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Title: Map of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad
Description: Map of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, which was chartered in 1847 and completed in 1859. Map depicts northern Missouri and parts of Kansas and Illinois, showing rivers, settlements, railroads, and the land grant awarded to the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad.
Object Type: Map, Image

Title: General Orders, No. 34
Description: Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis issued General Order No. 34 from the Department of the Missouri Headquarters in St. Louis on May 4, 1863. The order details the proceedings of a recent Military Commission in St. Joseph, Missouri, where several citizens were tried for war crimes, including disloyal conduct, violation of the conduct of war, bearing arms against the Government, violation of the Oath of Allegiance, and disturbing the peace of Union men. The order was signed by Assistant Adjutant General A.V. Colburn.
Date: May 4, 1863

Title: Application of John Ramsey
Description: This is John Ramsey’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Thomas Jasper. The application, dated January 2, 1867, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: January 2, 1867

Title: From P.A. Thompson to William Fowler
Description: On November 27, 1864, P.A. Thompson writes from Rock Port, Missouri to Capt. William Fowler. Thompson states that two boys under the age of 19 have been drafted from Atchison County, Missouri, and asks whether affidavits from their parents attesting to their ages will exempt them from military duty.
Date: November 27, 1864

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: Letters Sent and Endorsements (Commissioner of Musters)
Description: This notebook contains copies of letters sent by Col. B.L.E. Bonneville, Commissioner of Musters, Department of the Missouri, between August 20, 1864 and July 1865. Correspondents include Capt. Ben Sharp, Assistant Commissioner of Musters in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Capt. John G. Quinn, Assistant Commissioner of Musters in Springfield, Missouri. Topics addressed in the correspondence include enrollment of recruits and muster rolls.
Date: August 20, 1864-July 1865

Title: Pass for W.L. Culver
Description: This document from the Office of the Provost Marshal in St. Joseph, Missouri grants permission to W.L. Culver to leave the city limits. It is signed December 13, 1861 by S. Hatch, Provost Marshal. The reverse side of the document shows a printed oath, signed by Culver, that declares loyalty to both the federal government and the provisional government of Missouri. It describes Culver as a 26 year old man with “red whiskers”.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: December 13, 1861

Title: From H.M. Rice to William Fowler
Description: On January 21, 1865, H.M. Rice, Deputy Provost Marshal, 7th District Missouri, writes from Albany, Missouri to Capt. William Fowler, Provost Marshal, 7th District Missouri. Rice states that he is forwarding the corrected enrollment lists for Gentry County, Missouri. He adds that "Negro Culp" has been seen in the area, possibly on his way to St. Joseph, Missouri "to give himself up." "I will get him if there is any chance," Rice concludes.
Date: January 21, 1865

Title: General Orders, No. 38
Description: Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis issued General Order No. 38 from the Department of the Missouri Headquarters in St. Louis on May 22, 1863. The order details the proceedings of recent Military Commissions in St. Joseph, St. Louis, and Springfield, Missouri, where citizens were tried for war crimes, including consorting with guerrillas and bushwhackers, killing United States soldiers from the Seventh Cavalry Regiment Missouri Volunteers, and encouraging rebellion against the government. The order was signed by Assistant Adjutant General A.V. Colburn.
Date: May 22, 1863

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 E.B. Alexander to William Fowler
Description: On August 8, 1863, Col. E.B. Alexander, Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General in St. Louis, writes to Capt. William Fowler, Provost Marshal for the 7th District of Missouri. Alexander reports that four "desperate" horse thieves have escaped from a court house in Iowa and are rumored to be in northern Missouri. He adds that one of the men, Washington Rodgers, is charged with enlisting men for the Confederate side "and is supposed to have been an active guerrilla in northern Missouri."
Date: August 8, 1863

Title: From E.S. Dulin to Jonathan B. Fuller
Description: This letter, dated March 12, 1863, is from E.S. Dulin, a pastor in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Jonathan B. Fuller, a pastor in Kansas City, Missouri. Dulin describes his community as "worn down" and tells Fuller that "our young men & all others that can are leaving to get rid of being 'Conscripted.'"
Date: March 12, 1863

Title: From J.A. Hay to Jonathan B. Fuller
Description: This letter is from J.A. Hay, the uncle of President Lincoln's private secretary, to Rev. Jonathan B. Fuller, a pastor in Kansas City, Missouri. Hay writes from St. Joseph, Missouri on January 30, 1863 and asks Fuller to visit a church in that town. He tells Fuller that the pastor supports the Union and mentions that he was "much gratified to hear brother Doulin make an earnest prayer for our Government."
Date: January 30, 1863

Title: Nebraska and Kanzas
Description: This color map, ca. 1854-1861, is entitled “Nebraska and Kanzas.” It was printed by J.H. Colton and Co. in New York.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1854-1861

Title: From A.J. Huntoon to My Dear Wife
Description: A.J. Huntoon writes a letter from Williamsport in Shawnee County, Kansas to his wife Lizzie, reporting that Rebels have fired at U.S. troops in Independence, Missouri. He adds that hundreds of Kansas troops have left Lawrence and Fort Leavenworth to assist U.S. troops in Kansas City and St. Joseph, Missouri. The letter, dated June 16 and 19, 1861, also mentions recent shootings in Leavenworth and Atchison, Kansas. Huntoon writes, “We may look for these as common occurrences in Kansas, for a while at least. All carry arms now . . . Men are paying out their last cent for them.”
Date: June 16, 1861-June 19, 1861

Title: Map Showing the Progress of the Public Surveys in Kansas and Nebraska
Description: This black-and-white map, signed by Mark W. Delahay, Surveyor General, was issued by the Surveyor General’s office in Leavenworth, Kansas on September 2, 1861. The map shows the progress of the public surveys in Kansas and Nebraska, and was produced to accompany the Surveyor General’s report of 1861.
Object Type: Map
Date: September 2, 1861

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