Civil War

Title: Examination of Henry Bunker
Description: This is Henry Bunker's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Bunker, who was born in Ohio, describes himself as a 47-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri. He states that he served in the militia during the Civil War and "obeyed all the laws" of the United States. The oath, labeled No. 42 in a bound volume, was signed by Bunker in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Application of William Chancellor
Description: This is William Chancellor’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Henry. The documents, dated November 9 and 10, 1866, include an oath of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, and a statement that Chancellor lawfully obtained his slave. The application is signed by two witnesses in Howard County, Missouri and by a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 9, 1866-November 10, 1866

Title: Examination of James Flemming
Description: This is James Flemming's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Flemming describes himself as a 75-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri who was born in Virginia. He states that he "tried to be" loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War and that he spoke out against its enemies. The oath, labeled No. 93 in a bound volume, was signed by Flemmings on October 6, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 6, 1866

Title: Examination of William Frick
Description: This is William Frick's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Frick, a 56-year-old native of Germany, states that he has resided in Missouri for 25 years. The oath is No. 154 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of John Robinson
Description: This is John Robinson's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Robinson, a 31-year-old Virginia native, states that he has resided in Missouri for eight years and served in the militia during the war. Upon hearing of the Federal defeat at Bull Run in 1861, Robinson says he "was sorry the Gov't was broken up so." The oath is No. 222 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Abraham Lincoln, Two Weeks Before the Final Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Lincoln's Unsuccessful Bid for the Senate
Description: Photographic print of Abraham Lincoln copied from an ambrotype made by Calvin Jackson, circa 1900-1911. Original ambrotype was taken two weeks before the final Lincoln-Douglas debate in Lincoln's unsuccessful bid for the Senate on October 1, 1858.
Object Type: Image

Title: From James H. Moss to W.P. Hall
Description: On September 27, 1863, Col. James H. Moss writes from Platte City, Missouri to W.P. Hall. Moss states that he is organizing companies of Platte County citizens to defend against threatened raids from Kansas. He says that the day before, a group of "desperate outlaws from Kansas" came to Missouri and were soon joined by Col. Joseph A. Price and "all the radical element in Platte." In a statement written on the back of the letter, Hall notes that he referred the letter to Gov. Gamble, recommending that Col. Price be removed from his office.
Date: September 27, 1863

Title: Plats of Olathe, Gardner, Shawnee, Lenexa, et al., Johnson County, Kansas
Description: This page from an 1874 plat book of Johnson County, Kansas includes maps of Olathe, Gardner, Shawnee, Glenwood, Campbellton, Edgerton, Lenexa, Stanley, De Soto, and Olathe Junction.
Date: 1874

Title: G. B. Shubert
Description: G. B. Shubert was Quartermaster in Lebanon, Missouri for the Missouri State Militia, 8th Regiment Cavalry. Handwritten on the front is, "Yours truly, G. B. Shubert."
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: General Orders, No. 17
Description: Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis issued General Order No. 17 from the Headquarters of the Department of the Missouri in St. Louis on March 5, 1863. The order authorizes medical officers to employ "contraband, and other men or women of African descent" as cooks, nurses, laundresses, or servants in military hospitals. The order was signed by Assistant Adjutant General H.Z. Curtis.
Date: March 5, 1863

Title: Examination of Bartley Estes
Description: This is Bartley Estes's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Estes, a 71-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, originally from Kentucky, states that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War and "did all I was called upon by them to do." The oath, No. 7 in a bound volume, was signed by Estes in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: John Thrailkill
Description: Charcoal portrait of John Thrailkill in suit coat, vest, shirt, and tie. Discrepancies exist concerning John Thrailkill and his participation in the Civil War. He is often confused with James Thrailkill. According to National Archives records, John Thrailkill first joined the Missouri State Guard and later enlisted in the 1st Missouri Cavalry as a private on December 25, 1861. His Civil War career is varied but he did command a number of guerrillas during the battle of Centralia, Missouri, September 27, 1864. At the end of the war, Thrailkill accompanied General Shelby to Mexico, where it appears Thrailkill remained until his death in 1898.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of Simeon Collins
Description: This is Simeon Collins's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Collins, a 56-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 36 years and served in the militia during the war. The oath is No. 209 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Lewis Stafford to Kate Newland
Description: Lewis Stafford writes a letter from Camp Washington near Clinton, Missouri to Kate Newland on July 6, 1861. Stafford, a member of the 1st Kansas Infantry, Company E, tells Newland that Union troops recently took possession of a printing press that had printed a secession journal. He says that Clinton used to be a “hot bed of secession” but “secession in this place is now pretty generally squelched out.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 6, 1861

Title: H.D. Fisher
Description: This ca. 1867 black-and-white photograph depicts Rev. H.D. Fisher in military uniform. Fisher, known as “Parson Fisher,” was a Methodist minister who settled in Lawrence, Kansas, and served as chaplain of the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of James Bayer
Description: This unsigned 1866 Oath of Loyalty bears the name of James Bayer. The document is No. 133 in a bound volume of loyalty oaths given by citizens of Liberty Township in Clay County, Missouri between 1866 and 1868.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Kansas Election! Qualification of Voters
Description: This broadside, printed ca. March 1855, includes a copy of an oath that all judges are ordered to take before presiding over an upcoming election in Kansas. The oath, written by Gov. Reeder, states that the judges will keep an accurate record of voters and will not allow non-residents to vote. The unsigned author of the broadside criticizes Reeder’s wording, questions his intentions, and challenges the legality of Reeder’s order for voters to prove their residency.

Title: From William C. Connett, Jr. to James L. Thornberry
Description: This letter, dated April 28, 1855, was written by William C. Connett, Jr. in Sparta, Missouri to James L. Thornberry. William discusses the recent Kansas election and the “overthrow” of the Free Soil party, stating that he would not want to remain in Missouri if Kansas became a free state. He declares that the current political situation would improve if “you people of the free states let us alone in the management of our own domestic affairs.”
Date: April 28, 1855

Title: Civil Rights Bill Passes, 1866
Description: Allyn Cox mural, displayed at the U.S. Capitol, which celebrates the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of Madison Miller
Description: This is Madison Miller's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Miller, 55, states that he has lived in Missouri for 27 years, and manifested his loyalty during the war "by taking care of wounded Federal soldiers." When asked what he thought about the Federal loss at Bull Run in 1861, Miller responds, "That our great government would be broken up." The unnumbered oath is contained 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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