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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: From J.W. Black to A. Comingo
Description: On December 14, 1863, J.W. Black, Deputy Provost Marshal for Ray County, Missouri, writes from Richmond, Missouri to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal for the 6th District of Missouri, in Lexington, Missouri. Black thanks Comingo for securing his new appointment as Recruiting Agent. He says he assumes Comingo is "annoyed very much with persons from our side of the river applying to you to be stricken from the enrollment list," and reports that he has already prevented many men from doing so.
Date: December 14, 1863

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: Discharge Papers of Lawrence Shannon
Description: This document certifies that Lawrence Shannon was discharged from the United States military on October 29, 1861 in St. Joseph, Missouri. The document describes Shannon as a 30-year old stone mason from Ireland. It states that Shannon was captured during the Battle of Lexington and mustered out of service per General Order No. 13. The document is signed by Capt. William Millar and Maj. R.T. Van Horn.
Date: October 29, 1861

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