Civil War

Title: From Mrs. Silliman to My Dear Relatives
Description: This letter, dated August 24, 1862, is from Mrs. Silliman of Warrensburg, Missouri to her “dear relatives.” She complains that since the war began, Warrensburg has transformed from a small, quiet town into “a thoroughfare for soldiers, jayhawkers, bush whackers . . . assassins & marauders.” She says that her son Oscar’s business has been stagnant, and that they might move to Arkansas until the war is over.
Date: August 24, 1862

Title: Harriet Tubman
Description: Harriet Tubman, full-length portrait, standing with hands on back of a chair. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery and then returned to the South 19 times to escort over 300 slaves to freedom.
Object Type: Image

Title: From E.B. Alexander to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated November 26, 1863, is from Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General of Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Alexander informs Comingo that he may not enlist any substitutes until after the draft is complete, per General Order No. 191.
Date: November 26, 1863

Title: Quarterly Returns of Deceased Soldiers, 1863
Description: This military document is a collection of quarterly returns of deceased soldiers of the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A". These returns are documentation of the third and fourth quarters of 1863.
Date: 1863

Title: Examination of Samuel Hays
Description: This is Samuel Hays's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Hays, a 28-year-old Virginia native, states that he has lived in Missouri for seven years and served in the militia for two years during the war. The oath is No. 258 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Benjamin F. Stringfellow
Description: Portrait of Benjamin Stringfellow, attorney and pro-slavery activist. In 1838, Stringfellow settled in Missouri, where he served in the house of representatives, and was attorney general for four years. After moving to Weston, Missouri, he became a member and officer of the Platte County Self-Defensive Association (an aggressive pro-slavery organization). He wrote a pamphlet entitled "Negro Slavery No Evil, or the North and the South." In 1858, Stringfellow moved to Atchison, Kansas Territory, where he helped build the town and was an attorney for the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regimental Orders No. 3
Description: By order of Major Edward B. Eno, Lt. William S Gibbs instructs the appointment of noncommissioned officers, the creation of a Muster Roll, and the outfit of proper weaponry for dismounted men in these companies.
Date: April 8, 1863

Title: Quarterly Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, 1862
Description: This military document is a "Quarterly Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, received at Linn Creek, Mo., of Col. J. W. McClurg, by Lt. Jas. J. Akard, Comdg. Co. "A," 8th Regt. Cav., M.S.M. for the quarter ending on the 30th day of June, '62."
Date: 1862

Title: John McCorkle
Description: Charcoal portrait of John McCorkle in suit coat, shirt, tie, and hat. McCorkle, born December 12, 1838, in Andrew County, Missouri, moved to a farm near Westport around 1846. In April 1861 he enlisted in Company A of the Missouri State Guards, but in August 1862 he became part of Quantrill's guerrillas. In 1865, McCorkle surrendered at Newcastle, Kentucky, along with George Wigginton and a Confederate Captain Stone. They were paroled. Some years later, O. S. Barton helped McCorkle write his memoirs, "Three Years with Quantrell [sic]," published in 1914. McCorkle lived in Howard County, Missouri, until he died in 1918.
Object Type: Image

Title: From H.C. Wood to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated November 28, 1863, is from U.S. Army Capt. H.C. Wood to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Writing from the Provost Marshal General's Bureau in Washington, D.C., Wood states that he has received Comingo's recent expense report, and requests additional information.
Date: November 28, 1863

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This letter was written on December 21 and 22, 1862 by Florella Brown Adair in Osawatomie, Kansas, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella writes that she has heard various reports concerning their son Charles in the army, and says that although none of them can be trusted, “I cannot help being affected by them especially if I do not know they are not true.” Florella also discusses household matters such as taxes and her plans concerning a cow and calf she loaned to a neighbor.
Date: December 21, 1862-December 22, 1862

Title: Monument to the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry
Description: This photograph depicts a monument to the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. John A. Martin, of Heg's Brigade, Davis' Division, McCook's Corps. A bronze plaque commemorates the regiment's September 1863 battle in Chickamauga, Georgia. The monument is located in Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, and was photographed by Schmedling of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Object Type: Image

Title: To John Hambright, Esq.
Description: This letter, dated November 9, 1864, was written to John Hambright, Esq. in St. Louis, Missouri. The writer encourages John to take his family to a safer place, warning, “our troubles are not over by a long ways.” The letter-writer has not received any news from acquaintances since “the late raids,” and concludes: “May the powers above protect and defend us all from all our enemies.”
Date: November 9, 1864

Title: Map of North America Showing Proposed Railroad Routes
Description: This black-and-white map is entitled “Map of North America, From the Latest Authorities Showing the Proposed Railroad Routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.” The map was printed in 1854 by J.H. Colton and Co. in New York, for J. Disturnell.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1854

Title: Affidavit of Henry E. McKee
Description: This is the sworn affidavit of Henry E. McKee, signed by Kansas Gov. John W. Geary on October 4, 1856. McKee claims that on October 2, he witnessed H. Miles Moore enter the American Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, where eight men captured him. They took Moore to Wyandotte, Kansas and “unlawfully imprisoned” him there, McKee says. He adds that if Moore does not receive help soon, “his life is in great hazard and will be sacrificed.”
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 4, 1856

Title: From James M. Boyer to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated November 6, 1863, is from James M. Boyer, Deputy Provost Marshal of Chariton County, Missouri, to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Boyer states that he is enclosing two letters intercepted at the post office that contain "contraband intelligence."
Date: November 6, 1863

Title: From Daniel Woodson to Philip St. George Cooke
Description: This dispatch, dated August 28, 1856, was sent by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke, commanding U.S. troops near Lecompton. Woodson states that the Douglas County, Kansas Sheriff and the U.S. Marshal have informed him they are currently prevented from executing legal writs. Woodson orders Cooke to furnish them with approximately 75 U.S. troops to assist them in executing the writs.
Date: August 28, 1856

Title: Atchison, Kansas
Description: Bird's eye view of the city of Atchison, Atchison Co., Kansas in 1869.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1869

Title: Certificate of Exemption for William Glenn
Description: This certificate of exemption, dated December 30, 1862, excuses William Glenn from military duty due to “General disability." It is signed by John Murray, surgeon of the 62nd Regiment, in the town of Laclede in Linn County, Missouri.
Date: December 30, 1862

Title: From Frederick Starr to Unknown
Description: This ca. April 1855 letter was written by Frederick Starr to an unknown recipient, possibly his father. Starr says that he plans to leave Weston, Missouri within 3 or 4 weeks, because “We are in the midst of terrible times again…The ballot box is violated[,] the press overthrown, the church denounced[,] surely pro slavery powers are making great advances.” Starr states that the printing press owned by Park and Patterson in Parkville, Missouri was thrown into the river, and the men were ordered to leave the state.

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

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