Civil War

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: From A. Comingo to Joseph H. McGee
Description: This dispatch, dated November 19, 1863, is from Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri, to Maj. Joseph H. McGee in Lexington, Missouri. Comingo asks McGee to provide a military escort for James Zeiler, Enrolling Officer for the 6th district, 1st sub-district of Missouri. In his response on the other side of the document, erroneously dated November 18, 1863, McGee states that he has only one squadron on duty at his post and cannot provide an escort.
Date: November 19, 1863

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: From E.B. Alexander to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated October 24, 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 instructs Comingo to document his expenses on a separate voucher each month.
Date: October 24, 1863

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: Discharge of James S. Cunningham
Description: These are the official discharge papers for James S. Cunningham, who served as a private under Captain John B. Coles in Company D of the 8th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry from 1861 to 1864. The document, dated July 1, 1864, describes Cunningham as a 20 year old farmer from Washington, Pennsylvania. He was discharged after completing his term of service.
Date: July 1, 1864

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: From James H. Moss to A.W. Doniphan
Description: On October 3, 1863, James H. Moss writes from Liberty, Missouri to Col. A.W. Doniphan. Moss describes his recent efforts to restore order in Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri by raising a local military force. He writes that the newspapers have been publishing "reckless" lies about his activities, and urges Doniphan not to believe what he reads. Moss asks Doniphan to explain the situation to Gov. Gamble, adding, "We have had perfect quiet in Clay and Platte for five days and nights past."
Date: October 3, 1863

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: From P. McClanahan to A. Comingo
Description: This letter, dated November 28, 1863, is from P. McClanahan in Independence, Missouri to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. McClanahan informs Comingo that he mailed the military enrollment forms from two officers, Rodewald and Warren. He says that the two officers have not been as productive as they would have been "in ordinary times" and adds, "you are aware of the difficulties under which we labor in this county."
Date: November 28, 1863

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

Title: Berry O. Singleton's Appointment to Second Corporal
Description: By the order of Colonel Joseph J. Gravely, David Hunter informs the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment that Berry O. Singleton is appointed to Second Corporal, in Company "A", of the Eighth Regiment of Cavalry, M.S.M..
Date: April 13, 1863

Title: A Letter from the Original Members of the Leavenworth Association, K.T. to Jefferson Davis
Description: This pamphlet, dated March 13, 1855, is entitled “A Letter from the Original Members of the Leavenworth Association, K.T. to Hon. Jefferson Davis, Secretary of the War Department.” The pamphlet voices the Association’s concerns about Executive Document No. 50 of the 2nd Session of the 33rd Congress, regarding the military Indian reservation at Fort Leavenworth. The pamphlet was printed by Finch & O’Gorman in Weston, Missouri, and is signed by 26 Association members.
Object Type: Pamphlet
Date: March 13, 1855

Title: From J.A. Ewing to the Provost Marshal, 7th District Missouri
Description: On December 24, 1864, Capt. J.A. Ewing, 14th Mo. Cav. Vols., writes from St. Louis to the Provost Marshal, 7th District Missouri. Ewing states that he has a muster roll from February 1864 crediting certain men of the 7th District. He inquires if these men have already been credited, and whether they are owed any bounties, for they "have never been paid since they reenlisted and are very much in need of money."
Date: December 24, 1864

Title: Application of Martha A. Barker
Description: This is Martha A. Barker’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of her slave, Henry Lewis. The application, dated December 1, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Barker lawfully purchased her slave, and the signatures of four witnesses and a notary public in Carroll County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the first page indicates that the application was rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 1, 1866

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: In a May 9, 1863 letter from Calhoun, Missouri, John A. Bushnell tells Eugenia Bronaugh that he has cancelled a trip to visit her in Hickory Grove, Missouri, out of fear for his safety. He also fears discussing information that he has read in newspapers, for “I may be charged with stating it wrong.” He warns Eugenia to be careful and to not talk about “what the Rebels are going to do.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: May 9, 1863

Title: Reconstruction
Description: Lithograph of Horatio Bateman's allegorical illustration of the reconciliation between the North and the South following the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Reconstruction Era.
Object Type: Image

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

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