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Title: "An Abolition Trick Exposed!" Eh?
Description: This broadside was published by H. Miles Moore, a writer for the Weston Reporter in Platte County, Missouri, on August 12, 1854. Moore responds to B.F. Stringfellow’s accusations that he is a Freesoiler and “the secret tool of abolitionists.” He angrily denies the charges and claims to despise abolitionists. He includes a letter, signed by 17 other Platte County citizens, that accuses Stringfellow of publicly stating that “all who labor for their daily bread . . . are slaves” and “all females who labor for their daily bread are whores.”
Object Type: Broadside
Date: August 12, 1854

Title: Report of the Secretary of War
Description: This is Executive Document No. 50, 2nd Session, 33rd Congress, presented to the Senate on February 14, 1855 by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. The report contains copies of correspondence “respecting a claim advanced by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the military reservation at Fort Leavenworth; together with the result of his investigation of the alleged interference of certain army officers…with the rights of the Delaware Indians.”
Object Type: Government Document
Date: February 14, 1855

Title: From Mary C. Irvine to Mr. Bohart
Description: On September 13, 1863, Mary C. Irvine writes to Mr. Bohart. Mary thanks Bohart for sending news of her son, who was wounded at Champion Hill. She asks Bohart to tell her son that many changes have taken place in the neighborhood, such as the escape of local slaves to Kansas: "Mr. Bedford's negroes have run off and took about $500 worth of horses with them." Mary adds that many of their neighbors are relocating to different states including Kentucky and Illinois, and that it would not be safe for her son to return home now.
Date: September 13, 1863

Title: From Alex M. Bedford to Mary E. Bedford
Description: On November 11, 1864, Alex M. Bedford writes from Fort Pulaski, off Savannah, Georgia, to his wife Mary E. Bedford in Savannah, Andrew County, Missouri. Alex says he has not been exchanged yet and fears there is no chance of it happening soon, although he is pleased with the move to Fort Pulaski. He tells Mary that his bunkmate is Lt. David Bronaugh of Clay County, Missouri, whose cousin Miss F.A. Bronaugh lives in Barry, Clay County. Alex tells Mary that Miss Bronaugh may soon write to her and that she can get news of him through contact with her.
Date: November 11, 1864

Title: From Mary E. Bedford to A.M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated March 8, 1864, is from Mary E. Bedford to her husband, Lieut. A.M. Bedford, who is at the military hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland. Mary reports that she has just arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri after visiting relatives and friends in Kentucky. She expresses hope that her husband will soon be able to return home. She encourages him to write letters to his relatives, and offers to send him money.
Object Type: Letter
Date: March 8, 1864

Title: From W.J. Clasbey to Alex M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated August 13, 1865, was written by W.J. Clasbey in Nebraska City, Nebraska Territory, to his brother-in-law, Alex M. Bedford. Clasbey congratulates Bedford on returning home to his family “after four long, dark, wearisome years of strife and suffering.” Clasbey suggests that they “look back upon these unfruitful years not with feelings of regret…but with pleasing emotions and gratitude to Kind Providence.” Clasbey reports that he recently met their old friend Jeff Patton, who “had become sick in consequence” of taking the Oath of Loyalty.
Object Type: Letter
Date: August 13, 1865

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