Politics, 1868
  • box 3, folder 2. President Lincoln, 1865
  • box 3, folder 3. Price Raid claims, 1867
  • box 3, folder 4. Railroads, 1865, 1867 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 5. Requests for information, 1867 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 6. Relief requests, 1868
  • box 3, folder 7. Roads, 1865 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 8. Suffrage for women and Blacks, 1867 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 9. Taxation, 1866 - 1867
Subseries 2 (box 3, folder 10). Correspondence, General. 1 folder. 027-03-06-07
Subseries 3 (box 3, folder 11). Correspondence with Other States. 1 folder. 027-03-06-07
Subseries 4. Correspondence with State Departments, 1865 - 1868. 0.2 ft. (10 folders). 027-03-06-07
  • box 3, folder 12. Agricultural College, Kansas State, 1865 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 13. Agent to sell lands for State Agricultural College, 1867 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 14. Attorney General’s Office, 1867
  • box 3, folder 15. Deaf and Dumb, Kansas Academy for the, ca. 1865 - 1867
  • box 3, folder 16. Blind, Kansas Institution for the Education of the, 1867
  • box 3, folder 17. Insane Asylum, State, Osawatomie, 1865 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 18. Legislature, 1865 - 1867
  • box 3, folder 19. Normal School of Emporia, Kansas State, 1865 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 20. Penitentiary, Kansas State, Lansing, 1865 - 1868
  • box 3, folder 21. Public Instruction, State Superintendent of, 1865 - 1868

Series 03459. Copies of Telegrams Received and Sent, 1864 - 1868. 1 v. 024-013-09-02

Texts of telegrams received, 1864 Sept. 15 - 1868 Oct. 27, and sent, 1865 Feb. 22 - 1868 Sept. 11. Subjects are similar to those in Letters Received and Proclamations, 1865 - 1868 (series 03412), described above, but with more communications with federal and military officials.

Organized into separate sections of telegrams received and sent, thereunder arranged generally chronologically.

Series 03460. Copies of Letters Sent, 1865 - 1867. 1 v. 024-13-09-02

Copies of texts of letters sent by Governor Crawford, 14 Jan. 1865 - 27 Dec. 1868. Most of the letters sent respond to concerns expressed to the governor. Subjects are generally similar to those in Letters Received and Proclamations, 1865 - 1868 (series 03412), described above. Other letters sent by the governor were copied into the Letter Press Book (series 03397), described below; why some letters were copied longhand into this volume and others copied into the Letter Press Book is unknown.

Arranged generally chronologically.

Series 03397. Letter Press Book, Feb.- Nov. 1865. 1 v. 027-02-08-04

Exact copies of texts of letters sent by Governor Crawford, ca. 1865 20 Feb - Nov. 1.. Most of the letters sent respond to concerns expressed to the governor. Subjects are generally similar to those in Letters Received and Proclamations, 1865 - 1868 (series 03412), described above. Other letters sent by the governor were copied into the Copies of Letters Sent volume (series 03460), described above; why some letters were copied onto this volume and others copied into the Copies of Letters Sent book is unknown.

Arranged generally chronologically.

Series 09034. Index to Official State Matters, 1865-1868. 1 item (1 folder: box 3, folder 22). 027-03-06-07

List of "state actions," mostly bonds approved, that appears to be in Governor Crawford's handwriting. The list contains page numbers for each "action," but they do not correspond to any records volumes from the administration.

Other State archives records series containing records of the Crawford administration:

Series 05968. Executive Record (Official Record), 1861 - 1879. 1 v. 024-13-10-01

Bound copy of minutes, transcribed from or used in conjunction with the Executive Record (Secretary’s Minutes) (series 03458). Begins Feb. 8, 1861, and ends Dec. 15, 1879. These records contain information on government, civilian, and military appointments and commissions; extradition requests (requisitions); executed warrants; criminal pardons and sentence commutations; legislative bills and proclamations; land sites and offices; receipt of documents; and organization of new counties. This record is organized chronologically by year but organization of the above categories within the year changes frequently. As a result, it becomes more organized as the years pass. In the later years it was probably compiled at the end of the year from the Executive Record (Secretary’s Minutes) (series 03458), rather than used throughout the year as the beginning organization suggests.

ca. p. 169 - 215: Crawford administration, 1865 - 1868

Series 03450. Executive Proclamations, 1861 - 1980. 4 ft. (7 boxes + 8 oversize boxes).

Proclamations and messages or speeches that were issued to the Legislature and/or the general public. They are usually in the form of newspaper clippings, typed originals, or carbon copies of the typed original. Some boxes are alphabetized by subject.

box 1 (028-03-01-05), folder 2: Crawford administration, 1865 - 1868

Series 03660. Pardon and Parole Files: Women’s Industrial Farm, 1863 - 1919. 63 ft. (151 boxes). ACCESS RESTRICTED. 032-01-02-01 thru 032-03-07-04

Contains letters requesting opinions on parole, Parole Board verdict or certificate, and a prisoner history. Interfiled with Pardon and Parole Files for the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory, 1927-1945 (series 03659) and Parole Certificates Issued by the Coffeyville City Court, 1932-1936 (series 03661), as part of Subseries I, 63 ft. (151 boxes), 1863-1919, arranged alphabetically. Women are only contained in Subseries I; after 1919 women’s files are arranged separately as series 06304, Pardon and Parole of Female Inmates.
Arranged alphabetically by inmates’ names.

Series 03789. Pardons, 1865 - 1883. 4 v.

Includes date pardoned, name, county, crime, sentence, and remarks.

Vol. 1 (059-08-01-20), no. 1 - 50: Crawford administration, 1865 - 1868.

Series 03462. Apppointments Registers, 1865 - 1885. 4 p.+ 1 v. 024-13-10-01

The Crawford Administration register consists of a list of four handwritten (by Crawford) pages in one file folder. Each entry contains the appointee’s name, position, and appointment date; entries are roughly chronological. The Glick Administration volume is arranged by date and appointment number, contains appointment number, appointee name, office appointed to, date, and district/county. It also contains a subject index by office and alphabetical index by appointee name.

Folder: Crawford administration, 1865 - 1868.

Records of the governor’s pardon attorney

Series 03790. Applications for Pardon, 1868 - 1877. 1 v. (unpaged). 059-08-01-20

One volume dated Jan. 27, 1868-June, 1877. This volume contains the date of application, the name of the applicant, who recommended the pardon, and remarks.

Crawford administration: Jan.-Oct. 1868