Civil War

Title: From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description: On January 15, 1864, Abishai Stowell writes from Fort Smith, Arkansas to his sister. Stowell reports that his company has just returned from escorting Gen. McNeil to Fayetteville, Arkansas; he expects they will soon be sent back to their regiment. He tells his sister the names of his company's officers, including Capt. John Johnston. Stowell also states that he belongs to the Veteran Corps.
Date: January 15, 1864

Title: Soldier, Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This sepia carte de visite, ca. 1861-1865, depicts an unidentified soldier who served in the Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The carte de visite was produced by R.H. Kimball & Company of Leavenworth, Kansas. Carte de visites were small photographs that were often used as calling cards and became very popular during the Civil War.
Object Type: Image

Title: Jewell Hall
Description: Illustration of Jewell Hall on the campus of William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri. The building was constructed in 1852, and temporarily housed Union soldiers during the Battle of Liberty.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Jane C. Tandy to My Dear Grand Mother
Description: This letter, dated October 22 and October 31, 1866, is from Jane C. Tandy to her grandmother. Tandy describes the tension between "conservatives" and "radicals" in Missouri following the Civil War. She reports that conservatives are taking the Oath of Loyalty to the United States Government required for Missouri voters, while the radicals are refusing.
Date: October 22, 1866 and October 31, 1866

Title: Captain Curtis and Soldiers, Fifteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
Description: This tintype photograph, taken ca. 1861-1865, depicts Capt. Oran Curtis (far left) and eight other members of the Fifteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, Company F. Curtis's son was Charles Curtis, 31st Vice President of the United States.
Object Type: Image

Title: Joseph S. Martin
Description: This sepia carte de visite depicts Joseph S. Martin, who served in the Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. The photograph, ca. 1861-1865, was produced by Armstead & White of Corinth, Mississippi.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Elizabeth Peery to George F. Peery
Description: On January 1, 1856, Elizabeth Peery writes a letter from Edinburgh, Missouri to George F. Peery. Elizabeth describes local festivities for the Christmas holiday, including a large party held by slaves. She reports that friends and family in the area are well, and recounts some of their recent activities. Elizabeth writes that she has a new baby boy, as yet unnamed; she asks George to suggest a name.
Date: January 1, 1856

Title: From E.P. Duncan to Mr. S. Wildbahn and Ransome Butler
Description: E.P. Duncan writes a letter from Desha County, Arkansas to Mr. S. Wildbahn and Ransome Butler on August 17, 1864. He tells them he has considered joining the army, and says his plans keep changing day to day “to suit the emergencies” as they present themselves. He states that he has heard a rumor that General Price will be moving his troops into Missouri, and predicts that it will be a big expedition.
Date: August 17, 1864

Title: From S.G. Cato to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated October 29, 1856, is from Judge S.G. Cato in Shawnee County, Kansas to Gov. John W. Geary. Cato reports on the judicial proceedings he has presided over as Associate Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. He lists the number of bills of indictment returned by grand juries in Anderson, Allen, Lykins, Bourbon, Franklin, and Shawnee counties, and reports that three criminal trials have been held in Bourbon County.
Date: October 29, 1856

Title: Jesse Hamlett
Description: Charcoal portrait of Jesse Hamlett (sometimes spelled Hamlet) in suit coat, vest, tie, and hat. Little is known about Jesse Hamlett. He appears to have served under William Anderson and was part of the Centralia, Missouri, September 27, 1864, massacre. He also may have been one of the U.S. Marshalls at Lexington, Missouri, after the war.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: Notice! to Abolitionists and Freesoilers of Weston
Description: This broadside calls on “The Abolitionists and Freesoilers of Weston and vicinity” to meet at the Weston, Missouri courthouse on September 1, 1854 at 7:00pm, “to adopt such measures as they may deem most proper and expedient, and best calculated to Counteract the Effect produced by some of the doings of some of the men connected with the ‘Platte County Self-Defensive Association.’” The broadside was issued by “Many Citizens” on September 1, 1854 in Weston.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: September 1, 1854

Title: Invoice of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores for 1864
Description: This military document is a collection of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores Invoices for the Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Regiment Company "A" that shows transfers of weapons and ammunition in between Colonel Joseph J. Gravely, Captain James J. Akard, Lieutenant J. H. Creighton, and Major John Cosgrove.
Date: 1864

Title: Home of John Wornall
Description: The home of John Wornall served as a field hospital for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Westport. It has since been restored and converted into a museum, at 6115 Wornall Road in Kansas City, Missouri
Object Type: Image
Date: October 2008

Title: From John M. Schofield to Thomas Carney
Description: This letter, written on the letterhead of Headquarters, Department of the Missouri and dated September 3, 1863, was sent by John M. Schofield in Kansas City, Missouri, to Kansas Governor Thomas Carney. Major General Schofield expresses his agreement with Gov. Carney on the necessity of preempting a potentially violent meeting in Paola, Kansas. Schofield states that he will issue an order preventing armed men not in the U.S. service from entering Missouri. He also accepts Carney’s offer of the services of the militia to help avert “any irregular action.”
Date: September 3, 1863

Title: From John Ordway to Dear Friend
Description: This letter, dated January 19, 1856, was written by John Ordway in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to a friend, presumably in Missouri. John inquires about the progress of the railroads in Missouri, explaining that the newspapers choose to focus on “the Kansas troubles” instead of Missouri’s “internal improvements.” Of political sentiment in Massachusetts, John writes: “The extreme men here are few but an antislavery feeling is universal and the Kansas difficulties have rather tended to give it deeper root.”
Date: January 19, 1856

Title: From J.M. Vincent to Thomas Carney
Description: This telegram, dated May 11, 1863, is from J.M. Vincent in Washington, D.C. to Kansas Gov. Thomas Carney. Vincent denies Carney’s request for authority to raise a Home Guard, and informs him that U.S. Secretary of War E.M. Stanton “does not wish to raise more negro regiments at present.”
Object Type: Telegram
Date: May 11, 1863

Title: From D.A.W. Morehouse to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on June 7, 1858 by D.A.W. Morehouse in Papinsville, Missouri, to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart in Jefferson City, Missouri. Morehouse refers to “the troubles on the border of the state touching Kansas,” and requests that a company of Rangers be stationed on the state line to protect local citizens. Morehouse asks Stewart for permission to organize such a company himself because he is "familiar with those characters Resident in the Territory."
Date: June 7, 1858

Title: John Brown
Description: Painting of John Brown by Ole Peter Hansen Balling, 1870.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1870

Title: Quarterly Return of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, 1864
Description: This military document is a return of ordnance and ordnance stores for Company "A" 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia under command of Captain James J. Akard for the fourth quarter of 1864.
Date: January 10, 1865

Title: Charles Ransford Jennison
Description: Photograph of Charles R. Jennison posing in fur hat, coat, and gloves, with his rifle, and a dog at his feet.
Object Type: Image

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

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