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: From J.W. Black to A. Comingo
Description: On December 24, 1863, J.W. Black, Deputy Provost Marshal for Ray County, Missouri, writes from Richmond, Missouri to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri, in Lexington, Missouri. Black states that he ordered the release of Frank Adams, and that Aaron Elliott probably escaped to Nebraska "before I sent after him."
Date: December 24, 1863

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: Warrant for the Arrest of Gen. John Reid
Description: This warrant for the arrest of Gen. John Reid was issued on September 19, 1856 by S.G. Cato, Assistant Justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas Territory. The warrant accuses Reid and others of sacking and burning the town of Osawatomie, Kansas, kidnapping two people, and stealing property worth several thousand dollars on August 30, 1856.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: September 19, 1856

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: Civil War Muster Rolls
Description: These muster rolls from 1861 and 1864 list the names of soldiers enlisted in Captain James R. Murphy’s Company of Home Guards from Caldwell County, Missouri. Attached is a January 22, 1946 letter from Bertha E. Booth of Caldwell County to Mr. Shoemaker. Booth notes that the muster roll from 1864 is likely to be “a list of the militiamen who were in pursuit of the Thrailkill (Confed.) raiders.”
Date: 1861 and 1864

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: Odon Guitar
Description: This sepia photograph, ca. 1860s, depicts Union Col. Odon Guitar of the 9th Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, in military uniform. The photograph was taken at Nichols and Bros. Photographic Gallery in St. Louis, Missouri.
Object Type: Image

Title: From James M. Boyer to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated October 9, 1863 is from James M. Boyer, Deputy Provost Marshal of Chariton County, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Boyer asks Comingo for information about the proper procedure for discharging soldiers. He also reports that Jefferson J. Shaw of Chariton County was discharged from his regiment despite being fit and wanting to remain in the service. "It does seem to me," Boyer writes, "that there is a screw loose somewhere."
Date: October 9, 1863

Title: U.S. vs. Charles Robinson
Description: These legal documents include a warrant, dated May 24, 1856, for the arrest of Charles Robinson for committing treason against the United States. Attached is a summary of a witness's testimony: “he had heard Charles Robinson, in common conversation, repeatedly urge upon the people the propriety and necessity of resisting the enforcement of the Territorial laws.” Also included is a motion to sever Robinson’s case from that of a co-defendant, as well as a motion for continuance, dated September 10, 1856. The court documents are from the First District Court of the United States, Douglas County, Kansas Territory.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: May 24, 1856 and September 10, 1856

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: Application of Elizabeth Turner
Description: This is Elizabeth Turner’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of her slave, Nelson. The application, dated November 17, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States and a statement that Turner, of Howard County, Missouri, lawfully obtained her slave. The application is signed by two witnesses and a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 17, 1866

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

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