Prentiss, Annie Soule

Annie Soule Prentiss – Library Founder, Teacher, Free-State Advocate (1842 – 1931); Vinland, Lawrence

Annie Soule came to Kansas in 1855 at the age of twelve with her mother and siblings. They joined her father and brother on their claim in the Coal Creek (Vinland) area. The family came from Chelsea, Massachusetts to join in the fight to make Kansas Territory a free state. Her father and brother had traveled as part of the Second Emigrant Aid group in 1854.[1]  Their home in Coal Creek was a station on the underground railroad. James Lane, well-known abolitionist, was a friend of Annie’s father.[2]

In 1859, at the age of 17, Annie and Martha Cutter organized a group of Vinland young people to form the Coal Creek Library Association for “the moral, social, and intellectual improvement of its members.” The 22 original members contributed 50 cents each ($18.69 in 2025) to purchase the first books.[3]   Meetings were held every two weeks. The constitution stated that after the business meeting the group would have singing, readings, “select speaking and essays,” and “social amusements…dancing excluded.”  Meetings were to end at 11 PM, but no one had clocks, so they usually lasted much longer. The young people were having fun! Membership and the number of books in the library increased until after the Civil War. In 1870, the Vinland Literary Society took over the social activities for the community and the Coal Creek Library focused on books.[4]  The library operated into the 2000’s, over 140 years.

In the early 1860’s, the family moved to Lawrence. Annie was away teaching in Kanwaka when Quantrill’s Raiders burned down the Soule home during his 1863 raid on Lawrence. No one was injured but all their possessions were destroyed. Annie with her mother and siblings went to Boston until the trouble in Kansas had passed.[5]

After returning to Lawrence Annie joined the Plymouth Congregational church.[6]   She became the third wife of Dr. Sylvester B. Prentiss on June 21, 1866. [7]  Their son Charles was born in 1870.[8]  Annie enjoyed literature and writing poetry. She organized the No Name club in 1876. Her other activities included church work and women’s organizations at First Baptist Church and presiding over the sewing society.[9]  Annie enjoyed telling younger people stories of her experiences during the historic days of early Kansas. 

Sylvester passed away in 1892. Annie’s mother, Sophia Soule, became an invalid and lived with Annie until her death in 1900.[10]   Annie passed away after a short illness in 1931, and rests beside her husband at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence.[11]

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• [1] Lawrence Daily Journal-World, Thursday, July 23, 1931.
• [2] “Vinland’s Coal Creek Library Has Had a Century of Service,” Lawrence Journal World, Dec. 24, 1959.
• [3] Mel Verhaeghe, “Founders of Vinland,” The Kansas Room Files, Baldwin City Public Library, 05/06/2011.
• [4] “Vinland’s Coal Creek Library.”
• [5] Lawrence Daily Journal-World, Thursday, July 23, 1931.
• [6] Ibid.
• [7] Lawrence Daily Journal, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1892.
• [8] familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFPT-1SP?lang=en  
• [9] Lawrence Daily Journal-World, Thursday, July 23, 1931.
• [10] Lawrence Journal, Lawrence, KS May 26, 1900.
• [11] Lawrence Daily Journal-World, Thursday, July 23, 1931.

By M. Jardon, May 2026