James Blood was involved with the first party of New England Emigrant Aid Company settlers who arrived to Kansas in late July 1854. Blood was actively engaged from the beginning in the free-state movement. He served as treasurer of the Kansas State Central Committee, 1856-1857, as a member of the Topeka legislature, 1856, as the first mayor of Lawrence in 1857, as a member of the central territorial committee at the Republican Party's organizing convention in May 1859, as county treasurer in the early 1860s, and as a representative from Lawrence in the 1869 state legislature. He died in Lawrence on February 4, 1891. This folder of correspondence focuses on the years 1854 to 1861, with some letters discussing border problems with Missouri and the need for additional troops and artillery.
![]()
