Civil War

Title: Resolutions of the Kansas Territorial Legislative Assembly
Description: These documents comprise 14 separate resolutions of the Kansas Territorial Legislative Assembly, dated between 1858 and 1861. The resolutions address a variety of topics, including support for admitting Kansas into the Union as a state; revision of county and township laws; protection of American Indian land rights; and maintaining peace with Missouri by denouncing any attempt by Kansans to interfere with slavery.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1858-1861

Title: Pass for John F. Richards
Description: A Provost Marshall wartime pass for travel west of St. Louis to Kansas. It is for John Francisco Richards who was the founder and owner of the Richards and Conover Hardware Company. His hardware store started out in Leavenworth, KS in 1857 and then later he moved it to the building that is still standing at 5th and Wyandotte. The pass describes Richards as having brown hair, gray eyes, five feet and eight inches tall, and 27 years of age.
Object Type: Image
Date: October 31, 1861

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: John A. Bushnell writes a letter to Eugenia Bronaugh in Hickory Grove, Missouri on February 21, 22, and 23, 1864. He describes how local business in Calhoun, Missouri has suffered during wartime, stating that “some of our best citizens” have been forced to stop working or to leave town. He complains that his daily life used to be enjoyable, but now he cannot escape from “the eyes of the curious or idle.” He tells Eugenia that he wants to visit her, but is afraid of potential violence.
Date: February 21, 1864-February 23, 1864

Title: Examination of Lawrence Glenn
Description: This is Lawrence Glenn's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Glenn, who was born in Hungary and describes himself as a 31-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, states that during the Civil War he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States Government by "taking musket & and going into the field." The oath, No. 20 in a bound volume, was signed by Glenn in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Joseph Field
Description: This is Joseph Field's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Field, a 67-year-old Virginia native, states that he has lived in Missouri for 28 years and was never enrolled by the military authorities in 1862. The oath is No. 169 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Battle of Lookout Mountain
Description: Kurz & Allison lithograph of the Battle of Lookout Mountain, the second major battle of the Chattanooga Campaign.
Object Type: Image

Title: Henry W. Halleck
Description: Portrait of Union Major General Henry W. Halleck, facing right.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1860-1865

Title: William Gregg
Description: Charcoal portrait drawing of a bearded Captain William Gregg in jacket. Gregg was one of the first to join William Quantrill's gang in December 1861 and one of the first to leave (December 1863) when Quantrill began losing control of the bushwhackers. That same month Gregg joined General Joseph O. Shelby's brigade and was made a First Lieutenant in command of Company I. After the war, Gregg lived in Kansas City and became a deputy sheriff for Jackson County. He died at the age of 78 on April 22, 1916, in Kansas City and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.
Object Type: Image

Title: General Orders, No. 2
Description: Maj. Gen. John A. Halderman of the 1st Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment issued General Order No. 2 on November 17, 1862 at the Headquarters of the Northern Division of the Kansas State Militia in Leavenworth. Under the command of Gov. Robinson, Halderman orders the Militia to acquire an additional 500 troops to assist in defending northern Kansas.
Date: November 17, 1862

Title: View Looking Up Kansas River Towards Genl. Dietzlers House, 323 Miles West of St. Louis, MO
Description: Photograph taken on the banks of the Kansas River from 1867.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1867

Title: Joseph W. Emerson
Description: This carte de visite depicts Joseph W. Emerson, who served in the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph was produced ca. 1861-1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: Special Orders
Description: This order, issued by Brig. Gen. Thomas E. Ewing, commands John Poyntz, a resident of Cass County, Missouri, to leave the state until the end of the war. The document is written on official letterhead from the Headquarters of the District of the Border in Kansas City, Missouri. It is signed by Charles S. Hills, Captain and Acting Assistant Provost Marshal for the District of the Border, and dated September 19, 1863.
Date: September 19, 1863

Title: Examination of Jefferson Slide
Description: This is Jefferson Slide's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Slide, a 48-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he was born in Canada and remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. He claims that he "felt a little sorry for Old Mulligan" when Gen. Sterling Price captured Gen. Mulligan's army at Lexington, Missouri. The oath, labeled No. 53 in a bound volume, was signed by Slide in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Alexander Franklin (Frank) James
Description: Charcoal portrait of Frank James dressed in what appears to be a Confederate cavalry uniform. Frank James, the older brother of Jesse, first joined the Missouri State Guard, but later became a member of Quantrill's guerrillas. Frank took part in many Civil War battles and skirmishes, including the raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863, and the Centralia massacre. He surrendered at Samuel's Depot, Kentucky, at the end of the war. He was a member of the James-Younger gang and participated in numerous robberies, and although tried for some of these, was acquitted. He died of a stroke February 15, 1915. He is buried in the Hill family private cemetery near Kansas City.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: Gettysburg Address
Description: This is a facsimile of President Lincoln’s handwritten copy of the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln delivered the famous speech on November 19, 1863 at the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In his address, Lincoln memorializes the Battle of Gettysburg and declares that the Declaration of Independence guarantees the liberty and equality of all people. He concludes by proclaiming that the “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Object Type: Speech
Date: November 19, 1863

Title: 1860 Presidential Election Returns from Mercer County, Missouri
Description: This document presents the election returns from Mercer County, Missouri for the Presidential election held on November 6, 1860: Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson received 682 votes; John Bell and Edward Everett received 491 votes; John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane received 169 votes; and Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin received 80 votes. On November 10, R.R. Ballew, Clerk of the Mercer County Court, certified the results.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 10, 1860

Title: From Elizabeth S.C. Earl to Dear Brother
Description: This letter, dated September 22, 1863, is from Elizabeth S.C. Earl to her brother. Writing from Lawrence, Kansas, Earl describes Quantrill's Raid. She writes that Quantrill and 300 of his men invaded Lawrence at dawn and travelled from house to house knocking on doors: "when the men opened the door, they would shoot them down, and then rush in, and set fire to the house, threatening death to the women." Earl tells her brother, "You know nothing of the Horrors of this war."
Date: September 22, 1863

Title: Examination of Elisha Estes
Description: This is Elisha Estes's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Estes, who was born in Virginia and describes himself as a 53-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that during the Civil War he "staid at home and furnished soldiers something to eat." The oath, No. 17 in a bound volume, was signed by Estes in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Sue Brawner to All at Home
Description: This letter of July 24, 1859 is from Sue Brawner in Linneus, Missouri to “all at home.” She describes a recent trip from Lexington, Missouri to Linneus via the city of Brunswick. Along the way she and her traveling companions visited relatives. Sue writes of staying with Tom, a relative in Linneus who owns several slaves: “They have a black girl as large as I am.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 24, 1859

Title: From Z.M. Hadly to Edmund G. Ross
Description: This 1864 telegram was sent by Capt. Z.M. Hadly in Kansas City, Missouri, to Capt. Edmund G. Ross in Lawrence, Kansas. Hadly states that between 150 and 200 guerrillas crossed into Kansas the previous night, heading in the direction of Olathe, Kansas. Hadly reports that 350 cavalry were immediately dispatched from Kansas City to Olathe.
Object Type: Telegram
Date: 1864

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

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