Eli Thayer papers, 1843-1903

This collection of correspondence, essays, articles, and newspaper clippings has as its chief focal point the Kansas conflict in the 1850's. The New England Emigrant Aid Company and similar organizations undertook to send settlers to Kansas from the North East to counteract the influence of the South in determining the free vs. slave status of Kansas on its becoming a state. The influx of immigrants to Kansas profoundly affected the indigenous populations living there. The materials provide insight into how the settlers did not give any thought to those populations. The Kansas theme runs throughout the collection in contemporary materials as well as in reminiscences and historical narratives written some thirty to fifty years subsequently. Other places important to the collection are West Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York.

Format(s): Manuscripts
Library: Collections Annex
NOTE: This collection is housed off-site. Prior notice is needed for retrieval

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Online Catalog (BruKnow):
General description of the collection available on BruKnow

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Typescript Inventory