The bomb squad removed a cannonball from a flower bed south of Topeka. Was it part of a weapons cache during the Civil War or 'Bleeding Kansas' violence?

The item was found in a small garden in eastern Kansas (Overbrook Police Department)

A bomb squad this week removed a small cannonball from the garden of a house in Overbrook, Kan., near the old Santa Fe Trail, which ran through communities ravaged by the Civil War.

Overbrook Police Chief Eric Carlson said several agencies went to the home on Walnut Street after a call came in Tuesday afternoon. The suspected Civil War ball, described by Carlson as slightly larger than a softball, was removed by Topeka police.

“The cannonball was outside in a garden and had been there since at least 2006,” Carlson said Thursday morning in an email to the Picket. “It is believed that the cannonball had been there much longer but buried and recent rain had brought it above ground.

Topeka police have the ordnance “pending a determination on whether or not it can be safely returned or needs to be destroyed,” said Carlson. 

“There is not suspected to be others in the garden and the area was checked. I am unable to identify the exact kind of shell,” Carlson said. “The metal was too thick for the X-ray used by the bomb squad. This is why further investigation was required.”

If the ball is saved, he said, it will go the Overbrook Historical Society.

Lance Feyh, a public information officer for the state fire marshal's office, said Topeka police were to consult with the Army’s Fort Riley about the object. The Picket left a message with Topeka police.

Wade Sisson, a board member with the historical society, said the artifact was discovered on the former grounds of the original Overbrook Methodist Church, which was built in 1888. The property now is a private residence. "I'm told by someone who did the initial examination that they estimate it was made sometime between 1860 and 1865," he said in an email.

According to Sisson, the owner told them a basement and first floor for an addition at the church were built and completed in the 1950s. After a 2006 flood, the homeowner had the basement wall excavated to replace a drain.

The trail, shown in red, ran through Overbook, which is a few miles east of Wilmington (NPS map)

The cannonball was discovered during the excavation but it was so mud-packed, it was assumed to be a solid metal ball. The resident placed it in a garden bed by the back door and forgot about it. In May, his son found the item. A rain cleared some mud and when it was put back in a different position they noticed an angle that showed a plug. That is when the owner called authorities.

Carlson said officials determined the cannonball was from the mid-19th century “based on the plug hole and the fact that a large cache of cannonballs that had been stored in Overbrook during the Civil War and Bleeding Kansas period.”

“Kansas sided with the Union during the war and several confrontations during the Bleeding Kansas era were rumored to have taken place in the area," said the chief.

The farm and railroad town was not incorporated until 1886. Overbrook is about 20 miles southeast of Topeka and 25 miles southwest of Lawrence, scene of an 1863 Confederate guerrilla massacre of civilians. Kansas was beset before and during the war by violence among pro- and anti-slavery forces.

Santa Fe Trail Street in Overbrook – which is about a block from the scene -- runs directly along the Santa Fe Trail.

Several battles in Kansas were fought along the historic pioneer corridor, including in Olathe, Westport and Diamond Spring. No fighting was believed to have occurred in Overbrook.

The town's police department includes a Santa Fe Trail covered wagon in its logo (right).

About 1,000 people live in Overbrook.