The origin and character of the population in Kansas is, in this
connection, worthy of special note. Every State in the Union and every
Territory except Alaska, contributed to the population of this State.
The United States census of 1880 shows that 233,066 persons born in
Kansas were then living in the State. The singular fact that native-born
Kansans were then living in every State and Territory, is shown by the
same authority. Illinois contributed 106,992 to our population; Ohio,
93,396; Indiana, 77,096; Missouri, 60,228; Pennsylvania, 59,236; Iowa,
55,972; New York, 43,779, and Kentucky, 32,979. Three other States,
Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin, each contributed over 15,000; and
all others less than that number.
The same authority shows that the so-called “exodus” from the South has
been greatly exaggerated, Louisiana and Mississippi furnishing only
4,067 of our colored population, while nearly 19,000 came from the three
States of Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee.
The colored people constitute, at the present time, less than four per
cent. of our total population, and the inhabitants of foreign birth a
little more than ten per cent. of the total.