Civil War

Title: Examination of Nicholas C. Michalucun
Description: This is Nicholas C. Michalucun's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Michalucun, a sixty-nine year old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he was born in Italy and that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 100 in a bound volume, was signed by Michalucun in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Notice of Drafting
Description: Draft notice for various counties in New Jersey.
Object Type: Image
Date: September 2, 1862

Title: The Governor's Mansion, Lecompton, Kansas Territory
Description: Harper's Weekly wood engraving of men on horseback outside of the governor's mansion in Lecompton, Kansas Territory. The house was built by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones and briefly resided in by Kansas Territorial Governor John W. Geary. In 1855, The "Bogus Legislature" selected the proslavery town of Lecompton as Kansas Territory's capital city. Meanwhile, Free-Staters continued to denounce the legislature as illegitimate.
Object Type: Image
Date: June 6, 1857

Title: The Union Volunteer
Description: Patriotic print created by the Currier & Ives Lithography Company in 1861, following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter and President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion.
Object Type: Image

Title: From G.A. Parsons and A.G. Blakey to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This dispatch, dated June 16, 1858, is from G.A. Parsons, Adjutant General of the Missouri Militia, and A.G. Blakey, Division Inspector, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. They inform Stewart that they have obeyed his orders to organize volunteer companies in Cass, Vernon, and Bates Counties. They add that they have heard rumors of “violence and plunder” throughout western Missouri and do not believe the companies they have raised will provide sufficient protection.
Date: June 16, 1858

Title: Meeting of the Southern Seceders from the Democratic Convention at St. Andrew's Hall, Charleston [S.C.] April 30, 1860
Description: Wood engraving from the May 12, 1860 issue of Harper's Weekly depicting the "Fire-Eaters" meeting in Charleston, South Carolina.
Object Type: Image
Date: May 12, 1860

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This letter was written on March 21 and 26, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella describes her train journey from Grafton, Ohio to Xenia, Ohio. On March 26, she writes from Yellow Springs, Ohio that Mr. Stephenson has been in the area collecting money for Kansas: “Thousands of dollars have been sent from Ohio alone & it seems as if Kansas must be well supplyed with many a provision if it all gets there & is properly distributed.”
Date: March 21, 1861-March 26, 1861

Title: Muster Roll of Company A, Missouri Mounted Militia
Description: This muster roll lists the names of soldiers in Company A of the Missouri Mounted Militia. They mustered into service on April 16, 1859, served until June of the same year, and earned $25 per month. The muster roll was signed June 7, 1859 by Captain William B. Fail.
Date: June 7, 1859

Title: Thomas Carney, Kansas Governor
Description: Sepia portrait of Thomas Carney, a successful mercantile businessman from Leavenworth who served as second Governor of Kansas from January 12, 1863 to January 9, 1865.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1888

Title: Petition from Residents of Vernon County, Missouri
Description: This petition was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on August 25, 1859 by 45 citizens of Vernon County, Missouri. The petitioners request that a company of Missouri Volunteers be stationed on the state line in Vernon County “until Kansas has a Constitution…or you are convinced…that her people…will obey some law.” As evidence of their need for protection, they refer to the threat posed by James Montgomery and his men, who are demanding the immediate release of William Wright, a prisoner held in Vernon County.
Object Type: Petition
Date: August 25, 1859

Title: Examination of Mason Brockman
Description: This is Mason Brockman's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Brockman, a resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he was "in the war on the Southern side." The oath is No. 254 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Lemuel B. Learcy
Description: This is Lemuel B. Learcy's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Learcy, a 33-year-old Liberty resident, states that he served in the militia during the war and was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862. The oath is No. 147 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Tragic Prelude
Description: Native Kansan John Steuart Curry's allegorical painting, "Tragic Prelude." Curry's work depicts John Brown and the clash of Free-State and proslavery forces in Bleeding Kansas along with other symbollic elements representing late 19th century Kansas.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Unknown to Dear Brother
Description: This unsigned letter, dated September 30, 1861, describes a recent Missouri state convention, which resulted in a majority vote against secession. The writer expresses ambivalence about the motivations for this vote: "As the Union at that time was hanging on a pivot, and all were anxious that it should be preserved--few having the boldness to assert that they were for secession--of course we elected good Union men . . . but there is no telling what men will do when they have the power."
Date: September 30, 1861

Title: Examination of William Tapp
Description: This is William Tapp's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Tapp, a 55-year-old Virginia native, states that he has resided in Missouri for 40 years and was "too old to take up arms" during the war. He says he was enrolled as "loyal" by the military authorities in 1862. The oath is No. 166 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Election Results, 1860
Description: This document lists the results of an August 1860 election in Missouri. It shows Claiborne Fox Jackson receiving a large majority of the votes in the election for Governor. It also shows the results of elections for Congressman, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, and several other positions.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: August 1860

Title: Jewell Hall
Description: Illustration of Jewell Hall on the campus of William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri. The building was constructed in 1852, and temporarily housed Union soldiers during the Battle of Liberty.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Jane C. Tandy to My Dear Grand Mother
Description: This letter, dated October 22 and October 31, 1866, is from Jane C. Tandy to her grandmother. Tandy describes the tension between "conservatives" and "radicals" in Missouri following the Civil War. She reports that conservatives are taking the Oath of Loyalty to the United States Government required for Missouri voters, while the radicals are refusing.
Date: October 22, 1866 and October 31, 1866

Title: Examination of William H. Rymer
Description: This is William H. Hymer's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Hymer, a 34-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that he was born in Kentucky and that he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States Government during the Civil War by "staying at home and attending to my business." He admits that when he heard of Gen. Price capturing Gen. Mulligan's army at Lexington, Missouri, "I thought both sides wrong." The oath, labeled No. 67 in a bound volume, was signed by Hymer in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Elizabeth Peery to George F. Peery
Description: On January 1, 1856, Elizabeth Peery writes a letter from Edinburgh, Missouri to George F. Peery. Elizabeth describes local festivities for the Christmas holiday, including a large party held by slaves. She reports that friends and family in the area are well, and recounts some of their recent activities. Elizabeth writes that she has a new baby boy, as yet unnamed; she asks George to suggest a name.
Date: January 1, 1856

Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865

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