Born in Vermont, Oscar Eugene Learnard graduated from law school and emigrated to Kansas Territory in 1855, settling in Lawrence. In 1857, Learnard helped found the town of Burlington in Coffey County, Kansas. Here he built a mill, a business house and a building used as a school and a church. Learnard was elected to the Council in the Free State Legislature and one of the founders of the Republican Party in Kansas. Learnard was serving as judge of the Fifth judicial district when he resigned to become lieutenant colonel of the 1st Kansas Infantry. Learnard resigned his commission on July 25, 1862. On October 8, 1862, Learnard was called to active duty as lieutenant colonel of the Kansas State Militia. Learnard was second in command to Maj. Gen. George W. Deitzler. Learnard was released from this service on October 27. After the war, Learnard was elected to the Kansas State Senate. Learnard was special attorney and tax commissioner for the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad Company. In 1884, Learnard bought the Lawrence Daily Journal. Learnard donated land for and helped found the United States Indian Industrial Training School, a school for Native Americans, today operating as the Haskell Indian Nations University.
Connelley, “Colonel and Judge Oscar E. Learnard.” In A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Vol. 3, 1248.
Kansas Adjutant General, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kansas, 1861-’65, 22.
Kansas Adjutant General, Muster Rolls, Kansas State Militia, Volume 1, 21.
Haskell Indian Nations University. “School History.” Accessed January 14, 2021. Link.