TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A sterling silver spoon that belonged to one of the Kansas Territory’s earliest settlers will now be kept at the state’s history museum.

Allin and Donna Phister and their son, Thorton, all of Leawood, presented the spoon Tuesday to the Kansas Museum of History.

The spoon belonged to one of their ancestors, Christina McCoy. She was the wife of Baptist missionary Isaac McCoy, who history experts say was an important early settler in Kansas.

The McCoys lived in Kansas in the mid-1800s. Isaac McCoy was the first person to survey land that would eventually become the state of Kansas and he also worked with the Indian population.

Museum officials say they hope the donation will help spark education about the couple’s contributions to the state.

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Associated Press information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal