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Title: 1860 Presidential Election Returns from Putnam County, Missouri
Description: This document presents the election returns from Putnam County, Missouri for the Presidential election held on November 6, 1860: John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane received 287 votes; Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson received 107 votes; John Bell and Edward Everett received 62 votes; and Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin received 7 votes. On November 7, the Clerk of the Putnam County Court certified the results.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 7, 1860

Title: Findings of the Grand Jury in Relation to the Herald of Freedom, Kansas Free State, and Free State Hotel
Description: This document describes the findings of the Grand Jury, 1st District Court, Douglas County, Kansas, regarding the Herald of Freedom and Kansas Free State newspapers, and the Free State Hotel in Lawrence, Kansas. Concluding that the two newspapers are guilty of publishing “inflammatory and seditious” reports, and that the Free State Hotel is clearly intended to be a military stronghold, the Grand Jury recommends the newspapers’ “abatement,” and the hotel’s removal. The document, ca. 1854-1860, is signed by Owen C. Stewart, Grand Jury foreman.
Object Type: Legal Document

Title: Writ Relating to United States vs. James Lane, Wilson Shannon, and David S. McIntosh
Description: This writ, dated March 19, 1860, relates to the case Kansas Territory, U.S. District Court, 2nd District versus James H. Lane, Wilson Shannon, and David S. McIntosh for forfeited recognizance. The writ is signed by L. McArthur, Clerk of the Second U.S. District Court in Kansas Territory.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: March 19, 1860

Title: Slave Bill of Sale
Description: This slave bill of sale, dated March 31, 1860, is signed by Lafayette County sheriff John P. Bowman. Bowman attests that he sold a female slave and a slave boy named John to Nathaniel Mitchell at auction on November 7, 1859. Mitchell paid $400 for the female slave and $150 for John.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: March 31, 1860

Title: John C. Caldwell vs. Richard H. Porter
Description: These documents, created between 1855 and 1857, relate to the Jackson County, Missouri court case John C. Caldwell vs. Richard H. Porter. On January 1, 1855, Caldwell purchased a slave named Eliza for $800 from slave dealer Clifton R. Barnes with plans to sell her for a profit in Louisiana. Caldwell later discovered that Eliza was “unsound both in body and mind” and accused Barnes of “fraud and wilfull misrepresentation.” Caldwell took Eliza back to Missouri but Barnes refused to rescind the sales contract.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: 1855-1857

Title: 1860 Circuit Attorney Election Returns from Saline County, Missouri
Description: This document presents the election returns from Saline County, Missouri for the circuit attorney election held on November 6, 1860: Jonathan C. Royle received 889 votes and John W. Bryant received 845 votes. On November 7, Jesse Davis, Clerk of the Saline County Court, certified the results.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 7, 1860

Title: Emancipation of Eliza Jane
Description: These documents include the bill of sale and the letter of emancipation for a slave, Eliza Jane. The bill of sale, signed and dated December 5, 1844 by Alexander Duncan, confers Eliza Jane and two other slaves to Jeremiah and Nancy Smith of Nodaway County, Missouri for the sum of $550. The letter of emancipation is signed and dated August 31, 1863 by Jeremiah and Nancy Smith. It states that the Smiths “forever set FREE a certain Woman of color, named Eliza Jane, aged twenty-five years.”
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 5, 1844 and August 31, 1863

Title: Sale of Slave
Description: This document declares the $800 sale of a male slave named Pleasant from Nathan C. Skinner of Stewart County, Tennessee to Jesse L. Ingram of St. Joseph, Missouri on February 22, 1855. Skinner promises that the slave is "sound, healthy, sensible, and a slave for life."
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: February 22, 1855

Title: Affidavit of Henry E. McKee
Description: This is the sworn affidavit of Henry E. McKee, signed by Kansas Gov. John W. Geary on October 4, 1856. McKee claims that on October 2, he witnessed H. Miles Moore enter the American Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, where eight men captured him. They took Moore to Wyandotte, Kansas and “unlawfully imprisoned” him there, McKee says. He adds that if Moore does not receive help soon, “his life is in great hazard and will be sacrificed.”
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 4, 1856

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

Title: Contract for Hire
Description: In this document, dated December 30, 1859, T.F. Prewitt promises to pay Lisbon Applegate $50, plus interest, for “the hire of a negro girl named Ellen.” Prewitt promises to take care of her, pay the requisite taxes, and to return her on December 25, 1860.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 30, 1859

Title: Territory of Kansas vs. Charles Robinson
Description: These are legal documents filed in the 1857 case of the Territory of Kansas vs. Charles Robinson for the charge of usurpation of office. They include the official indictment, witness subpoenas, a motion to quash the charges, and a summary of grand jury testimony. Also included is a warrant for the arrest of Charles Robinson; addressed to the Sheriff of Douglas County, Kansas, it reads: “You are hereby commanded to arrest Charles Robinson, and have his body before the Judge of the First District Court . . . to answer an indictment found against him for unlawfully assuming and taking upon himself the Office of Governor of the Territory of Kansas.”
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: 1857

Title: 1860 Presidential Election Returns from Holt County, Missouri
Description: This document presents the election returns from Holt County, Missouri for the Presidential election held on November 6, 1860: Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson received 453 votes; John Bell and Edward Everett received 348 votes; Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin received 202 votes; and John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane received 171 votes. On November 9, James Scott, Clerk of the Holt County Court, certifies the results and notes that Thomas Thoroughman received 313 votes for Circuit Attorney with no opposition.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 6, 1860

Title: State vs. Thomas Brown
Description: These documents, created between 1855 and 1856, relate to the Jackson County, Missouri court case State vs. Thomas Brown. Brown is accused of attempting to take four slaves out of Missouri with the intention of procuring their freedom. The slaves were caught in DeKalb County, Missouri in November 1855; a witness recounts that “Brown stated he took those Negroes for the love he had for them.” In a signed statement dated November 28, 1855, Thomas Brown pleads guilty to the charges.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 25, 1855 - March 11, 1856

Title: Slave Hire
Description: In this document, James Lawrence and W.W. Walter promise to pay Hugh G. Rees sixty dollars for the hire of a 15-year-old female slave named Nancy. Lawrence and Walter agree to “treat the said girl humanely…and not take her out of the State of MO.” The two men promise to return Nancy to Rees on January 1, 1856.
Object Type: Legal Document

Title: Deed of Emancipation of William Swinney's Slaves
Description: This legal document, dated August 18, 1863, sets terms for emancipating the slaves belonging to the late William D. Swinney of Howard County, Missouri. It was prepared and signed by James O. Swinney and William Morrison, executors of his last will and testament. An attached document, signed by L.H. Swinney, James O. Swinney, and William Morrison, states that the three signers agree to pay the cost to convey all of William Swinney's former slaves out of Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: August 18, 1863

Title: Contract for Hire of Slaves
Description: This contract states that William D. Swinney and James O. Swinney will pay Mrs. Mary Enyart $175 to hire two of her slaves, Margaret and David, for one year. The Swinneys promise to pay for the slaves' clothing and medical bills, noting that "Lost time from military violence or running away [will] be deducted from the hire." The contract was signed January 1, 1863 in Howard County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: January 1, 1863

Title: Deed of Emancipation of James O. Swinney's Slaves
Description: In this document, James O. Swinney announces that he will emancipate his slaves on January 1, 1864, "in view of the present condition of the institution of slavery." He adds that if he dies before that date, his brother-in-law, William Morrison, will be appointed as his trustee. This document was signed by Swinney and two witnesses, W.H. Savage and James C. Savage, in Howard County, Missouri, on September 4, 1863.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: September 4, 1863

Title: Wyllys C. Ransom vs. George C. Bingham
Description: These documents, created between 1866 and 1867, relate to the Jackson County, Missouri court case Wyllys C. Ransom vs. George C. Bingham. Ransom accuses Bingham of slander, asserting that Bingham publicly and repeatedly said he was a “murderer, robber, thief and a house burner” during the Civil War. Portions of testimony are from Ransom’s fellow officers in the Kansas Volunteers. Ransom seeks $30,000 in damages.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: 1866-1867

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

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