Life Story
Levi Ferguson was born about 1826 in Tennessee, probably in the Rhea County orbit where his father, Robert Ferguson, was living by the 1830s. Robert had married Rachel Falls in Lincoln County, North Carolina, in 1819, and the 1830 and 1840 Rhea County households fit the family pattern expected for Robert, Rachel, and their children, including Levi.1, 2, 3 Later estate proceedings for Robert Ferguson directly place Levi among Robert’s heirs, making Robert’s fatherhood secure even though Levi’s birth record has not been found.4
As a young man, Levi served in the Mexican War as a private in Company H, First Tennessee Mounted Infantry. He mustered in at Washington, Rhea County, Tennessee, in June 1846, reached Matamoros later that summer, and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate at Camp Placedo near Lavaca, Texas, in October 1846.5 The service record supports the short military chapter; it does not identify a specific illness beyond the surgeon’s-certificate discharge.
On 15 October 1847, Levi Furgerson obtained a Rhea County marriage license for Rachael E. Collins, and the marriage was solemnized on 24 October.6 Their first children were born in Tennessee, but by September 1850 the family had moved west. The census of Barry County, Missouri, recorded Levi as a Tennessee-born farmer with Rachel and young Columbus and Margaret in his household.7
By 29 November 1854, Levi was listed among voters at Lawrence, Kansas Territory.8 That placement matters because Lawrence was becoming a Free-State stronghold during the violent struggle remembered as Bleeding Kansas. A later Lawrence newspaper list of Free-State militia members identified Levi Ferguson as a lieutenant under Captain Learned in connection with the Wakarusa War. The source is retrospective, but it places Levi within the Free-State settler community around Lawrence, where his land and later records also place him.9
Levi’s Kansas move appears to have overlapped with family disruption. Rachel Collins Ferguson disappears from the record after the 1850 household and before the 1860 census. In 1860, Levi was in Wakarusa Township, Douglas County, Kansas Territory, with Columbus, while Robert H. Furguson, age seven and born in Missouri, was in the Johnson County, Missouri, household of Levi’s brother James Ferguson.10, 11 A later Douglas County divorce case helps connect the temporarily scattered household back together: Robert H. Ferguson called Levi’s house “my father’s house” and described the island place as “my father’s place,” directly linking him to Levi. The same testimony places Levi’s house near Lawrence and says William and Elizabeth Upton lived there for about a week after coming to Douglas County in 1871, then moved to a place called “The Island,” about six miles northwest of Lawrence. When William Upton became ill with chills and fever, he came to Levi’s house for medicine; Levi said he frequently gave him medicine, and R. H. Ferguson harnessed Upton’s team the next morning. Used narrowly, the record gives a rare close-up view of Levi’s household, property network, neighbors, and practical help during illness, without proving broader character conclusions.12
Land records show that Levi had a tangible stake west of Lawrence. In 1858 he sold eighty acres in Douglas County to Samuel Y. Sum, and in 1860 the federal land office issued a patent to Levi Ferguson, assignee of John W. Smith, for the southeast quarter of Section 26, Township 12, Range 19.13, 14 The sale before the formal patent is best read as part of the land-warrant and title process, not as a contradiction.
Levi’s Kansas life was not only about landholding. In an 1873 horticultural account, G. C. Brackett recalled that Brinkley Hornsby visited his relative Levi Ferguson near Lawrence in January 1860 and that Levi later delivered scions of Hornsby’s apple variety, labelled “Missouri Pippin” and “Missouri Orange,” to Brackett. The account places Levi in a small but revealing network of western orchardists and family associates moving between Missouri and Kansas.15 An 1862 affidavit by Levi and Leonidas Hornsby also shows Levi working within the Hornsby family network in Douglas County.16
Robert Ferguson, Levi’s father, died in Tennessee between July and November 1860. Estate proceedings and legal notices named James, Levi, Sarah, and Elizabeth Ferguson as non-resident heirs or defendants, while another order named James, Lea or Levi, Elizabeth, and Ranzy Jane Ferguson among Robert’s heirs.17, 18, 4 Ranzy Jane was likely Levi’s half-sister through Robert’s later wife, Margaret A. Ferguson, and should be kept distinct from the older Rachel Falls child group.
Levi lived near Lawrence during the years when the Kansas-Missouri border was torn by raids, reprisals, and guerrilla violence. The records do not place him in a specific event during Quantrill’s raid, but they do show that his family network straddled Douglas County, Kansas, and Johnson County, Missouri, at a dangerous time.19 By 1865, the Kansas state census placed Levi and Mahala Ferguson in Wakarusa Township with Columbus, Margaret, Samantha, Robert, and Lizzie, showing the first-family children and Levi’s later household together in Kansas.20
Mahala Mitchell Ferguson was Levi’s second wife and later widow. The 1865 and 1875 Kansas state censuses place Mahala in Levi’s household, and a later pension notice identified Mahala as the widow of Levi Ferguson, Mexican War veteran.20, 21, 22 Levi remained part of Douglas County civic life after the Civil War; in 1866 he served on a Douglas County jury.23
The 1870 federal census placed Levi and Mahala in Wakarusa Township with Robert H. Ferguson, Lizzie Ferguson, and a five-year-old child recorded as Jennie Ferguson.24 Five years later, the Kansas state census recorded Levi, Mahala, Samantha, Lizzie, and James in the household, with Levi farming and reporting $4,000 in real estate but only $100 in personal estate.21 That low personal-property figure sits uneasily beside the land value and becomes more meaningful when read with the foreclosure records.
In April 1875, two foreclosure decrees were entered against Levi and Mahala Ferguson. The Brownlee decree ordered payment of $1,145.10 plus interest and costs before sale of the mortgaged Section 26 land; the Barteldes decree found $312 due, with interest, on a separate mortgage in Section 9. Together, the decrees show that the Fergusons were under serious financial pressure by the spring of 1875.25, 26 A later sheriff’s sale notice carried the Barteldes property toward public sale.27
The foreclosures came in the hard agricultural years after the Panic of 1873 and the 1874 Rocky Mountain locust plague in Kansas. Levi’s own records show the legal and financial result; the wider farm crisis helps explain the pressure on Kansas farmers, but no source currently proves that a specific crop loss on Levi’s farm caused the foreclosures.25, 26
Levi Ferguson died of consumption at his residence three miles west of Lawrence on 1 June 1878. The local death notice described him as about fifty-four years old, an old settler known to a large circle of acquaintances, and said the funeral was to be held at the house by the Methodist minister.28 A Lawrence burial record adds Tennessee as his birthplace, Wakarusa Township as the removal context, consumption as the cause, and lot 360 as the burial location, but gives a conflicting 1879 death year.29
Levi Ferguson’s life followed the unsettled routes of the mid-nineteenth-century borderlands: from Rhea County, Tennessee, through Missouri, into Kansas Territory, through war service, Free-State settlement, orchard culture, debt, foreclosure, and illness. His record trail is unusually rich because it crosses military, land, court, census, newspaper, and horticultural sources, but its most human pattern is simpler: a family repeatedly pulled apart by migration, war, and debt, and repeatedly visible again through kinship networks on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri line.
Research Notes
Parentage
Levi Ferguson’s father was Robert Ferguson of Rhea County, Tennessee. Robert’s estate proceedings directly identify Levi, recorded in one entry as “Lea Ferguson,” among the heirs of Robert Ferguson deceased. Related estate notices also name James, Levi, Sarah, and Elizabeth Ferguson as non-resident heirs or defendants in proceedings involving Robert’s land and debts.4, 17, 18
Levi’s mother is identified as Rachel Falls. Robert Ferguson married Rachel Falls in Lincoln County, North Carolina, in 1819, and Levi was born during that marriage. Rachel fits the early household pattern in Robert Ferguson’s 1830 and 1840 Rhea County census households, and later guardianship and inheritance evidence supports the Falls maternal connection. Rachel’s parentage should be handled in a separate research article rather than fully argued in this profile.1, 2, 3
Rachel Collins Death Window
No direct death record has been found for Rachel E. Collins Ferguson. She was in Levi’s Barry County, Missouri, household in 1850, but by 1860 Levi was in Kansas without her and Robert H. Ferguson was living in Missouri with Levi’s brother James.7, 10, 11 The safest treatment is that Rachel died or otherwise disappeared from the record between Robert Henry Ferguson’s 1853 birth and the 1860 census, with no firm death place.
Jennie Ferguson and James Ferguson in the Census Records
The 1870 census of Levi Ferguson’s Wakarusa Township household lists a five-year-old female child, Jennie Ferguson, born in Kansas. The 1875 Kansas state census does not list Jennie, but it does list James Ferguson, age nine, male, born in Kansas.24, 21 Because James Clay Ferguson is otherwise understood as a child of Levi Ferguson and Mahala Mitchell, the 1870 entry may represent a recorder, enumerator, or indexing error for James. It may also represent a separate child who has not yet been traced. Until another corroborating record is found, Jennie Ferguson should not be included among Levi’s established children.
Death and Burial Year
Levi Ferguson’s death notice was published in The Spirit of Kansas on 5 June 1878 and states that he died on 1 June at his residence three miles west of Lawrence.28 A later burial record gives the death date as 1 June 1879.29 Because the newspaper notice appeared in June 1878, the burial record’s year appears to be an error. Use 1 June 1878 as the death date and preserve the burial-record conflict as a note.
Evidence Timeline
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Birth in Tennessee
Later records place Levi's birth in Tennessee, probably in the Rhea County setting of Robert Ferguson and Rachel Falls.
-
Mexican War service
Levi served in Company H, First Tennessee Mounted Infantry, and was discharged on a surgeon's certificate near Lavaca, Texas.
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Marriage to Rachel Collins
The Rhea County license was dated 15 October 1847 and solemnized on 24 October.
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Barry County, Missouri
Levi, Rachel, Columbus, and Margaret were enumerated in Barry County before the family split between Missouri and Kansas records.
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Lawrence and Wakarusa Township
Levi appeared on the 1854 Lawrence voter list, in later Free-State militia memory, and in Kansas land and census records.
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Reunited Kansas household
The Kansas state census placed Levi, Mahala, and several children from the blended Ferguson household in Wakarusa Township.
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Foreclosure crisis
Two foreclosure decrees against Levi and Mahala show serious financial pressure on the family farm.
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Death near Lawrence
A contemporary death notice reported Levi died of consumption at his residence three miles west of Lawrence.
Family Group Sheet
- Spouse / family connection
- Rachel E. Collins, married in Rhea County, Tennessee, in 1847; later Mahala Mitchell Ferguson, who survived him as his widow
- Children and direct-line notes
-
- With Rachel E. Collins: Columbus C. Ferguson, Margaret Edith Ferguson, Samantha Ferguson, and Robert Henry Ferguson
- With Mahala Mitchell: Lizzie Arny Ferguson and James Clay Ferguson
- Provisional: Jennie Ferguson, recorded in 1870 but not yet established as a separate child from James Clay Ferguson
Places in Levi Ferguson's Life
Photographs
Photograph Index
Images embedded in the story are gathered here with the additional family photographs connected to this profile.
Documentary Base
Sources
marriage bond
[1] Marriage bond of Robert Ferguson and Rachel Falls
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Lincoln County, North Carolina, Marriage Bonds, 1779-1868, Robert Ferguson to Rachel Falls, bond dated 2 February 1819; imaged in North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979, digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DZ4N-33?view=fullText : accessed 7 December 2024), image 223 of 696; citing North Carolina Division of Archives and History.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Supports Robert Ferguson's marriage to Rachel Falls before Levi Ferguson's birth.
- Used as maternal-identity context; the record does not name Levi.
census
[2] 1830 Robert Fergerson household, Rhea County, Tennessee
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: "United States, Census, 1830," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPM-2K6 : accessed 10 March 2024), entry for Robert Fergerson, 1830; citing United States Census, 1830, digital folder 005156016, microfilm 0024533, image 738.
Access: FamilySearch database entry and digital image reference.
- Places Robert Ferguson in Rhea County, Tennessee, in 1830.
- Supports the household-pattern context for Rachel Falls Ferguson and children including Levi, while naming only the household head.
census
[3] 1840 Robt Furgison household, Rhea County, Tennessee
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: "United States, Census, 1840," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHT1-G7W : accessed 9 March 2024), entry for Robt Furgison, 1840; citing United States Census, 1840, digital folder 005154904, microfilm 0024549, image 937.
Access: FamilySearch database entry and digital image reference.
- Places Robert Ferguson in Rhea County, Tennessee, in 1840.
- Supports indirect household-pattern evidence for Rachel Falls Ferguson and the older Ferguson children.
court / estate
[4] Order of sale against heirs of Robert Ferguson
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Gass Lenty & Company v. Heirs of Robert Ferguson, Rhea County Court (Tennessee), 2 July 1861, order appointing guardian ad litem for Ranzy Jane Ferguson and directing sale of land subject to widow's dower; Tennessee County Court Records, 1777-1974, digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39J-89CX-3 : accessed 13 November 2024), image 324; citing Rhea County Court Records.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Identifies James, Lea/Levi, Elizabeth, and Ranzy Jane Ferguson as heirs of Robert Ferguson deceased.
- Supports Levi Ferguson's father and sibling group.
military service record
[5] Compiled military service record of Levi Ferguson, Mexican War
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Compiled Military Service Records, Mexican War, 1846-1848, Levi Ferguson, Private, Company H, First Tennessee Mounted Infantry; NARA microfilm publication M638, roll 4, Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762-1984; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/2058/images/32628_b036755-01407?pId=86831 : accessed 28 December 2024), subscription required.
Access: Ancestry digital image; subscription required.
- Supports Levi Ferguson's service as a private in Company H, First Tennessee Mounted Infantry.
- Supports mustering at Washington, Tennessee, and discharge on a surgeon's certificate near Lavaca, Texas.
marriage record
[6] Marriage license of Levi Furgerson and Rachael E. Collins
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Rhea County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, Loose Records: Marriage Bonds & Licenses, A-L, Levi Furgerson to Rachael E. Collins, 15 October 1847; Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. Digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/1169/records/1148862?tid=74420310&pid=30294967820&ssrc=pt : accessed 28 December 2024), Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002, subscription required.
Access: Ancestry digital image; subscription required.
- Supports Levi Ferguson's first marriage to Rachel E. Collins in Rhea County, Tennessee.
- License dated 15 October 1847 and solemnized 24 October 1847.
census
[7] 1850 Levi Ferguson household, Barry County, Missouri
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: 1850 U.S. census, Barry County, Missouri, population schedule, District 5, p. 37 (stamped), dwelling 237, family 237, Levi Ferguson household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDZS-5YH : accessed 8 March 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 391.
Access: FamilySearch database entry and digital image reference.
- Places Levi, Rachel, Columbus, and Margaret Ferguson in Barry County, Missouri, in 1850.
- Supports the Tennessee-to-Missouri migration of Levi's first family.
government report / voter list
[8] 1854 Lawrence, Kansas voter list naming Levi Ferguson
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: United States, Kansas Affairs: Report of the Special Committee Appointed to Investigate the Troubles in the Territory of Kansas, 34th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives, Report No. 200 (Washington: [n.p.], 1856), 42; digital image, Google Books (https://books.google.com : accessed 1 January 2025).
Access: Google Books; stable volume URL not captured in the working notes.
- Places Levi Ferguson among voters at Lawrence, Kansas Territory, on 29 November 1854.
newspaper
[9] Free-State militia list naming Levi Ferguson
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Free-State Militias and list of men who joined them, Lawrence Daily Journal, Lawrence, Kansas, 21 May 1886, p. 2; via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/lawrence-daily-journal-free-state-militi/21710093/ : accessed 2 January 2025), clip created by user wayne_anna.
Access: Newspapers.com clipping.
- Retrospectively identifies Levi Ferguson in Captain Learned's Free-State militia company.
census
[10] 1860 Levi Furgerson household, Wakarusa Township, Kansas Territory
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: 1860 U.S. census, Douglas County, Kansas Territory, Wakarusa Township, p. 45 (penned), dwelling 563, family 488, Levi Furgerson household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M66S-5BB : accessed 8 July 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 349.
Access: FamilySearch database entry and digital image reference.
- Places Levi Ferguson in Wakarusa Township in 1860.
- Shows Columbus Ferguson in Levi's household and Rachel Collins Ferguson absent.
census
[11] 1860 Jas Furguson household with Robert H. Furguson
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: "United States, Census, 1860," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHZ4-D9B : accessed 8 July 2024), entry for Jas Furguson and Robert H. Furguson, Madison Township, Johnson County, Missouri; citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 626, p. 281, digital folder 005170207_002_M9CV-7S7, image 282.
Access: FamilySearch database entry and digital image reference.
- Places Robert H. Furguson, age seven and born in Missouri, in the household of James Ferguson.
- Supports the temporary scattering of Levi Ferguson's first-family children when correlated with later evidence.
court-record
[12] 1874 Upton Divorce Testimony - Levi Ferguson and Robert H. Ferguson
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: "Douglas, Kansas, United States records," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-J36L-8VHZ : accessed 30 November 2024), testimonies of Levi Ferguson and R. H. Ferguson in William Upton v. Elizabeth Upton, District Court, Douglas County, Kansas, images 506-516 of 2835; citing microfilm no. 008738905.
Access: FamilySearch.
- Identifies R. H. Ferguson as Levi Ferguson's son through Levi's testimony and Robert H. Ferguson's reference to Levi's house as his father's house.
- Places Levi Ferguson's household near Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, in the early 1870s.
- Describes a place called 'The Island' associated with Levi Ferguson's property or household network.
- Shows Levi Ferguson and Robert H. Ferguson assisting William Upton during illness and a domestic crisis.
land deed
[13] Levi Ferguson deed to Samuel Y. Sum, Douglas County, Kansas
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Douglas County, Kansas, United States records, digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY8-28W6?view=fullText : accessed 29 December 2024), image 494 of 832, land indenture, Levi Ferguson to Samuel Sum, 80 acres; citing microfilm 008356725.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Supports Levi Ferguson's landholding and sale of eighty acres in Douglas County, Kansas Territory.
land patent
[14] BLM land patent to Levi Ferguson
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: United States, Bureau of Land Management, "Patent Details for Levi Ferguson," Patent No. 81112, Military Warrant No. 0433-491, Lecompton Land Office, issued under the Scrip Warrant Act of March 3, 1855. GLO Records (https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=0433-491&docClass=MW). Access date not captured in citation; note accessed in source notes around January 2025.
Access: Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records; exact access date not captured in the working notes.
- Supports the formal patent for the southeast quarter of Section 26, Township 12, Range 19, to Levi Ferguson as assignee of John W. Smith.
authored horticultural history
[15] G. C. Brackett history of the Missouri Pippin apple
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: G. C. Brackett, "History and Nomenclature of the Missouri Pippin," in Proceedings of the Fourteenth Session and Quarter Centennial Celebration of the American Pomological Society, Held in Boston, Mass., September 10, 11, & 12, 1873, ed. Henry T. Williams (Boston: Published by the Society, 1873), 145; digital image, Google Books (https://books.google.com : accessed 1 January 2025).
Access: Google Books; stable volume URL not captured in the working notes.
- Places Levi Ferguson near Lawrence in January 1860.
- Connects Levi to Brinkley Hornsby and the Missouri Pippin / Missouri Orange apple scion story.
affidavit / notarial record
[16] Affidavit of Levi Ferguson and Leonidas Hornsby
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Douglas, Kansas, United States records, images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY8-K9XP-4?view=fullText : accessed 5 January 2025), image 455 of 830; affidavit of Levi Ferguson and Leonidas Hornsby, 25 February 1862, regarding Columbus Hornsby and William B. Hornsby, deceased, witnessing of legal instrument; Douglas County, Kansas, notarial records, 008356727.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Supports Levi Ferguson's presence in Kansas and close connection with the Hornsby family network.
court / estate
[17] Court order after publication to non-resident heirs of Robert Ferguson
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Robert Gillespie, Administrator of Robert Ferguson, deceased v. Rosa J. Ferguson et al., Rhea County Court (Dayton, Tennessee), Minute Book, p. 331, order pro confesso against non-resident defendants James, Levi, Sarah, and Elizabeth Ferguson, 5 November 1861; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39J-89C6-W : accessed 12 November 2024); citing FHL microfilm 008479216.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Identifies James, Levi, Sarah, and Elizabeth Ferguson as non-resident defendants or heirs in the Robert Ferguson estate proceeding.
newspaper legal notice
[18] Athens Post notice to heirs-at-law of Robert Ferguson
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: The heirs-at-law of Robert Ferguson, deceased, published a bill to sell his land to settle bills, The Athens Post (Athens, Tennessee), 4 October 1861, p. 3; database with images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-athens-post-the-heirs-at-law-of-robe/158689714/?xid=637 : accessed 21 December 2024); Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Lehi, Utah, 2024.
Access: Newspapers.com clipping.
- Names James Ferguson, Levi Ferguson, Sarah Ferguson, and Elizabeth Ferguson as non-resident defendants in the Robert Ferguson estate land-sale bill.
newspaper
[19] Weekly Gazette report on Quantrill raid at Lawrence
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: The Weekly Gazette (Harrisonville, Missouri), 29 August 1863, p. 1, "Kansas Invaded by Guerrillas," via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-weekly-gazette/2194909/ : accessed 4 January 2025), clipped page by user rosekathy27.
Access: Newspapers.com clipping.
- Provides context for the Lawrence-area danger during Levi Ferguson's Kansas years.
state census
[20] 1865 Levi Ferguson household, Wakarusa Township
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Kansas state census, 1865, Douglas County, Wakarusa Township, p. 10, dwelling 56, family 58, Levi Fergusen and Makala Fergusen household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Z-22V9 : accessed 13 June 2024); citing Kansas State Historical Society, microfilm publication of original records, Topeka.
Access: FamilySearch database entry and digital image reference.
- Places Levi and Mahala Ferguson in Wakarusa Township in 1865.
- Shows a blended Ferguson household including Columbus, Margaret, Samantha, Robert, and Lizzie.
state census
[21] 1875 Levi and Mahala Ferguson household, Wakarusa Township
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: 1875 Kansas State Census, Wakarusa Township, Douglas County, Levi and Mahala Ferguson household, line 29; Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka; microfilm roll ks1875_6; Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925, database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1088/images/ks1875_6-0514?pId=3775482 : accessed 2 January 2025).
Access: Ancestry digital image; subscription may be required.
- Places Levi, Mahala, Samantha, Lizzie, and James Ferguson in Wakarusa Township in 1875.
- Supports Levi's reported real estate and personal estate values shortly before the foreclosure records.
newspaper
[22] Mahala Ferguson granted pension as widow of Levi Ferguson
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Mahala, widow of Levi Ferguson, granted a pension for Levi's service in the Mexican War, Capper's Weekly, Topeka, Kansas, 24 January 1889, p. 7; via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/cappers-weekly-mahala-widow-of-levi-fe/161446516/ : accessed 2 January 2025), clip created by user davissimpson.
Access: Newspapers.com clipping.
- Identifies Mahala Ferguson as Levi Ferguson's widow.
- Corroborates later recognition of Levi's Mexican War service for pension purposes.
court
[23] Douglas County court record naming Levi Ferguson as juror
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Douglas, Kansas, United States records, digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9RC-Y33Q?view=fullText : accessed 11 January 2025), image 202 of 294; citing film no. 007666732.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Supports Levi Ferguson's civic presence in Douglas County, Kansas.
census
[24] 1870 Levi Ferguson household, Wakarusa Township, Douglas County
Needs caution Back to first citationCitation: "United States, Census, 1870," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJK-LS4 : accessed 17 January 2025), entry for Levi Ferguson and Mohola Ferguson, Wakarusa Township, Douglas County, Kansas; citing United States census, 1870, digital folder 004257749, microfilm 000545932, image 498, indexing batch N01439-3.
Access: FamilySearch database entry and digital image reference.
- Places Levi and Mahala Ferguson in Wakarusa Township in 1870 with Robert H. Ferguson, Lizzie Ferguson, and a five-year-old child recorded as Jennie Ferguson.
- Creates the Jennie/James child-identity question when compared with the 1875 Kansas state census.
court / foreclosure
[25] M. B. Brownlee foreclosure decree against Levi and Mahala Ferguson
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Douglas, Kansas, United States records, images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9RC-YSDF-Z?view=fullText : accessed 2 January 2025), image 261 of 882; film no. 007666742.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Supports the Brownlee foreclosure judgment against Levi and Mahala Ferguson concerning the south half of the southeast quarter of Section 26, Township 12, Range 19.
- Use the operative amount of $1,145.10 plus interest and costs.
court / foreclosure
[26] F. Barteldes foreclosure decree against Levi and Mahala Ferguson
Strong support Back to first citationCitation: Douglas County, Kansas, United States Records, court decision against Levi Ferguson and Mahala Ferguson; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9RC-YSD6-C : accessed 30 November 2024), image 263 of 882; citing microfilm no. 007666742.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Supports the Barteldes foreclosure decree against Levi and Mahala Ferguson for the east half of the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 9, Township 12, Range 19.
- Use $312 plus interest unless another reviewed source confirms a different figure.
newspaper legal notice
[27] Sheriff's sale of Levi and Mahala Ferguson property
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Sheriff's Sale of property of Levi Ferguson and Mahala Ferguson, The Kansas Spirit, Lawrence, Kansas, 30 December 1875, p. 8; via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-spirit-sheriffs-sale-of-prope/26396588/ : accessed 2 January 2025), clip created by user davissimpson.
Access: Newspapers.com clipping.
- Confirms the public sale process for the Barteldes foreclosure property.
newspaper death notice
[28] Death notice for Levi Ferguson
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Levi Ferguson death notice, The Spirit of Kansas, Topeka, Kansas, 5 June 1878, p. 5; via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-spirit-of-kansas-levi-ferguson-death/26396640/ : accessed 2 January 2025), clip created by user davissimpson.
Access: Newspapers.com clipping.
- Supports Levi Ferguson's death on 1 June 1878 at his residence three miles west of Lawrence.
- Reports consumption as cause and identifies him as an early settler known to a wide circle of acquaintances.
burial record
[29] Lawrence burial record for Levi Ferguson
Contemporary record Back to first citationCitation: Lawrence, Douglas, Kansas, United States records, digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLL-9SDT-C?view=fullText : accessed 10 January 2025), image 185 of 201; citing film no. 008198456.
Access: FamilySearch digital image.
- Supports burial/removal from Wakarusa Township, Tennessee birthplace, consumption as cause, and lot 360.
- Preserves the death-year conflict with the contemporary 1878 newspaper notice.