Civil War

Title: Laura Hidden Pearson
Description: This tintype, ca. 1860, depicts Laura Hidden Pearson, an Ohio native who married William D. Pearson in Cass County, Missouri. William was the oldest child of Robert D. Pearson, an early Cass County pioneer. William served in Confederate Captain Shanks’ company for nine months until he was taken prisoner near Lexington, Missouri; he was eventually released on parole. Laura and William married after the war.
Object Type: Image

Title: Western University, Quindaro, Kansas
Description: A photograph of Ward Hall and Industrial Building, Western University, once located in the now abandoned town of Quindaro, Wyandotte County, Kansas. This image is included in the 1911 publication of "History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people". Western University opened in 1865 as an exclusively African American college.
Object Type: Image

Title: From E.C. to Dear Father and Mother
Description: This letter, dated March 21, 1862, is from E.C. to his father and mother. E.C. says he is well and is anxious for news of the fight at Sugar Creek: "it is current report that a fight…lasted 4 days with a loss of 8 or ten thousand on the side of the confederate and twenty two thousand killed wounded and prisinors." He adds that skirmishes continue to take place every two or three days.
Date: March 21, 1862

Title: Soldier, Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This sepia carte de visite, ca. 1861-1865, depicts an unidentified soldier who served in the Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The carte de visite was produced by Bliss & Wentworth in Topeka, Kansas. Carte de visites were small photographs that were often used as calling cards and became very popular during the Civil War.
Object Type: Image

Title: P.B. Roseford
Description: This carte de visite depicts P.B. Roseford, who served in the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph was produced ca. 1861-1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown
Description: This faded letter, dated February 1, 1862, is from Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown. Webber reports that he and his regiment are "comfortably situated," but he doesn't know how long they will remain so. He tells Miss Brown "the day after we got here one of our men who was drunk rode his [horse] into…Missouri…But fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately in case of the man) both were rescued." The letter is written on stationery printed with the phrase "Honor to the Brave."
Date: February 1, 1862

Title: Richard (Dick) Burns
Description: Charcoal portrait drawing of Dick Burns in suit, vest, shirt, and hat. Burns enlisted in 1861 and served under Quantrill. He took part in the Lawrence massacre on August 21, 1863. After the war he was a member of the James-Younger Gang and participated in the Richmond, Missouri, bank robbery on May 23, 1867. The Richmond posse found Burns "sleeping in a farmhouse within two miles of Richmond. He was taken outside and strung up on a convenient elm" (Drago, Harry Sinclair, "Road Agents and Train Robbers," p. 158 [MVSC 364.16 D75R]). Other authors say he was killed later by an axe that split open his head.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of Morris Maib
Description: This is Morris Maib's Oath of Loyalty to the United States, signed October 12, 1866. Maib, a 46-year-old Missouri native, states that he resides in Clay County, Missouri and tried to enroll as "loyal" with the military authorities in 1862, but was required to give bond. The oath is No. 149 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 12, 1866

Title: From Samuel Medary to Robert M. Stewart
Description: In this January 5, 1859 letter, Kansas Gov. Samuel Medary introduces Capt. A.J. Weaver of Linn County, Kansas to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Medary states that he is sending Weaver to Missouri to transport arms, and asks that Stewart help him complete his mission safely: “You will confer a great favor upon me by granting him the use of your name as security to the people of Missouri.”
Object Type: Government Document
Date: January 5, 1859

Title: Examination of John A. Beauchamp
Description: This is John A. Beauchamp's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Beauchamp, a 41-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 18 years. He says that during "the Blue Mills fight I assisted the Federals to bury their dead and assisted the wounded." The oath is No. 208 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of James M. Watkins
Description: This is James M. Watkins's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Watkins describes himself as a 54-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri who was born in Kentucky. He states that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War but "was too old to take up arms." The oath, labeled No. 122 in a bound volume, was signed by Watkins in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: Edward Fitch writes a letter from Lawrence, Kansas to his parents in Massachusetts on February 24, 1856. He says that the Free State Legislature plans to meet next month in Topeka, and that President Pierce has proclaimed them traitors. Fitch predicts that the Missourians will attack Kansas, “but if they try it we shall have a bloody time out here.” He finishes the letter on March 9 and tells his parents that the Legislature met in Topeka, and that no violence occurred.
Date: February 24, 1856-March 9, 1856

Title: Unidentified Man
Description: Charcoal portrait drawing of unidentified man with long flowing mustache, dressed in suit coat and shirt. Drawing is signed by the artist.
Object Type: Image

Title: From James Montgomery to George L. Stearns
Description: In this July 5, 1861 letter from Mound City, James Montgomery informs George L. Stearns that he has entered Missouri, along with 180 men, to aid the Union soldiers. Montgomery describes battles at Ball’s Mill and Bates County, reporting that his men have killed several Rebels and have had no casualties. He also mentions plans to raise a regiment.
Date: July 5, 1861

Title: From James Griffing to Augusta
Description: This July 9, 1855 letter was written by James Griffing at Ottawa Creek, Kansas, to Augusta. James writes that he is “travelling the rounds of another preacher’s circuit,” currently staying with an Ottawa Indian named “Jones” (possibly “Ottawa Jones”). James criticizes the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Bogus Legislature, and describes an inspiring speech given by Charles Robinson in Lawrence, Kansas on Independence Day.
Date: July 9, 1855

Title: Texas Ordinance of Secession
Description: Photograph of the Texas Ordinance of Secession from February 1, 1861. Image courtesy of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Object Type: Image
Date: February 1, 1861

Title: The Western Dispatch.
Description: This is the August 17, 1856 evening issue of the Western Dispatch, printed in Independence, Missouri. The newspaper announces that war is "being waged by the Abolitionists," and reports that James Henry Lane, John Brown, and their forces have robbed several Kansas residents and driven them into Missouri. The paper also mentions that Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon requested aid from the U.S. military, but was refused. A last minute extra, printed at the bottom of the paper, states that Lane and his men have captured Lecompton.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: August 17, 1856

Title: Examination of C.W. Baker
Description: This is C.W. Baker's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Baker describes himself as a 65-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri. In response to the question, "Have you during the late rebellion been truly and loyally on the side of the Government of the United States and against all its enemies?" Baker replies, "I think so." The oath, labeled No. 35 in a bound volume, was signed by Baker in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Israel B. Donalson to Daniel Woodson
Description: This letter, dated September 1, 1856, was written by U.S. Marshal Israel B. Donalson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Donalson states that a large number of armed men, probably commanded by Gen. James Lane, are entering Kansas daily for the purpose of driving citizens from the Territory, robbing and burning houses, and committing murder. Donalson does not possess enough troops to suppress Lane’s men, and is submitting the facts of the situation to Woodson so he can determine a course of action.
Date: September 1, 1856

Title: From G.W. Veale to George W. Dietzler
Description: On October 30, 1864, this dispatch was sent by Col. G.W. Veale at Headquarters, 2nd Regiment, Kansas State Militia in Topeka, Kansas, to Maj. Gen. Dietzler, Comm. Kansas State Militia. Veale reports on a recent campaign in which his regiment moved from Topeka to Shawneetown in Johnson County, Kansas, to Jackson County, Missouri, where it fought in the Battle of the Blue on October 22, 1864. Veale states that his regiment lost 44 killed and wounded, with 68 men taken prisoner after fighting “a force six times our number for three quarters of an hour.” The dispatch includes a list of the soldiers killed and wounded in the battle.
Date: October 30, 1864

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

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