Civil War

Title: Emancipation Proclamation
Description: Commemorative lithograph celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Thomas Sherwood to Friend Woodward
Description: This letter, dated July 5, 1855, is from Thomas Sherwood in Squaws Leg City to his friend Woodward. Sherwood says that he has just left Pawnee, Kansas, where the Legislature is now in session, and mentions that the Legislature might move to the Shawnee Methodist Mission. He describes a conflict between Kansas Gov. Andrew Reeder and Benjamin Stringfellow, which began when Reeder accused Stringfellow, a Missourian, of voting illegally in Kansas.
Date: July 5, 1855

Title: From M.C. Goodlett to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated January 5, 1859, was written by M.C. Goodlett in the Senate Chamber, Jefferson City, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Goodlett states that he received a letter from a newly-formed military company in Johnson County, Missouri, tendering its services to the Governor. Goodlett says that he personally knows all the officers and soldiers of the Johnson Guards and hopes that Stewart will call on them “to assist in driving back the Plundering Murdering Horde” of Kansas outlaws.
Date: January 5, 1859

Title: John C. Fremont Campaign Poster
Description: Proof for a large woodcut campaign banner or poster for John C. Fremont, Republican presidential contender in 1856. Fremont is shown in full-length on a mountain peak, planting an American flag. He is clad in fringed trousers and military coat and waves a visored cap in the air. Below, at right, are a bearded trapper or fellow explorer and a Mexican wearing a wide-brimmed hat. An eagle soars in the air beyond them. This scene is no doubt intended to evoke heroic memories of Fremont's famous exploring expeditions to the Rocky Mountains in 1842 and 1843.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of David Roberts
Description: This is David Roberts's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Roberts, a 50-year-old Kentucky native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 40 years. When asked if he "openly expressed a desire for the success of the Govt" during the war, Roberts answers, "I don't know as I can say that. I have been very careful about saying anything." The oath is No. 199 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation Before the Cabinet
Description: Print of F.B. Carpenter's painting of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation on July 22, 1862.
Object Type: Image

Title: Plat of Dayton Township, Cass County, Missouri
Description: Plat of Dayton Township, Cass County, Missouri which includes the settlement of Dayton, Missouri. On New Year's Day of 1862, jayhawkers under the command of Charles R. Jennison raided Dayton as it had gained a reputation as an enclave for Southern sympathizers.
Date: 1877

Title: From Thornton Grimsley to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter, dated November 23, 1860, is from Thornton Grimsley in St. Louis, Missouri to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Grimsley writes that he is a member of the Constitutional Guards, a new political organization formed in preparation for city elections in St. Louis. Their object, he states, is to “wipe out black republicanism.” He also offers the services of 700-1,000 men for any military service the state might need.
Date: November 23, 1860

Title: From Joseph Moore to Hugh Fisher
Description: Joseph Moore writes a letter from Marysville, Kansas to Rev. Hugh D. Fisher on August 8, 1863. Moore requests that Fisher send African Americans to work in Marshall County: “I understand you have charge of all the contrabands at Leavenworth, hence I write to you requesting you to send me a stout negro man. Quite a number could get good steady employment here at good wages.”
Date: August 8, 1863

Title: From Thomas P. Akers to Hamilton Gamble
Description: On September 12, 1862, Thomas P. Akers writes from Kansas City, Missouri to Missouri Governor Hamilton Gamble in St. Louis. Akers, a former Missouri Congressmen who opposed secession, states that when he returned to Lexington, Missouri after a year's absence, his wife and children were forcibly removed from their home and his father-in-law was arrested and imprisoned under false charges. Fearing arrest, Akers seeks Gamble's permission to peacefully resolve his affairs in Lexington before leaving the state.
Date: September 12, 1862

Title: From Israel B. Donalson to John W. Geary
Description: U.S. Marshal Israel B. Donalson writes a letter from Tecumseh, Kansas to Gov. John W. Geary on November 24, 1856. He asks Geary to send troops to Shawnee County to aid him in making arrests of approximately 20 people. Donalson says that some of the suspects are 100 miles away, and he estimates that it will take eight to ten days to find them and bring them back.
Object Type: Letter
Date: November 24, 1856

Title: Examination of A.R. Patrick
Description: This is A.R. Patrick's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Patrick, 33, states that he has resided in Missouri for 29 years and manifested his loyalty during the war by helping "in the Court House at one time." He says that upon hearing of the Federal defeat at Bull Run in 1861, "I remarked that it was a terrible thing." The oath is No. 206 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of James McKernin
Description: This is James McKernin's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. McKernin, a 50-year-old native of Ireland, states that he has resided in Missouri for 16 years and was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862. The oath is No. 151 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Augustus Wattles
Description: A photograph of Augustus Wattles, abolitionist and founder of the Free-State town of Moneka, in Linn County, Kansas.
Object Type: Image

Title: Map Depicting Land Surveying Activity in Kansas and Nebraska
Description: This black-and-white map, ca. 1854-1861, depicts land surveying activity in eastern Kansas and Nebraska Territories.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1854-1861

Title: New York Draft Riots
Description: Two engravings of the 1863 New York Draft Riots, which appeared in The Illustrated London News of August 15, 1863. The illustrations depicts the "Destruction of the Couloured Orphan Asylum" and the "Conflict between the Military and the Rioters in First-Avenue".
Object Type: Image
Date: August 15, 1863

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: Harriet Tubman
Description: Harriet Tubman, full-length portrait, standing with hands on back of a chair. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery and then returned to the South 19 times to escort over 300 slaves to freedom.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of Samuel Hays
Description: This is Samuel Hays's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Hays, a 28-year-old Virginia native, states that he has lived in Missouri for seven years and served in the militia for two years during the war. The oath is No. 258 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Benjamin F. Stringfellow
Description: Portrait of Benjamin Stringfellow, attorney and pro-slavery activist. In 1838, Stringfellow settled in Missouri, where he served in the house of representatives, and was attorney general for four years. After moving to Weston, Missouri, he became a member and officer of the Platte County Self-Defensive Association (an aggressive pro-slavery organization). He wrote a pamphlet entitled "Negro Slavery No Evil, or the North and the South." In 1858, Stringfellow moved to Atchison, Kansas Territory, where he helped build the town and was an attorney for the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

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

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