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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: 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

Title: Applications of John Herndon
Description: These are John Herndon’s applications for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slaves, Harrison Small and Reubin Herndon. The applications, dated November 19, 1866, include oaths of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, statements that John Herndon (of Howard County, Missouri) lawfully acquired his slaves, and the signatures of two witnesses and a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the tenth page indicates that the application was rejected. Also included is Harrison Small’s enlistment form, signed and dated November 29, 1863.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 29, 1863 and November 19, 1866

Title: Application of George N. Baker
Description: This is George N. Baker’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Lewis Turner. The application, dated November 14, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States and a statement that Baker lawfully purchased both Turner and another slave, George Bell. The application is signed by four witnesses and a notary public in Lafayette County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the first page indicates that the application was rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 14, 1866-December 5, 1866

Title: 1860 Presidential Election Returns from Mercer County, Missouri
Description: This document presents the election returns from Mercer County, Missouri for the Presidential election held on November 6, 1860: Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson received 682 votes; John Bell and Edward Everett received 491 votes; John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane received 169 votes; and Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin received 80 votes. On November 10, R.R. Ballew, Clerk of the Mercer County Court, certified the results.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 10, 1860

Title: Application of Thomas P. Burris
Description: This is Thomas P. Burris’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Phillip. The application, dated November 10, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, and the signature of a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the fourth page indicates that the application was rejected. Attached are two bills from 1855 declaring the sale of slaves to Burris, of Howard County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: February 7, 1855-November 10, 1866

Title: Will of Cecil D. Ball
Description: This is the will and testament of Cecil D. Ball of Little Osage County, Missouri, dated April 16, 1859. In this document, Ball bequeaths $5,000 to the Presbyterian Church of Little Osage as long as the church never employs a preacher who promotes “in public or private any abolition or anti-slavery doctrines or principles.” Ball stipulates that if the church fails to comply, the bequest will be forfeited. A codicil dated November 15, 1860 voids this stipulation.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: April 16, 1859

Title: Application of Martha A. Barker
Description: This is Martha A. Barker’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of her slave, Henry Lewis. The application, dated December 1, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Barker lawfully purchased her slave, and the signatures of four witnesses and a notary public in Carroll County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the first page indicates that the application was rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 1, 1866

Title: Application of John M. Davis
Description: This is John M. Davis’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Forest Mauphin. Mauphin served in the 65th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops, Company K. The application, dated January 1, 1867, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Davis lawfully purchased his slave, and the signatures of four witnesses and a notary public in Chariton County, Missouri. Attached is the August 8, 1850 bill declaring the sale of Forest Mauphin to John M. Davis for $300.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: August 8, 1850-January 1, 1867

Title: Application of James R. Eshill
Description: This is James R. Eshill’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Allen. The application, dated November 9, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, and a statement that Eshill, of Howard County, Missouri, lawfully purchased his slave. The application is signed by four witnesses and a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 9, 1866

Title: James Hicklin Documents
Description: These documents attest that James Hicklin, a citizen of Lexington, Missouri, provided supplies and money to the Union army several times during the course of the war. Hicklin purchased $2,000 in state defense bonds on June 15, 1861, and received orders of protection from the army in February, September, and November 1862. He gave an oath of loyalty to the United States on July 8, 1862, which limited his movements to “Lafayette and Saline Counties.”
Object Type: Legal Document

Title: Statement of C.W. Babcock
Description: This is C.W. Babcock’s sworn statement to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Dated October 11, 1856, the statement claims that a man named Castleman, posing as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, unlawfully arrested Babcock in Topeka, forcibly moved him to Lecompton, and held him there for three hours.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 11, 1856

Title: Application of John T. Doxey
Description: This is John T. Doxey’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Samuel. The application, dated December 7, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Doxey lawfully inherited his slave, and the signatures of two witnesses and a notary public in Chariton County, Missouri. Attached is a note from November 8, 1864 declaring that Doxey has proven his loyalty to the Union and deserves federal protection. The note is signed by Captain Henry Bucksath of the 35th Regiment of Missouri Militia, Company G.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 8, 1864-December 7, 1866

Title: Sale of Slave
Description: This document declares the sale of four slaves—Ritter, Bird, Fanny, and John—to Stephen Bedford for $182.50. It was signed and dated by Marion M. Biggerstaff of Clinton County, Missouri on July 5, 1857.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: July 5, 1857

Title: Affidavit of Q. Jernigan
Description: This is the sworn affidavit of Q. Jernigan, dated October 7, 1856 and signed in Douglas County by S.G. Cato, Associate Supreme Court Justice of Kansas Territory. Jernigan claims that in June, a group of armed men seized from him a Sharps rifle and a large Bowie knife, and that these items are now in the possession of Gov. John W. Geary. At the bottom of the page is an order from Cato to the U.S. Marshal of Kansas Territory, commanding him to obtain Jernigan’s stolen items and bring them before Cato “to be dealt with according to law.”
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 7, 1856

Title: Dred Scott v. Sandford
Description: This is the full text of the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford. Scott, a slave, sued his master for freedom after being taken to live in states where the Missouri Compromise had rendered slavery illegal. On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney handed down a 7-2 ruling that Scott did not have the right to file a federal lawsuit because African Americans “were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.”
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: March 6, 1857

Title: Applications of Sarah Corder
Description: These are Sarah S. Corder’s applications for compensation from the United States government for the military service of John Corder’s slaves, Daniel, Henry, Jack, and Strother. The applications, dated December 4 and 22, 1866, include oaths of allegiance to the United States, statements that John Corder lawfully acquired his slaves, and the signatures of five witnesses and two notary publics in Lafayette County, Missouri. Pencil notes on the ninth, thirteenth, and seventeenth pages indicate that three of the applications were rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 4, 1866-December 22, 1866

Title: Slave Bill of Sale
Description: This slave bill of sale, dated 1861, was drafted in Marion County, Missouri by Cleopatra Frazier. Frazier attests that she sold a female slave named Margaret and her daughter named Mary Jane to Isaac R. Campbell. Campbell paid $300 for both of the slaves.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: 1861

Title: Application of William D. McHatton and William S. Drummond
Description: This is an application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of Malinda D. Grave’s slave, Henry Johnson. William D. McHatton and William S. Drummond, executors to Grave’s estate, filed the application on December 19, 1866. It includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Grave lawfully obtained her slave, and the signatures of four witnesses and a notary public in Lafayette County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the third page indicates that the application was rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 19, 1866

Title: 1860 Presidential Election Returns from Caldwell, Carroll, Chariton, and Clay Counties, Missouri
Description: These are the election returns from Caldwell, Carroll, Chariton, and Clay Counties in Missouri for the Presidential election held on November 6, 1860. In Caldwell County, Bell received 367 votes; Douglas 263 votes; Breckenridge 186 votes; and Lincoln 43 votes. In Carroll County, Douglas received 752 votes; Bell 552 votes; Breckenridge 276 votes; and Lincoln 3 votes. In Clay County, Bell received 1,045 votes; Douglas 528 votes; Breckenridge 305 votes; and Lincoln “Nairy Vote.” The Chariton County document accounts for votes from each electoral precinct in the county, but does not provide a list of votes for the individual candidates.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 7, 1860-November 10, 1860

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

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