Civil War

21 to 40 of 102 Objects

In collections

Pages

Julia Louisa Hardy Lovejoy
Title
Julia Louisa Hardy Lovejoy
Description
Portrait of Julia Louisa Hardy Lovejoy. Lovejoy and her husband, Charles Haseltine Lovejoy, came to the Kansas Territory in 1855, where Rev. Lovejoy was the second traveling Methodist preacher in the territory. They built the first house on the Manhattan Town Company site, but moved to a farm near Baldwin, Kansas Territory, in 1857.
Object Type
Image
From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Title
From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description
On July 8, 1863, Abishai Stowell writes from Springfield, Missouri to his sister. Stowell says he was "heartily glad that the Rebels went into Pennsylvania," and predicts the war will soon come to an end. He tells his sister that his time in the U.S. service will expire in November 1864.
Date
July 8, 1863
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Title
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description
This letter was written on April 1, 2, and 8, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Greenfield, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella writes about going on a “calling & begging trip for Kansas” among friends in the area, and how she was disappointed to receive only $3.00 for her efforts. Florella discovered that many people had already given funds for Kansas to Mr. Stephenson, who managed to collect over $300.00 by representing himself as an acquaintance of John Brown.
Date
April 1, 1861-April 8, 1861
From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Title
From Abishai Stowell to "Dear Sister"
Description
On April 22, 1865, Abishai Stowell writes from Lewisburg, Arkansas to his sister. Stowell, a member of Co. B, 2nd Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, reports that "the prospect is good for me to go home in a few days for the war is just about ended." He says the assassination of President Lincoln "has caused a great deal of excitement here[,] the Union people feel the loss to be one that can never be repaid while the Secesh are overjoyed with the news."
Object Type
Letter
Date
April 22, 1865
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Title
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description
This letter was written on February 20, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella says that the citizens of York “held a meeting and raised over $80.00 for Kansas.” Florella adds that there are many misconceptions about sending relief funds to Kansas: “I could have sent two or three hundred dollars to our town, if it had not been for the idea that all must go through the hands of the committee at Atchison.”
Date
February 20, 1861
From Sara Robinson to Charles S. Gleed
Title
From Sara Robinson to Charles S. Gleed
Description
This letter is from Sara Robinson, abolitionist and wife of Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, to Charles S. Gleed, a businessman in Topeka. Robinson writes from Lawrence, Kansas on January 7, 1881 and criticizes an "error" in an article Gleed wrote: "[you] connected John Brown's name with the safety of Lawrence. He really never had anything to do with its defense in any way." Attached to the letter is an unsigned document describing Brown's role in the "Invasion of the 2800" on September 14, 1856.
Date
January 7, 1881
From Frederick Starr to Dear Father & All the Others
Title
From Frederick Starr to Dear Father & All the Others
Description
On November 29, 1854, Frederick Starr writes to "Dear Father & all the others.” Starr describes attending a meeting of the Platte County, Missouri Self Defensive Association “in order to clear my character.” Starr recounts that Mr. Vineyard accused him of interfering with local slave owners and teaching at a school for slaves. In his defense, Starr explains how this small school came to be established, naming each of his students and the masters who permitted them to attend. Starr notes that the school was discontinued after “there was some disturbance attempted through the papers.”
Date
November 29, 1854
From J.M. Kingsbury to J.J. Webb
Title
From J.M. Kingsbury to J.J. Webb
Description
This September 22, 1856 letter is from J.M. Kingsbury in Kansas City, Missouri to J.J. Webb in Santa Fe. Kingsbury writes that Kansas Territory is still plagued by "difficulties" and that Congress has passed the Army Bill. He expresses hope that the new governor of Kansas, John W. Geary, will "succeed in quieting things there and be able to carry out the law."
Object Type
Letter
Date
September 22, 1856
Slave Bill of Sale
Title
Slave Bill of Sale
Description
This slave bill of sale, dated 1861, was drafted in Marion County, Missouri by Cleopatra Frazier. Frazier attests that she sold a female slave named Margaret and her daughter named Mary Jane to Isaac R. Campbell. Campbell paid $300 for both of the slaves.
Object Type
Legal Document
Date
1861
From Frederick Starr to My Dear Father
Title
From Frederick Starr to My Dear Father
Description
On February 22, 1855, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to his father. Starr recounts a recent speech he gave regarding slavery: “I consider slavery a moral and political evil…and the only wedge of contention which threatens to disturb & divide the Union. I am a Colonizationist.” He derides anyone falsely accusing him of being an abolitionist, stating that their lies “steal not only my property, but my comfort, my friendships, my domestic quietude, my influence, respect, and good name.” Starr adds that after he gave his speech, Gen. Stringfellow incited the crowd by encouraging an armed invasion into Kansas.
Date
February 22, 1855
From Sara Robinson to My Dear Sister
Title
From Sara Robinson to My Dear Sister
Description
This letter is from Sara Robinson, the wife of Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, to her sister. Robinson, writing from Lawrence, Kansas on January 5, 1858, tells her sister that an election was held yesterday for the Lecompton Constitution. She states that Charles opposed the constitution and that voting against it was the only option that "promised victory to the Free State men." She also mentions that he has been attending sessions of the Topeka Legislature.
Date
January 5, 1858
From T.W. Trego to Dear Sister Alice
Title
From T.W. Trego to Dear Sister Alice
Description
This letter, dated October 18, 1862, is from T.W. Trego in Chicago to his sister-in-law Alice in Kansas. He tells her that he has recently heard from Alice’s husband Joseph, a lieutenant in the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, and that he is camped in Helena, Arkansas. He speculates that Joseph’s regiment “must feel very uneasy down there in their inactivity while so many brilliant victories are being won elsewhere.” He expresses hope that Alice is not in danger of guerrilla attacks from the “Missouri ruffians.”
Date
October 18, 1862
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Title
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description
This undated letter was written by Florella Brown Adair to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella describes her recent trip to Ashtabula, Ohio to visit friends and relatives. She writes of visiting the “great oil county where all seemed to be alive pumping oil from the bowels of the earth…Their are now five hundred wells sunk & most in opperation, they are worked by steam engines & yeald from five to therty barrels of oil in its crude state.”
Lydia Maria Francis Child
Title
Lydia Maria Francis Child
Description
Silhouette of Lydia Maria Francis Child by Auguste Edouart, 1841. Child published the poem, "The Kansas Emigrants," in the New York Daily Tribune on October 23, 1856, in reponse to the caning of Senator Charles Sumner by Representative Preston Brooks.
Object Type
Image
Date
1841
From Charles T. Gilman to Albert G. Boone
Title
From Charles T. Gilman to Albert G. Boone
Description
In this letter, dated September 16 and 17, 1856, Charles T. Gilman informs Col. Albert G. Boone that 20 abolitionists recently launched an attack on the proslavery citizens living near Council Grove, Kansas. Gilman states that the attackers stole horses and mules, wounded a woman, and threatened to burn down houses and force the proslavery men out of Kansas. They also claimed that they would return in four days with 400 men; Gilman tells Boone that the people of Council Grove have been awaiting their arrival and have plenty of arms and ammunition to defend themselves.
Object Type
Letter
Date
September 16, 1856-September 17, 1856
John R. Howe against William Mitchell
Title
John R. Howe against William Mitchell
Description
Dated November 7, 1859, this document states that its signers will pay a sum of $400 to John P. Bowman, Lafayette County sheriff, for a female slave aged about 42 years. The slave was “sold by said sheriff...in the Probate Court of Lafayette County” as part of a lawsuit brought by John R. Howe against William Mitchell.
Object Type
Legal Document
Date
November 7, 1859
Clarina Irene Howard Nichols
Title
Clarina Irene Howard Nichols
Description
Engraving of Clarina I.H. Nichols, prominent activist and journalist, from an 1887 publication of the "History of Woman Suffrage".
Object Type
Image
Date
1887
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Title
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description
This letter was written on August 20, 1860 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair in Osawatomie, Kansas. Florella says that she has become something of a local celebrity as a “Kansas ‘Lion,’” and that people often stop by to visit her. She says that she met many old friends and classmates at a gathering in Oberlin. Florella reports that her son Charles has an opportunity to attend school in Hudson, Ohio, and asks Samuel what he thinks about this prospect.
Date
August 20, 1860
From James Griffing to Unknown
Title
From James Griffing to Unknown
Description
This letter, dated January 10, 1854 but presumably written January 10, 1855, was sent by James Griffing in Wyandotte County, Kansas to an unknown recipient. James discusses pioneer life in Kansas Territory, claiming that it is not at all dangerous: “Our society is mostly all from the East, and you feel just as much composed as when in New England.” Although James believes Missourians are more dangerous than the American Indians, he insists “there is no more reason for a person who attends to his own business to be afraid here” than anywhere else.
Date
January 10, 1855
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Title
From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description
This letter was written on February 17, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Grafton, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella says she is sorry if Samuel’s feelings are hurt by her letters, but says that she intended no wrong and has tried to do right by her family and herself by staying in Ohio for the winter. She plans to go south to Xenia, Ohio with Charles in March, and adds that although Ada wants to see her father, she “does not care about going back to Kansas.”
Object Type
Letter
Date
February 17, 1861

Pages