Civil War

Title: Citizens' Meeting at Weston, Missouri
Description: This broadside describes the proceedings of a citizens’ meeting held in Weston, Missouri, on September 1, 1854. G.W. Gist is identified as chair of the meeting, with J.B. Evans serving as secretary. The broadside states that ten resolutions were passed at the meeting, with attendees declaring themselves to be “Union men” forced to accept measures contrary to their principles by “certain members of the Platte County Self-Defensive Association.” The broadside is signed by 174 men.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: September 1, 1854

Title: From D.M. Frost to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This dispatch, dated November 28, 1860, is from Brig. Gen. D.M. Frost to Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Frost writes from Camp Stewart, Headquarters of the South-West Expedition, informing Stewart that troops from St. Louis and Jefferson City have joined his forces. He also relays information that James Montgomery has killed two Missouri citizens and is presently at Fort Scott, Kansas, “holding a Court by his own authority” and “condemning persons whom he has arrested to be hung.”
Date: November 28, 1860

Title: Amos Adams Lawrence
Description: Portrait of Amos A. Lawrence, namesake of Lawrence, Kansas.
Object Type: Image

Title: Genl. Franklin Pierce: Fourteenth President of the United States
Description: Currier & Ives lithograph of President Franklin Pierce, circa 1853.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
Description: Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas writes a letter to his father in Massachusetts on January 20, 1856. He criticizes the Know Nothing Party, arguing that the people of Massachusetts would be more adamant abolitionists if they witnessed the effects of slavery. He contends that, “the great question of Slavery is to be the question before the country.” He includes a copy of a statement that James Henry Lane wrote on January 4, 1856, declaring his intention to present to the United States the new Constitution adopted by the state of Kansas at the Topeka Convention.
Date: January 20, 1856

Title: From D.M. Frost to Robert M. Stewart
Description: Brig. Gen. D.M. Frost writes a dispatch from Camp Daniel Boone to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on December 8, 1860. He states that James Montgomery and his forces have dispersed throughout Kansas Territory, and thus Frost and his troops will be unable to find and conquer them. Frost explains that he wants to leave some troops in Bates and Vernon Counties to patrol the area. If Missouri does not remain on the defense, Frost warns, “anarchy and murder will reign triumphant.”
Date: December 8, 1860

Title: James (Jim) Younger
Description: Charcoal portrait of Jim Younger in suit coat, shirt, and tie. Jim Younger, brother to Robert (Bob) and Thomas Coleman (Cole), joined Quantrill's group in 1863. He was part of the Centralia, Missouri, massacre, September 27, 1864. He went with Quantrill to Kentucky near the end of the war and was captured about April 1865. After the war he moved to Texas and in 1870 and 1871 was deputy sherrif of Dallas County, Texas. He later joined the James-Younger gang and was part of the Northfield, Minnesota, bank robbery on September 7, 1876. He was arrested with his brothers and sent to prison at Stillwater, Minnesota. Jim was paroled in 1901 and committed suicide in Minnesota on October 19, 1902. He's buried at the Lee's Summit, Missouri, Cemetery.
Object Type: Image

Title: Pottawatomie Creek
Description: Photograph of Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas.
Object Type: Image

Title: Second Inaugural Address
Description: This is a copy of the inaugural speech President Lincoln delivered at the start of his second term, on March 4, 1865. In his speech, Lincoln attributes the cause of the Civil War to slavery: “To strengthen, perpetuate and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union by war.” He expresses hope for the future of the country, while emphasizing that his fight against slavery is not over. He concludes with a plea for “a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Object Type: Speech
Date: March 4, 1865

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: On September 6, 1860, Florella Brown Adair writes from Grafton, Ohio to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella says that her friends think she should spend the winter in Ohio instead of returning to Kansas, and that “if you & Emma were out of Kansas I should be glad & we would not return there until things are better in temporal prospects.” Florella shares a rumor about a Methodist preacher in Osawatomie, Kansas, who was seen several times with “colored emegrants” on their way to Canada. “I am inclined to think he has been falsely accused by free state men in Kansas” she concludes.
Date: September 6, 1860

Title: Examination of Joseph Thorp
Description: This is Joseph Thorp's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Thorp, a 62-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 57 years and says that "although I was over age and did not take up arms" during the war, "I opposed others going into the Confederate service." The oath is No. 180 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Ben J. Newsom to Robert M. Stewart
Description: Ben J. Newsom sends a telegram from Kansas City, Missouri to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on December 30, 1858. He relays a request from Kansas Gov. Samuel Medary for an officer to visit the Kansas-Missouri border near Fort Scott, capture any armed men and hold them in Missouri. He adds that this will “aid in preventing the escape of Montgomery” and warns that Missouri citizens should not cross into Kansas Territory.
Object Type: Telegram
Date: December 30, 1858

Title: The Osawatomie Battlefield
Description: Osawatomie Battlefield courtesy of Oswald Garrison Villard's John Brown 1800-1859: A Biography Fifty Years After. On August 30, 1856, Abolitionist John Brown and 40 other Free-Staters unsuccessfully defended the town of Osawatomie, Kansas against 250-300 border ruffians under John W. Reid. The Free-Staters were routed, Osawatomie was burned, and one of Brown's sons was killed, but Brown escaped with his life and earned the nickname "Osawatomie Brown" for his spirited defense.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Willard Preble Hall
Description: Illustrated portrait of Missouri Governor Willard Preble Hall.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Examination of R.P. Wood
Description: This is R.P. Wood's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Wood describes himself as a 52-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri who was born in Kentucky. He states that he supported the United States Government during the Civil War and that he "volunteered here several times in defence of the town." The oath, labeled No. 87 in a bound volume, was signed by Wood on October 6, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 6, 1866

Title: Examination of George W. Warren
Description: This is George W. Warren's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Warren, a 55-year-old Kentucky native who lived in Missouri for 21 years, states that he was too old to enlist in the Union army. The oath is No. 175 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of A.J. Turpin
Description: This is A.J. Turpin's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Turpin, a 61-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 12 years. He was arrested twice during the war: once in August 1862 for feeding Quantrill's men; and in June 1863 by Lt. Col. Hayes. Turpin declares, "I was always always a strong Union man until the Red legs stole my Property." The oath is No. 191 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Resolutions from a Meeting of the Marble City Guards
Description: This document records the resolutions adopted at a meeting of the Marble City Guards in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on November 27, 1860. The officers and members of the guard volunteer to “march to the defence of the Commonwealth, whenever the Executive of the State deems our service necessary.” The document is signed by E.P. Albert, Secretary of the Marble City Guards.
Object Type: Document
Date: November 27, 1860

Title: John C. Fremont
Description: Glass plate negative of military officer, explorer, and politician John C. Fremont in profile, circa 1855-1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: Unidentified Civil War Soldiers or Guerrillas
Description: Charcoal portrait of two men dressed in cloaks, uniforms, and hats with plumes and holding pistols. Drawing is signed by the artist with "93" immediately below the signature. Each of these has his own portrait (taken from this one) in this same collection by the same artist (MVO-99F and MVO-100F).
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

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

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