Dr. Ernst F.

Tonsing
P.O. Box 2001
Thousand Oaks, CA 91358-2001
(805) 492-4427
August 18, 2004

Hello!

I thought that you might enjoy the contents of this package. The first is a story about the
discovery of the location of my mother's family first residence in America, the second,
the talk I gave at the recent reunion of my father's family in Atchison, and the rest are
items discovered in the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka. The introductions and
footnotes were prepared for family and friends. Most of them were speeches delivered
by great-grandfather, John A. Martin, who was just seventeen years old when the first
ones were delivered in 1856, and some are his recollections thirty years later. They are
useful documents in the study of Territorial Kansas and the early state. The titles, for the
most part, are mine, as most of the originals have none. Where not given, I have had to
estimate the dates from internal evidence and the handwriting.

CONTENTS:

1. "The Pioneer Dugout House," by Ernst F. (Fred) Tonsing, August, 2004.

2. "Why They Came to Kansas," ibid., June, 2004
3. "John A. Martin: A Brief Outline of his Life by Daniel W. Wilder," 1889.
4. "The Franklin Institute of Brownsville, Pennsylvania," John A. Martin, ca. 1856.
5. "The Fourth of July," ibid., July 4,1856.
6. "The Progress of Tyranny," ibid., December 10,1856.
7. "The Character of the Girondists," ibid. ,1856.
8. "The Jesuits," ibid., February 5,1856.
9. "Locofoco Hypocracy," ibid., 1856.
10. "The Republican Party, Not a Disunion Party," ibid., fall, 1856.
11. "The English compromise," ibid., July, 1858.
12. "Brutus' Defense of Country Against Tyranny," ibid., ca. 1856-57.
13. "The Dawn of a New Era," ibid., December 31,1856.
14. "Arguments to Vote for the Wyandotte Constitution," ibid., September, 1859.
15. "Prohibition and Its Opponents," ibid., 1886.
16. "Old Settlers," ibid., September, 1884.
17. "Old Settlers' Reunion," ibid., 1886.
18. "A War-Time Picture," ibid., February 13,1885.

Another note: I am using the "Ph.D." after my name, not to brag, but to distinguish me
from my father, the Rev. Dr. Ern[e]st Frederick Tonsing (he received the D.D. from
Midland College, Fremont, Nebraska, in June, 1959). Perhaps, this can avoid some of the
confusion. Enjoy the contents!