Civil War

Title: From O.C. Stewart to John W. Geary
Description: This letter is from O.C. Stewart, mayor of Lecompton, Kansas, to Gov. John W. Geary. In the letter, dated October 3, 1856, Stewart informs Geary that he has issued a proclamation prohibiting the use and sale of liquor in Lecompton. He asks Geary for help enforcing the proclamation, “as I have no law to justify me in destroying the liquor of persons selling under law.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: October 3, 1856

Title: Public Meeting!!
Description: This broadside announces a public meeting featuring a speech by Rev. Fred Starr, Jr., who was driven out of Kansas for his anti-slavery stance. Starr will address the audience about “the recent Outrages against the free Citizens of Kansas, by which the Right of Suffrage has been Invaded! The Pulpit Overthrown! The Missionaries Dispersed! The Press Destroyed! And the Liberty of Speech denied to Freemen.” The announcement was printed June 4, 1855 at the office of the Batavia Democrat, presumably in Batavia, New York.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: June 4, 1855

Title: Diary of A.H. Lewis
Description: This diary, written between December 15, 1861 and March 19, 1862, records the experience of A.H. Lewis of Saline County, Missouri as a Confederate soldier and prisoner of war. Lewis’s company of Missouri State Guards was captured by Col. Davis in the Battle of Blackwater River on December 19, 1861. After being held for several weeks at the St. Louis military prison, the Confederate prisoners were moved to the penitentiary at Alton, Illinois. Although Lewis initially criticized prisoners who took an Oath of Loyalty to the Federal government to gain freedom, Lewis took the Oath himself on March 14, 1862 and was released.
Object Type: Diary
Date: December 15, 1861 - March 19, 1862

Title: From William Clarke Quantrill to My Dear Mother
Description: This letter is from William Clarke Quantrill to his mother. Quantrill writes from Stanton, Kansas on January 26, 1860. He acknowledges "the wrongs committed" by the proslavery party, but argues that the abolitionists are "the most lawless set of people." He criticizes their sympathy for John Brown, calling him a murderer and a robber, and declaring that he "should have been hung years ago."
Date: January 26, 1860

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Unknown
Description: This undated letter was written ca. April 15, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair, presumably to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella reports that she plans to start for home on April 21, arriving home on the following Saturday. Florella says that Samuel’s father’s health is poor, and that she may attend a family wedding before she leaves Ohio. She writes that Charles and Ada are both well.

Title: Memorandum of Losses to Federal Troops, 1861-1863
Description: This table, written between 1861 and 1863, summarizes property losses sustained by Daniel A. DeWitt of Jackson County, Missouri during the war. Raided six times, DeWitt kept a careful record of each item lost to Union forces, listing its description and value and the name of the commanding officer responsible for the raid. Clothing, horses, livestock, farm equipment, and crops were among the items taken; the final raid, including the loss of “house and contents,” occurred on August 25, 1863 when DeWitt’s farm was burned out.
Object Type: Document
Date: 1861-1863

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: John A. Bushnell of Calhoun, Missouri writes to Eugenia Bronaugh in Hickory Grove, Missouri, reacting to news that her family has fallen victim to “outrages” perpetrated by “evil minded persons.” In the letter, dated July 12, 1864, he informs Eugenia that a Mr. Taylor and a Mr. Robinson have taken possession of two of his houses. He also makes reference to an attack on a black woman’s home, but he omits details because he does not want his words to be “wrongly construed.”
Date: July 12, 1864

Title: From Charles W. Zuck to A. Comingo
Description: On March 21, 1864, Charles W. Zuck writes from Carrollton, Missouri to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri in Lexington, Missouri. Zuck reports that 58 "colored recruits" were enlisted in Carroll County, Missouri during January and February 1864. He adds that he does not yet know the number of white recruits enlisted.
Date: March 21, 1864

Title: From D.W. Frost to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on January 9, 1859 by Brig. Gen. D.M. Frost, Missouri Militia, at Headquarters, 1st Military District in St. Louis, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart in Jefferson City, Missouri. Frost refers to Stewart’s recommendation that a military force be organized to protect “our State frontiers against the depredations of Kansas Outlaws & Ruffians,” and states that he is “prepared at any moment to Execute your orders.”
Date: January 9, 1859

Title: From S.H. Woodson to George R. Smith
Description: On July 1, 1856, S.H. Woodson writes from Independence, Missouri to Gen. George R. Smith. Woodson denies the charge that he called Smith "as great an Abolitionist as there was in Massachusetts or in New York," declaring "There is not one word of truth in it."
Date: July 1, 1856

Title: From the Kansas State Central Committee to Philip St. George Cooke
Description: This September 3, 1856 letter is from the Kansas State Central Committee to Lieut. Col. Philip St. George Cooke. The committee members state that Free State supporters have been forced to take up arms to defend themselves against “the inhuman atrocities of organized bands of assassins” from Missouri. They claim that the civil authorities have not helped, and they ask Cooke for protection. The letter is signed by H. Miles Moore, secretary of the committee, as well as W.R. Frost, Morris Hunt, and J. Lawson.
Date: September 3, 1856

Title: Examination of Victor Boyer
Description: This is Victor Boyer's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Boyer, a 29-year-old Missouri native, states that he resides in Clay County, Missouri and was enrolled by the military authorities as "disloyal" in 1862. The oath is contained in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of D.C. Allen
Description: This unsigned 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States bears the name of D.C. Allen. The oath is No. 192 in a bound volume of loyalty oaths given by citizens of Liberty, Missouri between 1866 and 1868.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From John M. Schofield to Thomas Carney
Description: This letter, dated September 3, 1863, is from Major General John M. Schofield to Kansas Governor Thomas Carney. Schofield thanks Carney for offering the assistance of the Kansas Militia in protecting Lawrence and other border towns from Missouri rebels. Many of Schofield’s troops, he says, have left to fight with the regiments of Generals Grant, Steele, and Blunt. Schofield expresses a desire to avenge Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, and he hopes that the extra troops will be able to “destroy the guerrilla bands which have so long savaged the border.”
Date: September 3, 1863

Title: Examination of Samuel Ruffner
Description: This is Samuel Ruffner's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Ruffner, a 72-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 16 years and "was always in favor of the Constitution of the United States." The oath is No. 225 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: General Orders, No. 15
Description: This is Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis’s General Order No. 15, signed and dated October 23, 1864 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The order revokes General Order No. 54, which had established Martial Law north of the Kaw River. Curtis states that the enemy has moved south and that the area is no longer in danger. He adds that he is “glad to relieve the People from this burden.”
Date: October 23, 1864

Title: Applications of John Herndon
Description: These are John Herndon’s applications for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slaves, Harrison Small and Reubin Herndon. The applications, dated November 19, 1866, include oaths of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, statements that John Herndon (of Howard County, Missouri) lawfully acquired his slaves, and the signatures of two witnesses and a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the tenth page indicates that the application was rejected. Also included is Harrison Small’s enlistment form, signed and dated November 29, 1863.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 29, 1863 and November 19, 1866

Title: Examination of Jasper Thomas
Description: This is Jasper Thomas's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Thomas, a 21-year-old native of Mercer County, Missouri, states that he served in the Federal army during the war. He also says that he "felt sad" upon hearing of the Federal defeat at Bull Run in 1861. The oath is No. 194 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Missouri Militia Request for Recommendations for Enrolling Officers
Description: Missouri Militia Colonel Hosea G. Mullings requests that James J. Akard recommends "competent energetic and reliable men, for Enrolling Officers" in southwestern Missouri.
Date: September 3, 1866

Title: Examination of Jonathan G. Payne
Description: This is Jonathan G. Payne's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Payne, a 55-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has resided in Missouri for 6 years, and manifested his loyalty during the war by staying at home and attending to his own business. As an invalid, he was "unable to bear arms." The oath is No. 190 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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