This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Ex slave William Simms life detailed in Kansas history
Kansas historian Mark Odom documents ex slave William Will Simms born in Missouri, who joined the Union army from a Confederate loyalty shift. Simms told reporters his master spared selling him, later settled in Ottawa after living in Lawrence. He helped start a night school, and his sister’s sale underscores the era’s slave trade impacts.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William “Will” Simms
Kansas
Missouri
Kansas Historical Society
New Jersey
Mark Odom
Simms
U.S. Works Projects Administration
Federal Writers’ Project
Odom
John D. Simms
Bill
Errick
25Th Infantry Regiment
Missouri Volunteers
Pea Ridge
Arkansas
John S. Phelps
Lawrence
Ottawa
Elizabeth
Lizzie” Bolden
Mary
Mayme) F. Simms
Grace Bell Elizabeth (Simms) Butler
Fanny Simms
Ottawa High School