Civil War

Title: Nancy Walker Lyon Harris
Description: This ca. 1860 black-and-white photograph depicts Nancy Walker Lyon Harris, who was born in 1803. Nancy’s father, William Lyon, served as clerk of the court when Cass County, Missouri (originally Van Buren County) was first established. Nancy’s husband, Fleming Harris, helped found Harrisonville, Missouri, in Cass County, and served as its first town commissioner. Nancy died in Cass County in 1864.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of Thomas Morrison
Description: This is Thomas Morrison's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Morrison, a 65-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, originally from Ireland, states that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. He claims that he defended the Union during "a little fight" in Lexington, Missouri. The oath, labeled "No. 5 1/2" in a bound volume, was signed by Morrison in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Benjamin (Ben) Broomfield
Description: Charcoal portrait of Ben Broomfield with pullover shirt typical of the guerrillas, hat, and rifle. Ben Broomfield was with Quantrill and Bill Anderson, who "called him his own Indian." Broomfield was part Comanche. He took part in the Lawrence, Kansas, massacre on August 21, 1863. Facts don't correlate about his death. Broomfield was killed either in 1863 or 1864.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: Examination of James M. Keller
Description: This is James M. Keller's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Keller describes himself as a 59-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, who was born in Kentucky. He states that he was loyal and obedient to the United States Government during the Civil War and that he "took up arms by going into the Militia." The oath, labeled No. 111 in a bound volume, was signed by Keller on October 6, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 6, 1866

Title: 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Memorial at Fort Scott National Cemetery
Description: A memorial in the Fort Scott National Cemetery honors members of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry who died in a guerrilla attack on Sherwood, Missouri in 1863.
Object Type: Image
Date: 2005

Title: It Went Against Us
Description: Samuel J. Reader painting of the Battle of Mine Creek (or "Little Osage"), Kansas, which occurred October 25, 1864. Reader was a Union prisoner of war captured by the Confederate army; he escaped capture shortly after this battle. Over forty years later in 1906, Reader produced this painting.
Object Type: Image
Date: March 24, 1906

Title: Henry Clay Bruce
Description: Portrait of Liberated Missouri slave Henry Clay Bruce, brother of the first black U.S. Senator Blanche K. Bruce. A literate man, Henry Bruce declared famously that slaves “understood the war to be for their freedom solely, and prayed earnestly and often for the success of the Union cause.”
Object Type: Image

Title: Emancipation Proclamation
Description: Commemorative lithograph celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Thomas Sherwood to Friend Woodward
Description: This letter, dated July 5, 1855, is from Thomas Sherwood in Squaws Leg City to his friend Woodward. Sherwood says that he has just left Pawnee, Kansas, where the Legislature is now in session, and mentions that the Legislature might move to the Shawnee Methodist Mission. He describes a conflict between Kansas Gov. Andrew Reeder and Benjamin Stringfellow, which began when Reeder accused Stringfellow, a Missourian, of voting illegally in Kansas.
Date: July 5, 1855

Title: From John W. Clem to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on August 18, 1859 by John W. Clem in Butler, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Clem, the Sheriff of Bates County, Missouri, reports that James Montgomery and his Jayhawkers have laid siege to Paris, Kansas; they soon intend to cross over into Missouri to free William Wright (alias Pickles), a prisoner being held there for murder and robbery. Clem states that if the Jayhawkers enter Bates County, “I will then call out the entire militia force for defense.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: August 18, 1859

Title: From M.C. Goodlett to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated January 5, 1859, was written by M.C. Goodlett in the Senate Chamber, Jefferson City, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Goodlett states that he received a letter from a newly-formed military company in Johnson County, Missouri, tendering its services to the Governor. Goodlett says that he personally knows all the officers and soldiers of the Johnson Guards and hopes that Stewart will call on them “to assist in driving back the Plundering Murdering Horde” of Kansas outlaws.
Date: January 5, 1859

Title: John C. Fremont Campaign Poster
Description: Proof for a large woodcut campaign banner or poster for John C. Fremont, Republican presidential contender in 1856. Fremont is shown in full-length on a mountain peak, planting an American flag. He is clad in fringed trousers and military coat and waves a visored cap in the air. Below, at right, are a bearded trapper or fellow explorer and a Mexican wearing a wide-brimmed hat. An eagle soars in the air beyond them. This scene is no doubt intended to evoke heroic memories of Fremont's famous exploring expeditions to the Rocky Mountains in 1842 and 1843.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of David Roberts
Description: This is David Roberts's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Roberts, a 50-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 40 years. When asked if he "openly expressed a desire for the success of the Govt" during the war, Roberts answers, "I don't know as I can say that. I have been very careful about saying anything." The oath is No. 199 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation Before the Cabinet
Description: Print of F.B. Carpenter's painting of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation on July 22, 1862.
Object Type: Image

Title: Plat of Dayton Township, Cass County, Missouri
Description: Plat of Dayton Township, Cass County, Missouri which includes the settlement of Dayton, Missouri. On New Year's Day of 1862, jayhawkers under the command of Charles R. Jennison raided Dayton as it had gained a reputation as an enclave for Southern sympathizers.
Date: 1877

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
Description: In a May 26, 1856 letter to his father in Massachusetts, Edward Fitch describes the Sack of Lawrence that had occurred six days earlier on May 21, 1856. He mentions that Governor Shannon has called for protection “for fear we should rise up and exterminate him and the Pro-Slavery party.” He expresses his own fear that the Free State Party will be defeated and that Kansas will become a slave state. He also fears for his personal safety, saying he "shall not dare to stay at my cabin without a rifle or gun at my bedside." He adds that he hopes John C. Fremont will win the upcoming presidential election.
Date: May 26, 1856

Title: From Thornton Grimsley to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated November 23, 1860, is from Thornton Grimsley in St. Louis, Missouri to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Grimsley writes that he is a member of the Constitutional Guards, a new political organization formed in preparation for city elections in St. Louis. Their object, he states, is to “wipe out black republicanism.” He also offers the services of 700-1,000 men for any military service the state might need.
Date: November 23, 1860

Title: Proclamation of Daniel Woodson
Description: This proclamation was issued August 24, 1856 by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas. Woodson declares that Kansas Territory is “infested” with large bodies of armed men organized in military fashion – presumably Gen. James Lane’s troops – who are murdering and detaining citizens, robbing and burning houses, and plundering local militias of arms for the purpose of subverting the territorial government. Woodson proclaims that Kansas Territory is in a state of “open insurrection and rebellion,” and calls upon its citizens to rally in support of their country and its laws and put down the insurrectionists.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: August 24, 1856

Title: From Israel B. Donalson to John W. Geary
Description: U.S. Marshal Israel B. Donalson writes a letter from Tecumseh, Kansas to Gov. John W. Geary on November 24, 1856. He asks Geary to send troops to Shawnee County to aid him in making arrests of approximately 20 people. Donalson says that some of the suspects are 100 miles away, and he estimates that it will take eight to ten days to find them and bring them back.
Object Type: Letter
Date: November 24, 1856

Title: Examination of A.R. Patrick
Description: This is A.R. Patrick's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Patrick, 33, states that he has resided in Missouri for 29 years and manifested his loyalty during the war by helping "in the Court House at one time." He says that upon hearing of the Federal defeat at Bull Run in 1861, "I remarked that it was a terrible thing." The oath is No. 206 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

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

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