Civil War

Title: Jewell Hall
Description: Illustration of Jewell Hall on the campus of William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri. The building was constructed in 1852, and temporarily housed Union soldiers during the Battle of Liberty.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Jane C. Tandy to My Dear Grand Mother
Description: This letter, dated October 22 and October 31, 1866, is from Jane C. Tandy to her grandmother. Tandy describes the tension between "conservatives" and "radicals" in Missouri following the Civil War. She reports that conservatives are taking the Oath of Loyalty to the United States Government required for Missouri voters, while the radicals are refusing.
Date: October 22, 1866 and October 31, 1866

Title: Examination of William H. Rymer
Description: This is William H. Hymer's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Hymer, a 34-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that he was born in Kentucky and that he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States Government during the Civil War by "staying at home and attending to my business." He admits that when he heard of Gen. Price capturing Gen. Mulligan's army at Lexington, Missouri, "I thought both sides wrong." The oath, labeled No. 67 in a bound volume, was signed by Hymer in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Elizabeth Peery to George F. Peery
Description: On January 1, 1856, Elizabeth Peery writes a letter from Edinburgh, Missouri to George F. Peery. Elizabeth describes local festivities for the Christmas holiday, including a large party held by slaves. She reports that friends and family in the area are well, and recounts some of their recent activities. Elizabeth writes that she has a new baby boy, as yet unnamed; she asks George to suggest a name.
Date: January 1, 1856

Title: Examination of Trigg T. Allen
Description: This is Trigg T. Allen's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Allen, a 43-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 43 in a bound volume, was signed by Allen on September 29, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 29, 1866

Title: From E.P. Duncan to Mr. S. Wildbahn and Ransome Butler
Description: E.P. Duncan writes a letter from Desha County, Arkansas to Mr. S. Wildbahn and Ransome Butler on August 17, 1864. He tells them he has considered joining the army, and says his plans keep changing day to day “to suit the emergencies” as they present themselves. He states that he has heard a rumor that General Price will be moving his troops into Missouri, and predicts that it will be a big expedition.
Date: August 17, 1864

Title: Examination of J.D. Morris
Description: This is J.D. Morris's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Morris, a 35-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for six years and served "in the Paw Paw militia under James H. Moss." He says he was enrolled by the military authorities "as a southern sympathizer" in 1862, but "it was against my wishes and consent[.] I claimed to be loyal." The oath is No. 245 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Mary Savage to Jane Simpson
Description: This is an excerpt from a November 29, 1863 letter that Mary Savage wrote to Jane Simpson about Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence. She describes watching two bushwhackers murder her neighbor: “I can never efface from my memory the look and cry of anguish that he gave as he fell, the blood running in streams from his wounds.” Mary says the bushwhackers also threatened to kill her husband, but she saved his life by convincing them that he was sick and was not a member of the Kansas Militia. She writes that nearly every house in town burned down, but some “heroic” women put out a few of the fires. After the raid, she says, downtown Lawrence was reduced to “a heap of ashes.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: November 29, 1863

Title: Examination of John Higgenbottom
Description: This is John Higgenbottom's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Higgenbottom, a 68-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 14 years and manifested his loyalty during the war by "staying at home and attending to my own business." The oath is No. 172 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From S.G. Cato to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated October 29, 1856, is from Judge S.G. Cato in Shawnee County, Kansas to Gov. John W. Geary. Cato reports on the judicial proceedings he has presided over as Associate Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. He lists the number of bills of indictment returned by grand juries in Anderson, Allen, Lykins, Bourbon, Franklin, and Shawnee counties, and reports that three criminal trials have been held in Bourbon County.
Date: October 29, 1856

Title: Jesse Hamlett
Description: Charcoal portrait of Jesse Hamlett (sometimes spelled Hamlet) in suit coat, vest, tie, and hat. Little is known about Jesse Hamlett. He appears to have served under William Anderson and was part of the Centralia, Missouri, September 27, 1864, massacre. He also may have been one of the U.S. Marshalls at Lexington, Missouri, after the war.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: Examination of R.S. Dukes
Description: This is R.S. Dukes Jr.'s 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Dukes, a 26-year-old Missouri native, states that he lives in Clay County, Missouri and manifested his loyalty during the war "by staying at home." He also says that he was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862. The oath is No. 186 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of John Berry
Description: This is John Berry's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Berry, a 70-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that he has resided in Missouri for 19 years. The oath is No. 142 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Notice! to Abolitionists and Freesoilers of Weston
Description: This broadside calls on “The Abolitionists and Freesoilers of Weston and vicinity” to meet at the Weston, Missouri courthouse on September 1, 1854 at 7:00pm, “to adopt such measures as they may deem most proper and expedient, and best calculated to Counteract the Effect produced by some of the doings of some of the men connected with the ‘Platte County Self-Defensive Association.’” The broadside was issued by “Many Citizens” on September 1, 1854 in Weston.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: September 1, 1854

Title: Invoice of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores for 1864
Description: This military document is a collection of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores Invoices for the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A" that shows transfers of weapons and ammunition in between Colonel Joseph J. Gravely, Captain James J. Akard, Lieutenant J. H. Creighton, and Major John Cosgrove.
Date: 1864

Title: Home of John Wornall
Description: The home of John Wornall served as a field hospital for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Westport. It has since been restored and converted into a museum, at 6115 Wornall Road in Kansas City, Missouri
Object Type: Image
Date: October 2008

Title: Examination of Robert H. Miller
Description: This is Robert H. Miller's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Miller, a 41-year-old Virginia native, states that he resides in Liberty, Missouri and served in the militia during the war. He says he was arrested during the war "because I published the correspondence of John D. Hughes." The oath is No. 174 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Oath of Loyalty of Dennis Gaughan
Description: This document establishes that Dennis Gaughan has taken an oath of loyalty to the United States and to the state of Missouri. It declares that Gaughan will support the Constitution, obey the laws of the United States and of the provisional government of Missouri, and “do all in my power to discourage and put down the present rebellion.” The oath is dated February 16, 1862 and is signed by Gaughan, a witness, and a clerk.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: February 16, 1862

Title: From John M. Schofield to Thomas Carney
Description: This letter, written on the letterhead of Headquarters, Department of the Missouri and dated September 3, 1863, was sent by John M. Schofield in Kansas City, Missouri, to Kansas Governor Thomas Carney. Major General Schofield expresses his agreement with Gov. Carney on the necessity of preempting a potentially violent meeting in Paola, Kansas. Schofield states that he will issue an order preventing armed men not in the U.S. service from entering Missouri. He also accepts Carney’s offer of the services of the militia to help avert “any irregular action.”
Date: September 3, 1863

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: In this August 10, 1856 letter to his parents in Massachusetts, Edward Fitch reports a rumor that Border Ruffians plan to attack Lawrence, Kansas. He says he has been gathering firearms in preparation, but worries that “this may be the last letter” he ever writes. He also tells them about the Battle of Franklin and relates a rumor that Colonel Lane was there.
Date: August 10, 1856

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

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