When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Up for sale a RARE! "Historian" William E Connelley hand Written Note.
ES-3731D
William Elsey Connelley (1855-1930)
was born in Johnson County, Kentucky.
He was self-educated but he taught school in Johnson County between 1872 and
1880. He moved to Wyandotte County, Kansas,
and lived in Bonner Springs, teaching
until 1882. Connelley then moved on to other pursuits. He attended the
Wyandotte County Normal Institute and received a teaching certificate. He
worked for a time as a farmhand. Connelley
served a term as deputy county clerk and in 1883 was elected county clerk and
served two terms, leaving office in 1887. He held a variety of jobs after that.
In 1899 he was given the power of attorney to act in behalf of the Wyandotte
Indian Tribe, then in Indian Territory, modern-day Oklahoma. He was to represent the tribe in the sale of Huron Cemetery.
The land was to become a public building and the graves were to be moved.
Objections were raised and the deal fell through. The
1890s Connelley became interested in a hobby of historical research and
writing. This is where he excelled and he completed a number of books the rest
of his life. Some of his most important books were The Provisional
Government of Nebraska Territory (1899), Quantrill and the
Border Wars (1909), Eastern Kentucky Papers (1910), Life
of Preston Plumb (1913), a five volume History of Kansas (1917),
a five volume History of Kentucky (1922) and Indian
Myths (1928). Quantrill and the Border Wars has
been used by historical researchers ever since and this book has been reprinted
at least twice since Connelley's death.[4][5] Connelley's books were full of
details and included much material obtained in interviews with persons present
at historical situations about which the author wrote. One criticism has been
that at times Connelley failed to properly document where his material was
obtained and sometimes this material could not be verified by later
researchers. Connelley's works became well known in the historical community
and he became president of the Kansas State Historical
Society in 1912 and its secretary in 1914. Connelley served as
the Society's secretary the rest of his life. He continued his work and
produced a number of maps of historical sites, that were also used by
researchers years after his death. Connelley
served in other organizations. He was president of the Kansas Authors Club from
Feb. 19, 1908, to Feb. 19, 1909, and he served in other officer capacities in
that organization.[8] He was president of the Mississippi
Valley Historical Association (renamed the Organization
of American Historians in 1965) from 1921 to 1922. Connelley
left much material on various historical subjects. Most of his books and some
of his research notes are located in the archives of the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka, Kansas. Much also exists in the Kansas City Kansas Public Library, since Connelley researched
into the history of Wyandotte County, where Kansas City, Kansas, is
located.[1Truman State University,
in Kirksville, Missouri,
contains material from a number of interviews Connelley conducted
concerning William C. Quantrill's
1863 raid on Lawrence, Kansas. This
raid is also known as the Lawrence massacre, since more than 180 men and boys (mostly
defenseless) were killed by Quantrill's men. A collection of correspondence, research
notes and photographs concerning Connelley is located in Lawrence, at the University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research
Library. Another collection of documents written by Connelley and to
Connelley is in the University of Oklahoma library
system.