Portrait of Eli Thayer, founder of the New England Emigrant Aid Company, dated between 1855 and 1865. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.

In April of 1854, shortly after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society was chartered in response. It was founded by Eli Thayer and other anti-slavery advocates with the goal of populating Kansas Territory with Free-State towns. Shortly after its inception, its name was changed to the New England Emigrant Aid Company, or NEEAC.   

The NEEAC supported settlers on their journey to Kansas. They provided funds, sometimes upwards of 25% of an individual’s expenses. Their efforts saw the founding of Lawrence and Manhattan.  

Only 2,000 settlers came to Kansas with the organization, though they inspired the migration of other likeminded Free-Staters not associated with them. Overall, with their help, Kansas eventually entered the Union as a Free-State in 1861. Though Eli Thayer himself did not move to Kansas, his mark on the creation of a Free-State Kansas is undeniable. 

Years later, Thayer reflected on Kansas emigration in a letter to Isaac Goodnow, writing, "I feel a kinship nearer than that of blood for the heroic Kansas pioneers who responded to my call for volunteers for Kansas. They made the first self-sacrificing emigration in the world's history... Our Kansas Free-State men were as much above the Puritans as angels are above mortals."