Edmund Burke Whitman (October 18, 1812 - September 2, 1883) was an American military officer, real estate speculator, and quartermaster active in the middle part of the 19th century. Whitman was bornin East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy followed by Harvard, from which he graduated in 1838. In 1855 he emigrated to Lawrence, Kansas with his family, who were ardent abolitionists and actively fought against pro-Slavery interests during the 'Bloody Kansas' period. In 1856, he partnered with fellow Lawrence pioneer Albert D. Searle (1831 - 1902) to establish a land agent and emigrant firm to encourage anti-slavery settlers to settle in Kansas. In conjunction with this effort he published an important 1856 map of Eastern Kansas. During the American Civil War (1861 - 1865), he served as a quartermaster with the Union Army and after the war as the Superintendent of National Cemeteries where he worked with more the United States Colored Troops (USCT) to recover the remains of more than 100,000 fallen Union casualties from the southern theaters. More by this mapmaker...

Albert D. Searle (July 6, 1831 - October 20, 1902) was an American surveyor, civil engineer, and abolitionist active in Kansas in the middle part of the 19th century, during the 'Bloody Kansas' period. Searle was born in Southampton, Massachusetts. Searle moved to Lawrence Kansas on September 15, 1854, with the second part to emigrate to Lawrence, and helped to layout the townsite, completing the first survey of Lawrence. In 1856 he partnered with fellow Lawrence pioneer Edmund Burke Whitman (1812 - 1883) to establish a land agent and emigrant firm to encourage anti-slavery settlers to settle in Kansas. In conjunction with this effort he published an important 1856 map of Eastern Kansas. During the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 9th Regiment Kansas Calvary, Company A, Union Army. After mustering out of service in 1865, he continued to live in Lawrence until about 1882, when he moved to Leadville Colorado to take up a position as head survey for the Denver - Silver Pumbe spur of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Searle died in Leadville in 1902. Learn More...

John Punchard Jewett (August 16, 1814 - May 14, 1884) was an American publisher and abolitionist active in Boston in the middle part of the 19th century. Jewett was born in Lebanon, Maine. As a young map he moved to Salem, Massachusetts where he worked in a bookshop and bindery. Jewett grew up in the business, eventually becoming a partner. Around 1849, Jewett relocated the firm to Boston. From at least 1835, Hewett was extremely active in anti-slavery efforts, publishing widely, and joining the first Anti-Slavery Society in New England. He was the published of Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic Uncle Tom's Cabin and Maria S. Cummins's Lamplightser. He published few maps, his most famous being a map of Eastern Kansas during the 'Bloody Kansas' period. His interests were hit hard in the Panic of 1857 and he lost his property, closing his firm. He then traveled to Europe in 1873, developing an interest in early safety matches, or as they were then known, Lucifers. On his return to the United States, he built a match factory in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Meeting with some success, he moved to the larger city of New York in 1867. He lived for an unspecified time before moving to Orange, New Jersey, where he lived out the remainder of his days. Learn More...

Lodowick Harrington Bradford (November 10, 1820 - December 13, 1885) was a Boston based engraver lithographer active in the second half of the 19th century. Bradford was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied as a line engraver before transitioning to the then new art of lithography. He even invented his own photolithographic ambrotype process that created a durable photographic picture on lithographic stone. In 1849 he partnered with Ebenezer Tappen (1815 - 1854) to form the Boston firm of Tappan and Bradford. The partnership remained active until Tappan's untimely death in January, 1854. From 1854 to 1859 Bradford continued to operate the firm, but the imprint changed to 'L. H. Bradford and Company.' It is not clear who the 'and Company' was, possibly Tappan's heirs? From late 1859 until his 1870, he printed under 'L. H. Bradford.' His last known lithographs appeared in 1860, but he did continue copper and steel engraving until his death. Bradford was married to Martha Brown, from an old Gloucester Family. After his wedding in 1849, he divided his time between Gloucester and Boston. In Gloucester he made the acquaintance of the local painter Fitz Henry Lane (1804 - 1865) and worked with him to produce several views in the 1850s. He died on the road between Boston and Gloucester in 1885. Learn More...