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Title: From Thomas McCleary to Hugh D. Fisher
Description: On September 25, 1863, Thomas McCleary writes from Blairsville to Rev. Hugh D. Fisher. McCleary says he was glad to hear of Fisher’s “Providential escape from the hands of the Rebbels.” He expresses hope that Kansas may rise in her strength and demolish border ruffians…and all that opposes freedom.”
Date: September 25, 1863

Title: Tender of Service of Martin White
Description: In this document, created October 5, 1856, a volunteer company of mounted riflemen in Lykins County, Kansas, tenders its service to the Governor of Kansas Territory. The document includes a list of the company’s officers, including Captain Martin White.
Date: October 5, 1856

Title: From T.W. Trego to Dear Sister Alice
Description: This letter, dated October 18, 1862, is from T.W. Trego in Chicago to his sister-in-law Alice in Kansas. He tells her that he has recently heard from Alice’s husband Joseph, a lieutenant in the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, and that he is camped in Helena, Arkansas. He speculates that Joseph’s regiment “must feel very uneasy down there in their inactivity while so many brilliant victories are being won elsewhere.” He expresses hope that Alice is not in danger of guerrilla attacks from the “Missouri ruffians.”
Date: October 18, 1862

Title: Petition of Sundry Citizens of Pottawatomie Creek
Description: This petition, dated September 19, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 32 Kansas citizens living near the Pottawatomie, Sugar, and Middle Creeks and the Osage River. The petitioners describe several recent guerrilla attacks in their region, including the Battle of Osawatomie, and ask for Geary to take action. They complain that the attacks, launched by Missourians and “guided by a few desperate men in our midst,” have succeeded in “sacking and burning houses and in robbing and plundering and menacing the lives of our citizens.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: September 19, 1856

Title: From Martin White to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated October 5, 1856, was sent by Martin White in Miami County, Kansas, to Kansas Governor John Geary. White is frustrated by Geary’s lack of response to his previous requests for troops to protect local citizens against John Brown’s raids. White states that has raised a company of 80 men who wish to be mustered into the U.S. service to help with local defense.
Date: October 5, 1856

Title: Statement of Wilson Shannon
Description: This statement by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon was written ca. December 1855. Shannon describes the series of events leading to the Wakarusa War, beginning with the murder of a Free State supporter named Charles Dow by Franklin Coleman, a proslavery man. To address the subsequent civil unrest in Douglas County, Kansas, Shannon asks General Richardson, General Strickler, and Col. Sumner to supply troops and assist Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones in restoring order.
Object Type: Government Document

Title: From Thomas Carney to James L. McDowell
Description: This letter, dated June 26, 1863, was written by Kansas Governor Thomas Carney in Washington, DC, to James L. McDowell. Carney writes that Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, has refused to approve Major General Schofield’s order to raise a regiment. Carney says that if necessary he will “foot the bill” himself to defend “helpless women and children” from the “brutal...ruffian raids that have so long cursed our state.”
Date: June 26, 1863

Title: From Wilson Shannon to Franklin Pierce
Description: This letter, dated June 27, 1856, was written by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon in St. Louis to President Franklin Pierce. Shannon informs Pierce that after recent “troubles” in Kansas Territory, the area is no longer threatened by any “illegal military bodies” as far as he knows. Shannon believes that the presence of federal troops helped to restore peace, and states that these troops should be maintained in Kansas to help suppress future conflicts. Shannon is particularly concerned about the threat of civil unrest if the Free State legislature meets, as planned, on July 4, 1856.
Object Type: Letter
Date: June 27, 1856

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