Civil War

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: On July 29, 1863, John A. Bushnell writes a letter to Eugenia Bronaugh in Calhoun, Missouri, informing her that he has arrived in St. Louis. He had planned to apply for exemption from military service during his trip to St. Louis, but has discovered that he must apply to the Board of Enrollment in his home district. He says he hopes to familiarize himself with news of the war, which has been difficult to do in Calhoun: “as now is a critical period of the times I can perhaps inform myself better here than at home.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 29, 1863

Title: Petition from N.J. Chaney & Others
Description: This petition was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on January 7, 1859 by N.J. Chaney and 12 other citizens of West Point, Bates County, Missouri. The petitioners request that Dr. Thomas J.B. Rockwell be appointed as surgeon for the Missouri Militia companies serving in Bates County “and in adjoining counties of the border.” Among the petition’s signatories are U.S. Deputy Marshal Andrew J. Russell and Bates County Sherriff John W. Cline.
Object Type: Petition
Date: January 7, 1859

Title: Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry Daily Schedule
Description: By order of Major Edward B. Eno, Lt. William S. Gibbs lists the daily schedule for Missouri State Militia 8th Cavalry.
Date: April 9, 1863

Title: Report of the Secretary of War
Description: This is Executive Document No. 50, 2nd Session, 33rd Congress, presented to the Senate on February 14, 1855 by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. The report contains copies of correspondence “respecting a claim advanced by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the military reservation at Fort Leavenworth; together with the result of his investigation of the alleged interference of certain army officers…with the rights of the Delaware Indians.”
Object Type: Government Document
Date: February 14, 1855

Title: From Edward Fitch to Mr. Editor
Description: This letter, dated July 4, 1856, is from Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas to the editor of the Hopkinton (MA) Patriot. Fitch states that the Free State Legislature was supposed to convene that day in Topeka, but Colonel Sumner arrived with armed troops and, under orders from Washington, commanded everyone to leave. Fitch declares that “unless the North awakes and men (not fools) are placed in the Presidential chair this fall, Civil War must follow.” He also discusses a group of women who, in response to local rum selling, "took possession of the Liquor, which they spilled without mercy." He signs the letter “Yours for Free men, Free speech, Free Kansas, and Fre-mont.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: Release From Arrest
Description: This document exonerates ten men who were charged with conspiracy to assassinate military officers at a post in Brunswick, Missouri. The document is dated November 29, 1862 and is signed by Brig. Gen. Richard C. Vaughan at the 6th Military District Headquarters in Lexington, Missouri. Vaughan states, “I have examined all the testimony . . . there is no foundation in truth for the charge against them.”
Date: November 29, 1862

Title: 1860 Presidential Election Returns from Holt County, Missouri
Description: This document presents the election returns from Holt County, Missouri for the Presidential election held on November 6, 1860: Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson received 453 votes; John Bell and Edward Everett received 348 votes; Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin received 202 votes; and John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane received 171 votes. On November 9, James Scott, Clerk of the Holt County Court, certifies the results and notes that Thomas Thoroughman received 313 votes for Circuit Attorney with no opposition.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 6, 1860

Title: Preston B. Plumb
Description: A Portrait of Preston B. Plumb, Senator of Kansas.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1865-1880

Title: Application of George Anderson
Description: This is George Anderson’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Robert. The documents, dated December 30 and 31, 1866, include an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Anderson lawfully obtained his slave, and the signatures of two witnesses and a notary public. The application was filed by Anderson’s attorney, John M. Richardson, in Pettis County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 30, 1866-December 31, 1866

Title: Examination of David M. Morris
Description: This is David M. Morris's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Morris, a 49-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that during the Civil War he demonstrated his loyalty to the United States Government by "staying at home" and "tending to my own business," as well as "feeding Federal soldiers." The oath, No. 12 in a bound volume, was signed by Morris in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Little Berry Stollings
Description: This is Little Berry Stollings's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Stollings, a 39-year-old Missouri native, states that he lives in Clay County, Missouri and was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862. The oath is No. 177 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Edward E. Dale
Description: This is Edward E. Dale's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Dale, a 34-year-old Missouri native, states that he was not required to give bond during the war. When asked which side he supported during the war, Dale replies, "I hardly know which I was. I believe I rather not answer that." The oath is No. 260 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Beecher "Bible & Rifle" Church, Wabaunsee, Wabaunsee County, KS
Description: This photograph, taken by Douglas McCleery for the 1958 Historic American Buildings Survey, shows the north facade of the Beecher "Bible and Rifle" Church, built during the Civil War in Wabaunsee, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.
Object Type: Image
Date: June 1958

Title: State vs. Thomas Brown
Description: These documents, created between 1855 and 1856, relate to the Jackson County, Missouri court case State vs. Thomas Brown. Brown is accused of attempting to take four slaves out of Missouri with the intention of procuring their freedom. The slaves were caught in DeKalb County, Missouri in November 1855; a witness recounts that “Brown stated he took those Negroes for the love he had for them.” In a signed statement dated November 28, 1855, Thomas Brown pleads guilty to the charges.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 25, 1855 - March 11, 1856

Title: From W.J. Marion to A. Comingo
Description: This dispatch, dated November 2, 1863, is from W.J. Marion to Capt. A. Comingo, Provost Marshal of the 6th district of Missouri. Marion, the editor of the Plattsburg American in Clinton County, Missouri, responds to Comingo's request for information about advertising in the newspaper.
Date: November 2, 1863

Title: From James Mooney to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on January 4, 1859 by Capt. James Mooney in West Point, Missouri to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Mooney describes several recent incidents of robbery, property destruction, and murder perpetrated against the citizens of Bates and Vernon Counties in Missouri by guerrillas from Kansas. Mooney states that a company of 100 men has been organized within the counties; he requests that the company be “properly armed and equipped” and accepted into the service of the state. The final page of the letter is an endorsement of Mooney’s statements by J.A. Pigg and four other men.
Date: January 4, 1859

Title: Examination of Charles Cunan
Description: This is Charles Cunan's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Cunan, a 21-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he served in the Federal military during the Civil War. The oath, labeled No. 58 in a bound volume, was signed by Cunan on September 29, 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: September 29, 1866

Title: Examination of Edward Withers
Description: In this document, Edward Withers, a 23-year-old resident of Clay County, Missouri, states that he does not know whether he truly remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. Clay County residents were required to declare their loyalty in order to vote. Withers signed the document in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Missouri State Militia List of Articles Lost or Destroyed
Description: This military document lists articles lost or destroyed in the public service in Forsythe, Missouri while in the possession of James J. Akard, Captain of Company "A", 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia in the month of December 1863.
Date: December 1863

Title: Republican Banner for 1860
Description: Republican Party banner for the 1860 Presidential campaign featuring Abraham Lincoln of Illinois for president and Hannibal Hamlin of Maine for vice president.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1860

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

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