Civil War

Title: Plat of Vernon County, Missouri
Description: Plat of Vernon County, Missouri which includes county seat Nevada, Missouri. The Battle of the Marmaton River, Battle of Dry Wood Creek, the Sacking of Osceola, and the Sacking of Nevada City occured in this county.
Date: 1886

Title: General Alfred Pleasonton, September, 1863
Description: Stereograph print card depicting General Alfred Pleasonton seated in front of a building in Warrenton, Virginia.
Object Type: Image
Date: September, 1863

Title: Examination of Joseph Gossadge
Description: This is Joseph Gossadge's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Gossadge, a 32-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, originally from Tennessee, states that he remained loyal to the United States Government and served in the Missouri State Militia during the Civil War. The oath, No. 10 in a bound volume, was signed by Gossadge in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written between December 20 and 29, 1860 by Florella Brown Adair in Hudson and Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella describes her trip from Hudson to Grafton with her daughter Ada. She states that she has collected $21.00 from friends and relatives to send back to Kansas, and that many people feel a “deep interest in Kansas troubles.” Florella adds that “People here are all awake upon the troubles that threaten our country.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: December 20, 1860-December 29, 1860

Title: Examination of Henry Leitch
Description: This is Henry Leitch's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Leitch, a 28-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he was born in Virginia and that he served in the militia during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 96 in a bound volume, was signed by Leitch on October 6, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 6, 1866

Title: Plat of Deerfield Township, Vernon County, Missouri
Description: Plat of Deerfield Township, Vernon County, Missouri which includes the settlements of Deerfield, Ellis, and Moundville, Missouri. The Battle of Drywood Creek took place on September 2, 1861 southeast of Deerfield along the Big Drywood Creek.
Date: 1903

Title: From Charles Adair to Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written on October 21, 1860 by Charles Adair in Hudson, Ohio, to his sister Emma Adair. Charles describes a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, to witness “the inauguration of the Perry statue,” which featured “a great many military companies” and “a sham battle.” He also writes about his schooling and future travel plans.
Date: October 21, 1860

Title: Examination of Thomas Winter
Description: This is Thomas Winter's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Winter, a native of Kentucky, states that he has lived in Missouri for 24 years, and "enrolled in the militia with Col. Penick" during the war. He also says that he was not required to give bond during the war. The unnumbered oath is contained in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Liberty Arsenal
Description: An undated illustration of the United States Arsenal located in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri. This is illustration is found on page 140 of "Clay County, Missouri centennial souvenir, 1822-1922".
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: From F.W. Smith to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This dispatch was sent on November 29, 1860 to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart by Maj. F.W. Smith, at Headquarters, 1st Battalion, 4th Military District, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Smith sends Stewart a report from the Division Inspector regarding the election of officers for the German Rifle Company, Company C, 1st Battalion. Smith says that if Stewart believes the elections were properly conducted, Lt. Schmitz and Lt. Baumer should receive their commissions.
Date: November 29, 1860

Title: Battle of Mobile Bay
Description: Xanthus Russell Smith painting of the Battle of Mobile Bay, which was fought on August 5, 1864, in Mobile Bay, Alabama.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1890

Title: Petition from Vernon County Citizens
Description: This petition, dated November 21, 1860, is addressed to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart and signed by 34 citizens of Little Osage, Vernon County, Missouri. The signers assert that they are “imminently in danger of another invasion” from Kansas guerrillas. They claim that they have been victim to numerous attacks over the past three years, and that during one attack, John Brown stole “ten or eleven thousand dollars” of property. The petitioners ask Stewart to station the Missouri Mounted Militia, Company A, in Little Osage for their protection.
Object Type: Petition
Date: November 21, 1860

Title: Examination of Finess Tilford
Description: This is Finess Tilford's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Tilford, a 46-year-old native of Clay County, Missouri, states that he opposed "the enemies of the Government" by advising them "to stay at home and behave themselves." He also says he "took the Union side invariably." The oath is No. 188 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of M.C. Drake
Description: This is M.C. Drake's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Drake, a 58-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he was born in Kentucky and that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 105 in a bound volume, was signed by Drake on October 6, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 6, 1866

Title: Quantrill's Flag
Description: Small cotton and wool flag dropped during Quantrill's raid on Olathe on September 7, 1862. The flag resembles the Confederate First National Flag, nicknamed the "Stars and Bars," however, the canton displays either a fist or palmetto tree and "Quant" for Quantrill.
Object Type: Image

Title: Siege of Vicksburg
Description: Kurz & Allison lithograph depicting the Siege of Vicksburg, circa 1888.
Object Type: Image

Title: Jillson Hotel, Osawatomie, Kansas
Description: Postcard depicting The Jillson Hotel in Osawatomie, Kansas, where on May 18, 1859, Horace Greeley reorganized the Free-State Party as the Republican Party in Kansas.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of W.F. Gordon
Description: This is W.F. Gordon's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Gordon, a 35-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 "doing all the law required." The oath, labeled No. 77 in a bound volume, was signed by Gordon in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Thomas B. Harris
Description: Charcoal portrait drawing of Thomas B. Harris (Tom) dressed in suit and plumed hat. One of Quantrill's guerrillas, Harris was with Quantrill in Kentucky when Quantrill was mortally wounded on June 6, 1865. Little is known of Harris after the Civil War. There is mention of Harris in two documents held by the Missouri State Archives Missouri's Union Provost Marshal Papers: 1861-1866 collection. He appears to have been Callaway county's representative to the Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1865. (See also"Constitutional Conventions of Missouri, 1865-1875 in" Missouri Historical Review," January 1907, page 111.)
Object Type: Image

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

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

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