Civil War

Title: From Daniel Woodson to William P. Richardson
Description: This order, dated September 1, 1856, was sent by Acting Kansas Governor Daniel Woodson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Major General William P. Richardson, Kansas Militia, Northern Division. Woodson reminds Richardson that General Order No. 1, issued August 21, 1856, directed that all peaceable Kansas citizens and their property were to be protected regardless of their political views, and that no houses were to be destroyed unless they were proven to be used as forts or arsenals against the territorial government. Woodson directs Richardson to use the “severest penalties” against soldiers violating the order, and prohibits the burning of dwellings.
Date: September 1, 1856

Title: Examination of John C. Hall
Description: This is John C. Hall's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Hall, a 23-year-old Missouri native, states that he served in the militia during the war. He also says that he was enrolled by the military authorities as "disloyal" in 1862 and was required to give bond. The oath is No. 253 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Mary E. Bedford to A.M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated March 8, 1864, is from Mary E. Bedford to her husband, Lieut. A.M. Bedford, who is at the military hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland. Mary reports that she has just arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri after visiting relatives and friends in Kentucky. She expresses hope that her husband will soon be able to return home. She encourages him to write letters to his relatives, and offers to send him money.
Object Type: Letter
Date: March 8, 1864

Title: General Orders, No. 27
Description: Brig. Gen. James Totten and Maj. Lucien J. Barnes of the Missouri State Militia issued General Order No. 27 from the Headquarters of the Division of Central Missouri in Jefferson City on July 9, 1862. The order prohibited alcoholic beverages within the Division, except with special permit from the Provost Marshal General. The permit required applicants to certify that they were loyal citizens and that they would not furnish liquor to soldiers or disloyal citizens.
Date: July 9, 1862

Title: Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, Officer of the Federal Army
Description: Photograph of Major General Alfred Pleasonton.
Object Type: Image

Title: Examination of James T.V. Thompson
Description: This 1866 document attests that James T.V. Thompson, a 73-year-old resident of Liberty, Missouri, refused to sign an Oath of Loyalty to the United States following the Civil War. Thompson claims that he remained loyal during the war, and offers a pardon from President Johnson in lieu of taking the oath.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Eugenia Bronaugh to John A. Bushnell
Description: Eugenia Bronaugh writes a letter to John Bushnell in St. Louis on December 16, 1863. She tells him that the Kansas Delegation recently invaded her hometown of Hickory Grove, Missouri and stole property and recently-freed slaves from people whom they had determined were disloyal to the government. Eugenia complains that Christmas is around the corner and “yet great armies are in the field and among them my own dear Brothers.”
Date: December 16, 1863

Title: From W.J. Clasbey to Alex M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated August 13, 1865, was written by W.J. Clasbey in Nebraska City, Nebraska Territory, to his brother-in-law, Alex M. Bedford. Clasbey congratulates Bedford on returning home to his family “after four long, dark, wearisome years of strife and suffering.” Clasbey suggests that they “look back upon these unfruitful years not with feelings of regret…but with pleasing emotions and gratitude to Kind Providence.” Clasbey reports that he recently met their old friend Jeff Patton, who “had become sick in consequence” of taking the Oath of Loyalty.
Object Type: Letter
Date: August 13, 1865

Title: From George W. Collamore to William P. Dole
Description: This letter, dated April 21, 1862, is from George W. Collamore to Hon. William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Writing from Washington, DC, Collamore provides an account of his "recent visit to the Loyal Indians who were obliged to flee from their pursuers (the rebel Indians and Texans) in the dead of Winter and are now encamped on the Neosho River" in southern Kansas. Collamore states that these Indians, numbering about 8,000, have suffered and many have died from exposure and lack of food.
Date: April 21, 1862

Title: Examination of Haywood Colvin
Description: This is Haywood Colvin's 1866 Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Colvin, a 60-year-old Virginia native, states that he has resided in Missouri for seven years and was enrolled by the military authorities as "loyal" in 1862. The oath is No. 150 in a bound volume.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: Examination of Patrick Ryan
Description: This is Patrick Ryan's Oath of Loyalty to the United States. Ryan, who was born in Ireland and describes himself as a "45 or 50" year old resident of Liberty, Missouri, declares that he remained loyal to the United States Government during the Civil War. He states that "anything that I was asked to furnish I gave." The oath, No. 16 in a bound volume, was signed by Ryan in 1866.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: 1866

Title: From Florella Brown Adair and Ada Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This undated letter, ca. December 1862, was presumably written by Florella Brown Adair and Ada Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella writes that some local women have formed a benevolent society to raise funds for “buying land or fencing in ground for a general burying ground for the place.” Florella has attended only one of the society’s meetings and is not sure if she will attend their Christmas fundraising event. On the last page of the letter, Florella transcribes a message from her young daughter Ada to “Dear PaPa.”

Title: From Eugenia Bronaugh to John A. Bushnell
Description: On October 22, 1863, Eugenia Bronaugh writes a letter from Hickory Grove, Missouri to John A. Bushnell, who is away in St. Louis. Referring to herself in the third person, she claims to be a Union devotee. She recounts recent correspondence from her brothers, who fought in the Battle of Helena for the Federal army. She praises their bravery, and relates their descriptions of the “toil and hardships of war”.
Date: October 22, 1863

Title: Colonel Henry Theodore Titus
Description: Portrait of Colonel Henry Theodore Titus, undated.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Sacking of Lawrence
Description: This print, originally published in O. N. Merrill's 1856 publication of "True history of the Kansas wars, and their origin, progress and incidents", depicts the Sack of Lawrence in 1856 by Douglas County sheriff Samuel J. Jones.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1856

Title: From Jonathan B. Fuller to Dear Father
Description: On July 18, 1864, Jonathan B. Fuller writes from Kansas City, Missouri to his father. Fuller reports rumors of recent battles "across the river," and says that Platte City, Missouri may have been "burned to the ground by our own soldiers." He mentions his anxiety over mounting political tensions in his church, fearing that the congregation may split after the August 4 "Fast day" service.
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 18, 1864

Title: Deed of Emancipation of William Swinney's Slaves
Description: This legal document, dated August 18, 1863, sets terms for emancipating the slaves belonging to the late William D. Swinney of Howard County, Missouri. It was prepared and signed by James O. Swinney and William Morrison, executors of his last will and testament. An attached document, signed by L.H. Swinney, James O. Swinney, and William Morrison, states that the three signers agree to pay the cost to convey all of William Swinney's former slaves out of Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: August 18, 1863

Title: From Henry Van Horn to Robert Van Horn and Adela Van Horn
Description: This letter, dated May 9 - May 27, 1861, is from Henry Van Horn in Missouri to his son Robert and his wife Adela. Van Horn writes about the commencement of the War: "there is one Regiment ready to organize and march now and there is part of a second one forming." He also tells his family that an acquaintance, B.M. Warin, was killed when a threshing machine exploded.
Date: May 9, 1861-May 27, 1861

Title: From W.A. Bevis to Jonathan B. Fuller
Description: This letter, dated October 15, 1864, is from Capt. W.A. Bevis in Westport, Missouri to Rev. Jonathan B. Fuller. Bevis states his belief that the "threatened Troubles to this Part of the County" are over, and gives Fuller permission to resume his church services. The Battle of Westport occurred eight days later.
Date: October 15, 1864

Title: Affidavit of Peter Arnoldia
Description: This is Dr. Peter Arnoldia's affidavit concerning the August 1863 collapse of the women's military prison in Kansas City, Missouri. Arnoldia states that he had been in the building that housed the prison many times, including the day before it collapsed, and considered it safe and well constructed. The affidavit is dated September 12, 1863 and signed by Arnoldia and Philip S. Brown, Jackson County Notary Public.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: September 12, 1863

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

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