From Mary Hall to Venitia Hall

Download Transcript: PDF (45.23 KiB)

Don’t say a word before anyone. That will only make your case worse. Let others do as they please. Remember you are a lady and act accordingly. The guard say they like you and Miss Parish. They say very hard things of the others. The officers told me this.

Civil War

Details

Title: From Mary Hall to Venitia Hall
Creator: Mary Hall
Description: Mary Hall—the original recipient of this envelope—used it in 1863 to write a message to her sister Venitia Colcord Page, who was incarcerated at the Union Jail for Women in Kansas City. “Don’t say one word before anyone,” Mary warns, “The guards say they like you…They say very hard things of the others.” Mary gave the message to Venitia, who was married to Major Page, during a prison visit; Venitia escaped or was released before the prison collapsed in August 1863.
Date: 1863
Local Subject: Surviving a Guerrilla War
Battle for Missouri, 1861-1865 -- Military History of Missouri and Kansas
Women
People: Mary Hall
Geographic Subject: Kansas City, Missouri
Jackson County, Missouri
Owning Organization: Jackson County Historical Society
Location: Jacob Hall Family Papers, Box 2.00: Folder 16
Rights: For more information on using this image, contact the Jackson County Historical Society at: P.O. Box 4241, Independence, MO 64051-4241, Phone: (816) 252-7454, E-mail: info@jchs.org Publication, commercial use, or reproduction of this image or the accompanying data requires prior written permission from the Jackson County Historical Society. Use of this image also requires that credit be given to the Jackson County Historical Society.