Civil War

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: On May 7, 1865 John A. Bushnell writes from Sedalia, Missouri to Eugenia Bronaugh in Calhoun, Missouri. John observes that Sedalia’s economy is improving, probably due to the war's end. He adds, “I do hope our good Henry County folks will follow the example and use money and labor too for the benefit of the country and cease using their tongues and harsh threats.”
Date: May 7, 1865

Title: Frederick W. Emery
Description: This sepia carte de visite depicts Frederick W. Emery, 1st Lieut. and Adjt. of the Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph, ca. 1861-1865, was produced by Armstead & White of Corinth, Mississippi.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Alice Trego to Joseph H. Trego
Description: This letter, dated September 22, 1862, is from Alice Trego in Mound City, Kansas to her husband Joseph. She reports on the movements of Kansas military units and informs Joseph that Gen. James Lane was authorized to raise four regiments of black soldiers. Alice also mentions that there has been a picket guard of citizens in her neighborhood ever since the Sacking of Olathe. She laments, “Oh! how I wish the war was over, and slavery abolished.”
Date: September 22, 1862

Title: From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description: On September 24, 1863, Abishai Stowell writes from camp in Springfield, Missouri to his sister. Stowell says he has been at home on furlough and that the family is "tolerably well." He reports that there is great excitement in Kansas about William Quantrill: "he burned Lawrence a week ago last Friday & killed about two hundred (200) citizens[.] The people blame Gens. Schofield & Ewing for letting them into Kansas."
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 24, 1863

Title: Military Orders of the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment
Description: These documents include a series of military orders and correspondence of the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment written at Camp Helena, Arkansas on August 22 and 28 and September 16, 1862. General Order No. 43 and Special Orders No. 44, 46, and 49, issued by Lieut. Col. W.A. Jenkins and Maj. Sam Walker, concern court martials and an inventory of property belonging to a deceased captain. Additional correspondence concerns the summoning of witnesses to a military trial.
Date: August 22, 1862 and August 28, 1862 and September 16, 1862

Title: Sentinel Extra: Mass Meeting at Platte City
Description: This September 12, 1863 article from the Platte County Sentinel describes a “mass meeting” held at Platte City, Missouri, on September 7, 1863. According to the article, attendees at the meeting passed several resolutions condemning the recent attacks on Lawrence. Attendees also passed a resolution calling for the immediate emanicpation of all the slaves in Missouri.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: September 12, 1863

Title: From J.M. and H.R. Waugh to A.J. Huntoon
Description: This letter was sent by J.M. and H.R. Waugh in Norwalk, to A.J. Huntoon in Williamsport, Kansas on July 21, 1861. J.M. expresses sympathy for the citizens of Missouri, and says he wants “to hear that the D—ned Mo. rebels ar ‘cleaned out’ with terrible loss of life and property in every engagement.” The Waughs are unsure if they will move back to Kansas, although they enjoyed their time there, “where a fellow can have a farm to live on and a home to go to without paying an enormous rent.”
Date: July 21, 1861

Title: Frank Shepherd
Description: Charcoal portrait of Frank Shepherd with suit coat, vest, shirt, and tie. Frank Shepherd served under Quantrill and Bill Anderson. He was part of the Lawrence, Kansas, massacre on August 21, 1863. During the Centralia, Missouri, battle on September 27, 1864, he rode on one side of Frank James; Richard Kinney on the other side. Both Kinney and Shepherd were killed, but James escaped unharmed.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Noah Grant to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated November 26, 1860, is from Noah Grant of Canton, Missouri to Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Grant, captain of the Canton Guards, states that he has heard about attacks launched on western Missouri by bands of Kansas abolitionists, and he volunteers the services of his troops: “we are ever Ready to hunt our Enemies.”
Date: November 26, 1860

Title: From Charles Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This letter was written on October 14 and 17, 1860 by Charles Adair in Hudson, Ohio, to his father Samuel Lyle Adair. Charles reports that he has started school, which he is “very well pleased with.” He says that his mother, Florella Brown Adair, has been away for the past week visiting cousins near Ashtabula, Ohio.
Date: October 14, 1860 and October 17, 1860

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Mrs. Brown
Description: This letter, dated January 11, 1862, is from Leigh R. Webber in Lexington, Missouri to Mrs. Brown. Webber reports that his regiment has been marching in rough weather since January, and the long march "has used up our men pretty badly," leaving many men ill. He adds that life in his undisciplined regiment, with its drunkenness, rioting, and stealing, "is a perfect hell to me." The letter is written on stationery featuring an eagle and the caption "Union Forever."
Date: January 11, 1862

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father
Description: On January 15, 1855, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to his father. Starr describes attending a meeting of the Platte County, Missouri Self Defensive Association, where he spoke about how a northern man could not be expected to change his opinion of slavery just because he moved to the south. Starr also told the Association’s members that slavery in Missouri, and especially in Platte County, was not representative of the institution as a whole, because “it is here of a milder type than any where else in the nation.”
Date: January 15, 1855

Title: Slave State Population Statistics
Description: This 1852 document lists population statistics for the slave states, including the number of whites, free blacks, slaves, farms, and proportion of slaves to farms. The document shows that Missouri’s population was comprised of 592,077 whites, 2,544 free blacks, and 87,422 slaves. The document also contains statistics on the number of free and slave families in Missouri, indicating that 26,096 families owned slaves.
Object Type: Document
Date: 1852

Title: Examination of Addison P. Evans
Description: This is Addison P. Evans' 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Evans, a native of Kentucky, states that he has lived in Missouri for eight years. He states that he has given bond to the military authorities, and was enrolled as "disloyal but against my will" in 1862. The oath is No. 205 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From George Applegate to James Applegate
Description: This letter, dated March 3, 1865, is from George Applegate in Lisbon, California to his brother James Applegate in Missouri. He discusses life in California, then curses abolitionists: “All the harm I wish them is that they may indure [sic] all the evils their suicidal course is bringing on our once happy land...” He expresses shock and anger that a black attorney was admitted to the United States Supreme Court.
Date: March 3, 1865

Title: Examination of William Groom
Description: This is William Groom's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Groom, a 51-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 38 years and manifested his loyalty during the war by "staying at home and attending to my own business." The oath is No. 167 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Report of Deputy U.S. Marshal William H. Tebbs
Description: This report, dated September 29, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by Deputy U.S. Marshal William H. Tebbs. Tebbs tells Geary that the U.S. Marshal sent him to Topeka to make several arrests. In his first attempt to make an arrest, Tebbs says, the suspect escaped and could not be found; the townspeople then told him that if he tried to arrest anyone else, he would be resisted. Tebbs also informs Geary that Col. Lane was spotted near the Nebraska state line.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 29, 1856

Title: Tender of Service of Martin White
Description: In this document, created October 5, 1856, a volunteer company of mounted riflemen in Lykins County, Kansas, tenders its service to the Governor of Kansas Territory. The document includes a list of the company’s officers, including Captain Martin White.
Date: October 5, 1856

Title: From John Montgomery and C.H. Withington to John W. Geary
Description: John Montgomery and C.H. Withington write a letter to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary on September 16, 1856. They inform Geary that a group of armed abolitionists belonging to Gen. Lane’s army invaded their settlement in Allen County, robbed stores, destroyed property, and declared that anyone who refused to join them “may expect to meet a bitter fate.” Montgomery and Withington claim that their community has no means of self-defense and they ask Geary for protection.
Date: September 16, 1856

Title: Col. William D. Wood's Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Certificate of Mustering In
Description: In this military document, Col. William D. Wood musters Captain David D. Stockton's Company of Mounted as Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A".
Date: December 18, 1861

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

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