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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: From A.J. Huntoon to My Beloved Wife and Boy
Description: This letter, dated September 15, 1861, is from A.J. Huntoon to his wife Lizzie and son Prentice. He writes from Mapleton, Bourbon County, Kansas, where he is assisting at a military hospital for General Lane’s Brigade. He reports that his regiment, the 5th Kansas Cavalry volunteers, recently arrived at Mapleton from Fort Lincoln along with Wier’s, Montgomery’s, and Jennison’s regiments. He expresses a desire to return to the battlefield, saying that “it is impossible to lay idle . . . when treason shows its dragon head in every settlement.”
Date: September 15, 1861

Title: From William H. Doah to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on August 16, 1859 by Capt. William H. Doah, Company B, Missouri Militia, in Butler, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Doah states that after Kansan William Wright (alias Pickles) was imprisoned for murder and robbery in Vernon County, Missouri, the citizens of that county “were threatened with violence by the outlaws of Kansas.” Doah says that James Montgomery later sent a letter demanding Pickles’ immediate release. Doah writes that he plans to “repel invasion and meet out justice” to the Kansas guerrillas; if Stewart does not approve of this plan, Doah says he will resign as Captain of Company B.
Date: August 16, 1859

Title: Petition from Citizens of Vernon County, Missouri
Description: This petition was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on March 28, 1859 by 43 citizens of Vernon County, Missouri. The petitioners request military protection from a threatened attack by Kansas guerrillas. They state that the guerrillas are assembling near the Little Osage River under the command of James Montgomery, and that “the notorious Brown” has again made an appearance in Kansas. The petitioners believe that "it is the full intention of those lawless men to invade the State and rob and murder the inhabitants.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: March 28, 1859

Title: From Charles Kribben to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on August 25, 1858 by Charles Kribben in St. Louis to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Kribben writes that he disagrees with Stewart’s decision to send troops to Bates and Vernon Counties in Missouri: “Think of the expense & the hue & cry of our opponents!...The step to send troops there now will make a noise in the world; it may give our enemies a hold again on the Kansas question.”
Date: August 25, 1858

Title: From H.A. Haroman to G.A. Parsons
Description: H.A. Haroman writes a letter to Gen. G.A. Parsons on November 23, 1860, reporting on the “Great State of alarm” in Bates County, Missouri. He states that James Montgomery and his band of Jayhawkers have garrisoned Fort Stone and are constructing more forts. Haroman also says that Montgomery has publicly announced his intention to set up headquarters in Vernon County, Missouri. Haroman asks Parsons to supply arms and ammunition for Bates County's defense.
Date: November 23, 1860

Title: From G.A. Parsons to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This dispatch, dated December 8, 1860, is from G.A. Parsons, Adjutant General of the Missouri Militia, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Parsons reports that a “band of marauders of Kansas Territory” murdered a Missouri citizen for capturing a fugitive slave. The 300 mounted and armed marauders, under the command of James Montgomery and Charles Jennison, have also captured slaves and threatened the lives of Missouri citizens. Parsons asks Stewart to send troops to the border to protect citizens “threatened with arson plunder and death.”
Date: December 8, 1860

Title: From John F. Youngs to Jenney and Mother
Description: This letter is from Lt. John F. Youngs, Company E, 5th Regiment, to his family. Youngs writes from camp in Fort Scott, Kansas on September 18, 1861 and gives a detailed account of the Battle of Dry Wood Creek. He describes hiding in a ravine and firing on thousands of advancing troops. Since then, "we have been buisy scouting with an occasional scirmish," and says that an infantry company has gone to "break up a secession camp."
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 18, 1861

Title: From James S. Hackney to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on June 11, 1858 by James S. Hackney at “Noland House” in Independence, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Hackney reports that Col. Blakely and Gen. Parsons are in the process of organizing several military companies in Cass and Vernon Counties in Missouri. According to Hackney, Col. Blakely has “seen over 100 men who have been driven from the Territory by Montgomery’s band. He says ‘I’ll tell you times are hot down here—the people are boiling over with rage.’”
Object Type: Letter
Date: June 11, 1858

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