Civil War

Title: Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, 1862
Description: This Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation to take effect on Janurary 1st, 1863, only granted freedom to slaves residing in states in active rebellion. The document is so conditional that Union captured counties or cities of seceded states such as New Orleans were not subject to this Proclamation.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 22, 1862

Title: Henry Barnes, Henry Boothe, Fox Winne, and N.D. Horton
Description: This 1863 black and white photograph depicts four soldiers: Henry Barnes, Henry Boothe, Fox Winne, and N.D. Horton. All four were enrolled in Company G, Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1863

Title: Battle of the Big Blue
Description: Benjamin D. Mileham painting of the Battle of the Big Blue, which occurred in Jackson County, Missouri, on October 22, 1864.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1896

Title: Unidentified Guerrilla
Description: Charcoal portrait of man in typical guerrilla overshirt, wearing a hat with a plume, and holding two crossed pistols. Drawing is signed by the artist with "93" immediately below the signature.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: Examination of Edward P. Pickett
Description: This is Edward P. Pickett's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Pickett, a 21-year-old Missouri native, states that he manifested his loyalty during the war by "staying at home and obeying the laws." The oath is No. 229 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Soldier, Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This carte de visite depicts an unidentified member of the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph was produced ca. 1861-1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: Statement of C.W. Babcock
Description: This is C.W. Babcock’s sworn statement to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Dated October 11, 1856, the statement claims that a man named Castleman, posing as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, unlawfully arrested Babcock in Topeka, forcibly moved him to Lecompton, and held him there for three hours.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 11, 1856

Title: Examination of William H. Wymore
Description: This is William H. Wymore's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Wymore describes himself as a 51-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri who was born in Kentucky. He states that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War, and that Col. Penick required him to give bond to prove his loyalty. The oath, labeled No. 113, was signed by Wymore in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Advertisement for Slave Auction
Description: In this press release for an advertisement, Theodore Duncan announces that there will be a public auction on April 25th, 1859 in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri for the sale of ten slaves, that were previously owned by the estate of William Duncan. Each slave's name, sex, and age are listed and range from two to 53 years of age.
Object Type: Circular
Date: March 23, 1859

Title: Thomas Ewing
Description: Black and white portrait of Thomas Ewing, Jr., Union Army general in command of the District of the Border during the Civil War. In addition to commanding Union forces in several notable battles, Ewing was responsible for issuing General Order No. 11, which expelled southern sympathizers from four Missouri counties in an effort to suppress bushwhackers in the region.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Lucie Davis to John Pigg
Description: This letter, dated September 15, 1864, is from Lucie Davis in Clay County, Missouri to John Pigg. Davis tells Pigg that her mother died after a long illness. She also tells him that Louis Vandiver was moved from a prison in St. Joseph, Missouri to one in St. Louis. Davis predicts that “The bushwhackers are about to take this country,” and adds that they robbed the mail in Clay County and had a fight near Fredericksburg.
Date: September 15, 1864

Title: Examination of A.S. Davidson
Description: This is A.S. Davidson's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Davidson, a 48-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that he was born in Kentucky and that he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States during the Civil War "by obeying the laws." The oath, labeled No. 79 in a bound volume, was signed by Davidson in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From James Montgomery to Capt. Fail
Description: This is a copy of a letter written on August 13, 1859 by James Montgomery in Barnesville, Kansas, to Capt. Fail. Montgomery tells Fail he believes “there is an armed force in your vicinity. If this is so we would respectfully ask an explanation of the object for which they are assembled.” Montgomery adds that a group of Kansas citizens met and resolved “that the kidnapping of Wm. Wright (alias Pickles) is an outrage…we therefore demand his immediate return to his home in the Territory.” Capt. James McCool, Company D, Missouri Volunteers, certifies that the document is a true copy of the original letter.
Date: August 13, 1859

Title: 13th Amendment Print
Description: Commemorative print of the congressional resolution for the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1868

Title: Examination of Jesse E. Bryant
Description: This is Jesse E. Bryant's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Bryant, a 57-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that he was born in Kentucky and that he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States Government during the Civil War by counseling others "not to go into Rebellion." The oath, labeled No. 89 in a bound volume, was signed by Bryant on October 6, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: October 6, 1866

Title: Examination of Henry Hensen
Description: This is Henry Hensen's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Hensen, a 59-year-old native of Germany, states that he has lived in Missouri for 27 years and currently resides in Clay County, Missouri. The oath is No. 193 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Map Showing the Lands Assigned to Emigrant Indians West of Arkansas and Missouri
Description: This 1836 black-and-white map depicts the lands assigned to emigrant Indians west of Arkansas and Missouri. The map was printed by Bowen and Co. Lithographers of Philadelphia.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1836

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written on August 19, 1860 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella describes her journey to Grafton via boat and train with her son Charles and daughter Ada. She says there will soon be a great gathering in Oberlin but expresses reluctance to attend: “I have been so long away from such refined & stilish society that I feel a shrinking from it. Marian thinks I have grown old very fast.”
Date: August 19, 1860

Title: From J.T. Brown to Mrs. Martha Peak
Description: This letter, dated October 7, 1861, was written by J.T. Brown to Mrs. Martha Peak. “In view of the troubles of the Country and the Danger that some suppose Negro Property to be in,” J.T. reluctantly agrees to let Mrs. Peak borrow his slave for the rest of the year, provided she pays him for the “trouble and sacrifice I will have to make.”
Date: October 7, 1861

Title: Joseph O. Shelby
Description: Black and white portrait of Joseph Orville Shelby seated with open coat.
Object Type: Image

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

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