Civil War

Title: From D.A.W. Morehouse to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on June 7, 1858 by D.A.W. Morehouse in Papinsville, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart in Jefferson City, Missouri. Morehouse refers to “the troubles on the border of the state touching Kansas,” and requests that a company of Rangers be stationed on the state line to protect local citizens. Morehouse asks Stewart for permission to organize such a company himself because he is "familiar with those characters Resident in the Territory."
Date: June 7, 1858

Title: John Brown
Description: Painting of John Brown by Ole Peter Hansen Balling, 1870.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1870

Title: Examination of William Brining
Description: This is William Brining's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Brining describes himself as a 46-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, who was born in England. He states that he felt "Grief beyond Description" when he heard that Gen. Sterling Price had captured Gen. Mulligan and his army at Lexington, Missouri. The oath, labeled No. 30 in a bound volume, was signed by Brining on September 29, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 29, 1866

Title: Examination of J.H. Timms
Description: This is J.H. Timms's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Timms, a 47-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he was born in Virginia and remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 62 in a bound volume, was signed by Timms on September 29, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 29, 1866

Title: Quarterly Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, 1864
Description: This military document is a return of ordnance and ordnance stores for Company "A" 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia under command of Captain James J. Akard for the fourth quarter of 1864.
Date: January 10, 1865

Title: Examination of S.P. Clarke
Description: This is S.P. Clarke's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Clarke, a 42-year-old North Carolina native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 40 years and manifested his loyalty during the war by obeying "all the laws and the requirements of the military, I stayed at home." The oath is No. 181 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: The Homestead Act, 1862-1962 : 4 Cents, U.S. Postage
Description: U.S. postage stamp commemorating the 1862 Homestead Act.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1962

Title: From W.B. Spaulding to Daniel Peterson Woodbury
Description: This letter, dated April 17, 1858, is from W.B. Spaulding in Quincy, Illinois to Daniel Peterson Woodbury in New Hampshire. Spaulding criticizes James Buchanan for approving the Lecompton Constitution for Kansas Territory, and predicts that it will cause trouble for his administration and for the Democratic Party. He adds that "the whole proceedings seem to have been a farce."
Date: April 17, 1858

Title: Examination of Granvill M. Farnsworth
Description: This is Granvill M. Farnsworth's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Farnsworth, a 21-year-old Virginia native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 12 years and served 16 months in the militia during the war. The oath is No. 192 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: David Rice Atchison
Description: Half-length daguerreotype portrait of David Rice Atchison, facing three-quarters to the left. Atchison served as Democratic Senator from Missouri from 1843-1855.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1844-1860

Title: Examination of A. Lightburne
Description: This is A. Lightburne's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Lightburne describes himself as a 63-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri. He states that he has "always been for supporting the Government," and that during the Civil War, "I tried to attend to my own business." The oath, labeled No. 84 in a bound volume, was signed by Lightburne in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From A.W. Mitchell to J.T. Sweringen
Description: This letter, dated May 29, 1861, is from A.W. Mitchell in Huntsville, Missouri to J.T. Sweringen in St. Louis. Mitchell notes that there has been some controversy over the U.S. providing arms to the Kansas Militia, and expresses concern that it will be detrimental to Missouri. He tells Sweringen that planting season has begun, and thus people are too busy "to attend much to politics," but adds that "no matter what our sentiments are we are all forced at this time to be Union men."
Date: May 29, 1861

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Mother
Description: This unsigned April 11, 1858 letter, presumably from Edward Fitch to his mother, discusses the immigrants living in Kansas Territory. The Irish immigrants, Fitch says, are predominantly pro-slavery, while the German immigrants are mostly supporters of the Free State Party. He also describes to his mother the spring flowers in Lawrence, Kansas and his beautiful baby.
Date: April 11, 1858

Title: From Samuel Medary to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This telegram, dated January 3, 1859, is from Kansas Gov. Samuel Medary to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Medary informs Stewart that he has ordered U.S. Troops to protect eastern Kansas and that he plans to organize a large force of Kansas citizens. He urges Stewart to keep troops on the Missouri side of the state line to protect his citizens if James Montgomery invades Missouri. He adds that Montgomery and John Brown have three forts and an armed force of 100-200 men.
Object Type: Telegram
Date: January 3, 1858

Title: Quarterly Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, 1865
Description: This military document is a return of ordnance and ordnance stores for Company "A" 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia under command of Captain James J. Akard for the end of the company's service on January 25, 1865.
Date: February 19, 1865

Title: Examination of James M. Bland
Description: This is James M. Bland's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Bland, a 23-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States Government during the Civil War "by staying at home and attending to my business, and by joining the Militia." The oath, labeled No. 56 in a bound volume, was signed by Bland in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

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: 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

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

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