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Title: From Sara Robinson to "My Dear Martha"
Description: This letter, dated October 19, 1862, is from Sara Robinson in Topeka, Kansas to Martha. Sara reports that her husband, Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, went to Altoona, Pennsylvania to meet "the Governors," but by the time he arrived they had already gone to Washington, D.C. Charles "had no wish to see the Sec. of War or the President, both of whom have treated him & the young state of Kansas so villainously & did not follow them." Sara states that when Charles returned, he went to St. Louis to see Gen. Curtis.
Object Type: Letter
Date: October 19, 1862

Title: James Montgomery
Description: Carte de visite portrait of James Montgomery.

Title: From James Montgomery to George L. Stearns
Description: James Montgomery writes a letter from Mound City, Kansas to George L. Stearns on May 8, 1861. He reports that, “We are in a perilous position here, and have not ammunition enough to make a respectable fight.” He says that he has organized a regiment to help defend Kansas against pro-slavery Missourians, whose troops are camped along the border of Linn and Bourbon counties. He mentions that an Osage Indian chief attacked some of these troops, then “tied them with ropes to the Horns of his Saddles and dragged them out of the country.” Montgomery asks for Stearns’s assistance in acquiring arms and declares that, “If we have to fight, we will carry the war out of Kansas.”
Date: May 8, 1861

Title: From The Few That Are Left to John W. Geary
Description: This letter to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary is dated September 18, 1856 and signed by “The few that are left.” The letter asks Geary to send troops to protect the citizens of Cass County, Missouri; Sugar Mound, Kansas; and Fort Scott, Kansas. “This section of the country has just been ravaged by the war parties from Missouri,” the letter says. “The people here are unarmed and defenseless.”
Date: September 18, 1856

Title: From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description: On March 26, 1862, Abishai Stowell writes from Springfield, Missouri to his sister, Margaret. Stowell, a member of Co. A, 2nd Regt., Kansas Volunteers, says that he recently went home and reports that their family was mostly in good health. Stowell asks his sister to write to Jim "and try to persuade him to go home…if he will only stay at home till this war is ended."
Object Type: Letter
Date: March 26, 1862

Title: The Kansas Herald of Freedom
Description: An 1859 issue of the Herald of Freedom. The Herald of Freedom, a prominent Free-State newspaper, was first published in Lawrence, Kansas on October 21, 1854. The press was destroyed in the May 1856 Sacking of Lawrence, but it returned to print in November 1856.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: March 26, 1859

Title: From Emma Adair to Florella Brown Adair
Description: On May 10, 11, and 21, 1862, Emma Adair writes from Oberlin, Ohio, to her mother Florella Brown Adair. Emma writes that her school term ends on May 27, and that she believes there will be a place for her next term. She says that a report came by telegram “that Richmond was taken, but there was not much confidence put in it.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: May 10, 1862-May 21, 1862

Title: From Daniel Woodson to H.H. Sibley
Description: This dispatch, dated July 4, 1856, was sent by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson in camp with the 1st Cavalry at Topeka, Kansas, to Major H.H. Sibley, 2nd Dragoons. Woodson instructs Sibley to march his command down to the vicinity of Topeka and encamp for the day just above the town.
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: Monument to the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This photograph depicts a monument to the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. John A. Martin, of Willich's Brigade, Wood's Division, Granger's Corps. It consists of a bronze sculpture of a Union Soldier and a plaque that describes a November 25, 1863 battle between Col. Martin's regiment and Gen. Bragg's Army of Tennessee. The monument is located on Missionary Ridge at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. The photograph was taken by Schmedling of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Charles T. Gilman to Albert G. Boone
Description: In this letter, dated September 16 and 17, 1856, Charles T. Gilman informs Col. Albert G. Boone that 20 abolitionists recently launched an attack on the proslavery citizens living near Council Grove, Kansas. Gilman states that the attackers stole horses and mules, wounded a woman, and threatened to burn down houses and force the proslavery men out of Kansas. They also claimed that they would return in four days with 400 men; Gilman tells Boone that the people of Council Grove have been awaiting their arrival and have plenty of arms and ammunition to defend themselves.
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 16, 1856-September 17, 1856

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

Title: From Joseph H. Trego to Alice Trego
Description: This letter, dated August 6 and 7, 1862, is from Joseph H. Trego to his wife Alice. Trego, a lieutenant in the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, writes from Camp Beech Grove. He reports that the weather is so hot that a number of his fellow soldiers have become ill. He includes $690 with his letter and instructs his wife to “take good care of it . . . you may need it before you will find anyone to take my place if I should be so unfortunate as to get killed.”
Date: August 6, 1862-August 7, 1862

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This undated letter was written ca. December 1862 by Florella Brown Adair in Osawatomie, Kansas, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella expresses distress over reports regarding “the great battle of the 6 of this month.” She states that their son Charles is among the missing, and does not know if he is dead or has been taken prisoner. Florella says that her friends “seemed to sympathize & hoped it might not be so bad, or that it was not true, as many reports are exagerated.”

Title: From Daniel R. Anthony to Dear Father
Description: Daniel R. Anthony writes a letter from Leavenworth, Kansas to his father on November 5, 1861. He states that he will command his regiment on a trip to Sedalia, Missouri to bring oxen and wagons to Gen. Fremont’s army, while Col. Jennison stays behind in Kansas. At the end of the letter, Anthony lists the equipment his regiment needs, including saddles, clothing, sabres, rifles, and revolvers.
Object Type: Letter
Date: November 5, 1861

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

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: On November 30, 1862, Florella Brown Adair writes from Osawatomie, Kansas, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella discusses various household and community matters, stating that she has “a black woman coming to help me.” She says she heard a report that Gen. Blunt was going to Fort Smith with his whole command, and also heard that their son Charles was involved in battle and was “among the first to take the Rebbel Battery.”
Date: November 30, 1862

Title: Squatter Sovereign
Description: The first issue of the Squatter Sovereign. The Squatter Sovereign, the most prominent of the proslavery newspapers in Kansas Territory, was first published in Atchison, Kansas in 1855. It printed some of the most inflammatory proslavery rhetoric in the territory, before ironically being purchased by the antislavery Samuel C. Pomeroy in March 1857. Pomeroy, an affiliate of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society, turned the paper in favor of the Free-State cause before reselling it to John A. Martin, who renamed it Freedom's Champion.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: February 3, 1855

Title: From Charles Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: On September 16, 1860, Charles Adair writes from Rawsonville to his father Samuel Lyle Adair. Charles describes his recent visit to Oberlin, where he met an old classmate of his father’s and attended a concert. He says that he would like to attend school in Hudson, Ohio, but believes his father may need his assistance at home; Charles asks him to decide what is best.
Date: September 16, 1860

Title: Proclamation of Daniel Woodson
Description: This proclamation was issued July 4, 1856 by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Woodson forbids all persons claiming legislative authority or power in Kansas from assembling at Topeka, Kansas and from organizing, attempting to organize, or acting in any legislative capacity whatsoever. Woodson declares that this proclamation upholds President Pierce’s proclamation of February 11, 1856, which decreed that all such acts would be considered insurrectionary.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: 1st Kansas Colored Infantry flag
Description: Regimental flag of the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry, who triumphed over the Missouri State Guard in the Battle of Island Mound. It was the first battle of the Civil War to be fought by a regiment of African-American soldiers.
Object Type: Image

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

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