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Title: From William H. Doah to Hon. James Edgar
Description: This letter was written on December 23, 1859 by William H. Doah in Butler, Bates County, Missouri, to Hon. James Edgar. Doah says that he spent $12.20 of his own money on ammunition for his Missouri Militia company “at the time of our threatened troubles on the line.” He seeks Edgar’s help in securing reimbursement from Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Doah states that he has written to Stewart twice but has not received a reply.
Object Type: Letter
Date: December 23, 1859

Title: From D.M. Frost to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This dispatch, dated December 5, 1860, is from Brig. Gen. D.M. Frost to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. He reports that he marched to the Kansas-Missouri border and learned that James Montgomery and his forces were stationed at Mound City, Kansas; Frost thus concentrated his troops nearby, on the Marais des Cygnes River. Frost also states his intention to organize a force of 500 men and assures Stewart that they will “be able to restore confidence and establish a permanent peace on our border.”
Date: December 5, 1860

Title: From Amos and Mary Graham to C.C. Graham
Description: This letter, dated July 10, 1864, was sent to C.C. Graham at Ft. Larned, Kansas, by his parents, Amos and Mary Graham in Maryville, Missouri. Because of a “poor prospect for crops” and the high cost of living, the Grahams write that “Things seem to be getting worse, here, than it ever was.” They state that “The Rebels of this county have been indicted for Treason” and describe how “Bushwhackers, Rebels, raids [and] fights” are consuming nearby counties, with “men killed in all directions.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 10, 1864

Title: Statement of Hiram D. Preston
Description: This statement, dated September 11, 1856, was given by Hiram D. Preston regarding the robbery of a team of horses and a load of provisions near Leavenworth, Kansas in August 1856. Preston states that he was accosted by three men on the road from Lawrence, who took him to Capt. Emory’s camp nearby. After being held hostage for several days, Preston lost the team, which belonged to H.L. Jones, and provisions worth $120.52.
Object Type: Document
Date: September 11, 1856

Title: From Unknown to Abraham Lincoln
Description: This letter, dated May 19, 1862, is presumably from Missouri Gov. Hamilton R. Gamble in St. Louis to President Lincoln. Gamble asks for Lincoln's help in restoring peace to Missouri's border counties by ordering that no troops raised in Kansas may enter Missouri unless by request. Gamble adds that in the interest of impartiality, "I am perfectly willing that Missouri troops shall be prohibited from entering Kansas without like request."
Object Type: Letter
Date: May 19, 1862

Title: From Edward Fitch to Those...Who So Generously Responded to the Appeal for Help
Description: Edward Fitch writes a letter from Lawrence, Kansas to the people in his hometown of Hopkinton, Massachusetts on December 17, 1856. He thanks them for responding to his recent request for help by donating clothing to poor Kansas emigrants. He describes the people who have received their donations and the suffering they have endured. Many of them, Fitch says, have been robbed, attacked, or had their houses burned down by Border Ruffians.
Date: December 17, 1856

Title: Benjamin (Ben) Broomfield
Description: Charcoal portrait of Ben Broomfield with pullover shirt typical of the guerrillas, hat, and rifle. Ben Broomfield was with Quantrill and Bill Anderson, who "called him his own Indian." Broomfield was part Comanche. He took part in the Lawrence, Kansas, massacre on August 21, 1863. Facts don't correlate about his death. Broomfield was killed either in 1863 or 1864.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: From John W. Clem to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on August 18, 1859 by John W. Clem in Butler, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Clem, the Sheriff of Bates County, Missouri, reports that James Montgomery and his Jayhawkers have laid siege to Paris, Kansas; they soon intend to cross over into Missouri to free William Wright (alias Pickles), a prisoner being held there for murder and robbery. Clem states that if the Jayhawkers enter Bates County, “I will then call out the entire militia force for defense.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: August 18, 1859

Title: From M.C. Goodlett to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated January 5, 1859, was written by M.C. Goodlett in the Senate Chamber, Jefferson City, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Goodlett states that he received a letter from a newly-formed military company in Johnson County, Missouri, tendering its services to the Governor. Goodlett says that he personally knows all the officers and soldiers of the Johnson Guards and hopes that Stewart will call on them “to assist in driving back the Plundering Murdering Horde” of Kansas outlaws.
Date: January 5, 1859

Title: From Henry Grimshaw to J.F. Benjamin
Description: This letter, dated September 26, 1863, is from Henry Grimshaw, Captain and Deputy Provost Marshal of Schuyler County, Missouri, to Col. J.F. Benjamin, Provost Marshal of the 8th district of Missouri. Grimshaw reports that a group of soldiers from the Enrolled Missouri Militia attacked several citizens at their homes in Schuyler County. Grimshaw adds that his life was threatened after reporting the incident, and he appeals to Benjamin for assistance.
Date: September 26, 1863

Title: Proclamation of Daniel Woodson
Description: This proclamation was issued August 24, 1856 by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas. Woodson declares that Kansas Territory is “infested” with large bodies of armed men organized in military fashion – presumably Gen. James Lane’s troops – who are murdering and detaining citizens, robbing and burning houses, and plundering local militias of arms for the purpose of subverting the territorial government. Woodson proclaims that Kansas Territory is in a state of “open insurrection and rebellion,” and calls upon its citizens to rally in support of their country and its laws and put down the insurrectionists.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: August 24, 1856

Title: Appendix to the Journals of the Twenty-First General Assembly of Missouri
Description: The Appendix to the Journals of the Twenty-First General Assembly of Missouri was printed in 1861 by W.G. Cheeney in Jefferson City, Missouri. It includes petitions and letters to Gov. Robert M. Stewart about the guerrilla attacks on Missouri led by James Montgomery and Charles Jennison. The appendix also includes Brig. Gen. D.M. Frost’s report on the South-West Expedition, affidavits relating to Jennison’s murder of Russell Hindes, and proceedings from the Southern Kansas Convention.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1861

Title: From Mrs. Silliman to My Dear Relatives
Description: This letter, dated August 24, 1862, is from Mrs. Silliman of Warrensburg, Missouri to her “dear relatives.” She complains that since the war began, Warrensburg has transformed from a small, quiet town into “a thoroughfare for soldiers, jayhawkers, bush whackers . . . assassins & marauders.” She says that her son Oscar’s business has been stagnant, and that they might move to Arkansas until the war is over.
Date: August 24, 1862

Title: John McCorkle
Description: Charcoal portrait of John McCorkle in suit coat, shirt, tie, and hat. McCorkle, born December 12, 1838, in Andrew County, Missouri, moved to a farm near Westport around 1846. In April 1861 he enlisted in Company A of the Missouri State Guards, but in August 1862 he became part of Quantrill's guerrillas. In 1865, McCorkle surrendered at Newcastle, Kentucky, along with George Wigginton and a Confederate Captain Stone. They were paroled. Some years later, O. S. Barton helped McCorkle write his memoirs, "Three Years with Quantrell [sic]," published in 1914. McCorkle lived in Howard County, Missouri, until he died in 1918.
Object Type: Image

Title: To John Hambright, Esq.
Description: This letter, dated November 9, 1864, was written to John Hambright, Esq. in St. Louis, Missouri. The writer encourages John to take his family to a safer place, warning, “our troubles are not over by a long ways.” The letter-writer has not received any news from acquaintances since “the late raids,” and concludes: “May the powers above protect and defend us all from all our enemies.”
Date: November 9, 1864

Title: From John W. Reid to John W. Geary
Description: John W. Reid writes a letter from Independence, Missouri to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary on September 20, 1856. Reid states that he obeyed Geary’s order to disband his troops and terminate an expedition to plunder Lawrence. He admits that “some bad men who were with us did commit some outrages . . . which I hope you will believe was beyond my control or power to prevent.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 20, 1856

Title: From Jacob Hall to Mary Hall
Description: This letter, dated October 25, 1862, was written by Jacob Hall in Washington, DC to his daughter Mary Hall, who was staying with her aunt and uncle. Jacob writes of political bickering between “Secretary Smith” and “Assistant Secretary Usher,” as well as news from his and Mary’s home town: “Quantrill and his band” took almost all their horses, and the next week “Confederates” confiscated much of their food stores, crops, and two mules, refusing to compensate Jacob’s wife.
Date: October 25, 1862

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: This letter, dated September 24, 1864, was written by John A. Bushnell in Calhoun, Missouri, to Eugenia Bronaugh in Hickory Grove, Missouri. John assures Eugenia that he is well and writes of his plans to travel to Clinton, Missouri. He adds that “the scare of raiders has about passed away.” John implies that he cannot write down all he wishes to say to Eugenia, in case his letter falls “into rude hands.”
Date: September 24, 1864

Title: From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description: On August 1, 1863, Abishai Stowell writes from camp in Springfield, Missouri to his sister. Stowell reports that "the times seem to be peaceable in this section there is no fighting except a little brush with bushwhackers now & then." He says that Gen. Blunt "had a fight with the Rebels in the Cherokee Nation & defeated them." Stowell predicts that the war will end within three months because "the North is just beginning to open their eyes & see the true state of affairs."
Date: August 1, 1863

Title: Affidavit of W.F. Dyer
Description: This affidavit was sworn by W.F. Dyer on September 13, 1856 before R.R. Nelson, Justice of the Peace of Douglas County, Kansas. Dyer states that on September 8 and 9, 1856, a band of at least one hundred men robbed him of six head of mules and horses, and merchandise worth more than $4,000. Dyer indicates that the same men were assembled at Ozawkie, KS on September 13, 1856 for the purpose of raiding and burning the town.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: September 13, 1856

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

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