David Ware

David Ware was born enslaved in the state of Missouri, but later fled to Kansas. During the Civil War, he served in the First Kansas Colored Infantry. In 1873, he secured a job as janitor at the Kansas capitol. Ware was highly respected in the community where he was a member of the Second Baptist Church, Great Western Lodge, and the Shawnee County Colored Horse Fair Association. He died in 1888 and the flag at the capitol was flown at half-mast and legislators observed a moment of silence. Photographed at Leonard & Martin Studio in Topeka, Kansas.

Source: kansasmemory.org