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Title: From Mary E. Bedford to A.M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated May 1, 1864, is from Mary E. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri to her husband, Lieut. Alex M. Bedford, at the Officers Prison in Point Lookout, Maryland. Mary updates him on the health of family members and on her tenant’s upkeep of her farm. She reports that two acquaintances who joined the army the previous spring have both recently died. Missouri, she states, “is peaceable . . . and I hope it will remain so.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: May 1, 1864

Title: Oath of Loyalty of Stephen Blanchard
Description: This document establishes that Stephen Blanchard has taken an oath of loyalty to the United States and to the state of Missouri. It declares that Blanchard will support the Constitution and “protect and defend the union of the United States.” The oath is dated October 28, 1867 and is signed by Blanchard, two witnesses, and a clerk of the Holt County Court.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 28, 1867

Title: From Frederick Starr to My Dear Father
Description: On March 19, 1855, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to his father. Starr transcribes a recent article from the local newspaper “Liberty Platform,” in which he is accused of being a “political priest” in charge of a “gang” of abolitionists. Starr believes the article makes unjust and false statements about him, but admits “it may be the impression which has fixed itself upon the minds of the fire eating part of the community. If so I would not have it otherwise.” The article also describes the nomination of Gen. Whitfield as the Kansas Territory delegate to Congress.
Date: March 19, 1855

Title: From H.D. Palmer to Isaac Feback
Description: This letter, dated December 20, 1862, was written by H.D. Palmer in Independence, Missouri, to Isaac Feback. Palmer thanks Feback for his kindness, lamenting that he has few friends left who can rise above “political prejudice” as Feback has done. Palmer says he has done everything “to keep down jayhawking & protect my Union friends,” but has been betrayed by those friends and the militia who took his livestock without proper payment. Palmer notes that the oath of allegiance is meaningless unless it offers government protection for those who take it.
Object Type: Letter
Date: December 20, 1862

Title: Claim of Rias Lewis against Jonah Moore
Description: This is the legal claim of Rias Lewis, “a free man of color,” against Jonah Moore for $40 in unpaid wages. The claim is dated September 26, 1854 and is signed by a justice of the peace, a public administrator, and two witnesses in Chariton County, Missouri. A note on the back indicates that the debt was settled in court on August 10, 1855. Attached to the claim is the original agreement for Lewis to work for Moore, signed by both parties and dated February 12, 1850.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: February 12, 1850-August 10, 1855

Title: From Lisbon Applegate to William Heryford, Jr.
Description: This letter, dated January 15, 1865, is from Lisbon Applegate in Keytesville, Chariton County, Missouri, to William Heryford, Jr. Applegate reports that he sold Heryford’s hogs, but has not yet sold his cows: “the buyers here are endeavoring to get stock at almost nothing, taking advantage of the disturbances in the country.” He adds that many local citizens plan to leave the area because of the current turmoil.
Date: January 15, 1865

Title: Diary of Dr. J.H.P. Baker
Description: This is an excerpt from the diary of Dr. J.H.P. Baker, an army doctor working under the command of Gen. Joseph O. Shelby. The entries included here are from October 10-27, 1864. Baker discusses conscription, bushwhackers, travelling across Missouri, and marching to Price’s headquarters. He mentions the Battle of Boonville, the Second Battle of Lexington, the Battle of the Big Blue, the Second Battle of Independence, the Battle of Westport, and the Battle of Cedar Creek.
Object Type: Diary
Date: October 10, 1864-October 27, 1864

Title: From O.H.P. Craig to A.M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated April 25, 1861, is from O.H.P. Craig in St. Joseph, Missouri to Alex M. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri. Craig announces, “We have nothing here, but War! War!” He reports that local business has stagnated and that everyone is eager for news about the war. He also mentions that he recently returned from a trip to St. Louis and that residents there are full of “excitement and alarm.”
Date: April 25, 1861

Title: From Lisbon Applegate to William Heryford, Jr.
Description: This letter, dated November 25, 1864, is from Lisbon Applegate in Keytesville, Chariton County, Missouri, to William Heryford, Jr. He informs Heryford that his hogs are “left in a bad fix” because “the negro boy Cyrus who was left by you to attend to them was this week taken away by the soldiers (his master having gone off with Price).” Applegate also reports the death of Heryford’s uncle and the shooting of a mutual friend, John R. Hyde.
Date: November 25, 1864

Title: From A.M. Bedford to Mrs. Mary E. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated April 11, 1864, is from Lieut. Alex M. Bedford to his wife, Mary E. Bedford, in Savannah, Missouri. Bedford, stationed at the Officers Camp in Point Lookout, Maryland, writes about recent travel and assures his wife that he is in good health. He asks her about her home life, their farm, and their neighbors, and he warns her to “be careful how you talk to anyone.”
Date: April 11, 1864

Title: From M.E. Bedford to A.M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated June 12, 1864, is from Mary E. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri to her husband, Lieut. Alex M. Bedford. Mary shares news of a mutual acquaintance, and of their home and farm. She reports that a Mr. Leneer was executed in Savannah after serving two years in prison for burning the railroad. She tells her husband that she has sent him clothing, and complains that he has been away from home for nearly three years.
Object Type: Letter
Date: June 12, 1864

Title: From Mary E. Bedford to A.M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated June 13, 1863, is from Mary E. Bedford to her husband, Lieut. Alex M. Bedford. She states that she sent him $30 and asks if he needs more money or clothing. She also reports that she has rented out her farm and that she might spend the summer visiting relatives in Kentucky. She asks her husband if she would be permitted to visit him.
Date: June 13, 1863

Title: From Mary E. Bedford to Alex M. Bedford
Description: On August 11, 1863, Mary E. Bedford writes from her home to her husband, Alex M. Bedford. Mary says that she has not yet received her permit to visit him, and writes that she hopes the war will soon end. She says that she is ready to go to Kentucky to stay with relatives, because although “times are better hear now…the Lord only knows how long [they] may stay so.” Mary also informs Alex that Cousin Oscar is in Tennessee serving in General Wheeler’s army.
Date: August 11, 1863

Title: An Abolition Trick Exposed!
Description: This broadside was written by B.F. Stringfellow in Platte County, Missouri on August 7, 1854. Stringfellow denies H. Miles Moore’s accusation that he declared that all men who labor for a living are slaves. He accuses Moore of being an abolitionist, a Freesoiler, and a “white slave.” The broadside includes statements by people who witnessed an argument between Stringfellow and Moore, and a statement signed by 22 citizens who denied that Stringfellow ever called laborers slaves.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: August 2, 1854-August 7, 1854

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father, Mother, and Boys Great and Small
Description: On October 18, 1854, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to “Father, Mother, and boys great and small.” Starr reports that the newly-formed Self Defensive Association of Platte County, Missouri has begun to "rid the country of all pests,” including “Emigrant Aid Societies, Abolitionists and free soilers.” Starr calls the Association a “mob society,” and says they have already arrested two men, ordered all free blacks to leave the area, and established a night patrol to secure slaves and “catch the Abolitionists.” Starr adds that he refused to sign the Association’s resolutions when invited to do so.
Object Type: Letter
Date: October 18, 1854

Title: Kansas Election! Qualification of Voters
Description: This broadside, printed ca. March 1855, includes a copy of an oath that all judges are ordered to take before presiding over an upcoming election in Kansas. The oath, written by Gov. Reeder, states that the judges will keep an accurate record of voters and will not allow non-residents to vote. The unsigned author of the broadside criticizes Reeder’s wording, questions his intentions, and challenges the legality of Reeder’s order for voters to prove their residency.

Title: Oath of Loyalty of George P. Hedrick
Description: This document establishes that George P. Hedrick has taken an oath of loyalty to the United States and to the state of Missouri. Hedrick declares that “I have not, during the present rebellion, willfully taken up arms, or levied war against the United States, nor against the provisional government of the state of Missouri.” The oath is dated October 29, 1862 and is signed by Hedrick and a clerk.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 29, 1862

Title: From Frederick Starr to Unknown
Description: On December 29, 1854, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to an unknown recipient. He writes about attending a meeting of the Platte County, Missouri Self Defensive Association, which he began describing in a previous letter. Starr recounts that the Association accused him of several offenses, including allowing a slave to ride in his buggy on July 4. Starr explains how the situation came about and notes that many of the Association’s members often ride with their own slaves in their buggys.
Date: December 29, 1854

Title: From Frederick Starr to Unknown
Description: This ca. April 1855 letter was written by Frederick Starr to an unknown recipient, possibly his father. Starr says that he plans to leave Weston, Missouri within 3 or 4 weeks, because “We are in the midst of terrible times again…The ballot box is violated[,] the press overthrown, the church denounced[,] surely pro slavery powers are making great advances.” Starr states that the printing press owned by Park and Patterson in Parkville, Missouri was thrown into the river, and the men were ordered to leave the state.

Title: From George Applegate to Dear Father
Description: This letter, dated October 15, 1865, is from George Applegate in Lisbon, California to his father in Missouri. He sympathizes with his father, who has “escaped the Horrors + casualties of war,” and assures him that “had I been in Missouri [I] would not have hesitated to go for the rights of sovereign states against abolition usurpation.” He also complains that the local economy has suffered since the war began and that his debt has increased significantly.
Object Type: Letter
Date: October 15, 1865

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

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