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Title: Application of Elizabeth Turner
Description: This is Elizabeth Turner’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of her slave, Nelson. The application, dated November 17, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States and a statement that Turner, of Howard County, Missouri, lawfully obtained her slave. The application is signed by two witnesses and a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 17, 1866

Title: Applications of John Herndon
Description: These are John Herndon’s applications for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slaves, Harrison Small and Reubin Herndon. The applications, dated November 19, 1866, include oaths of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, statements that John Herndon (of Howard County, Missouri) lawfully acquired his slaves, and the signatures of two witnesses and a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the tenth page indicates that the application was rejected. Also included is Harrison Small’s enlistment form, signed and dated November 29, 1863.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 29, 1863 and November 19, 1866

Title: Application of Thomas P. Burris
Description: This is Thomas P. Burris’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Phillip. The application, dated November 10, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, and the signature of a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the fourth page indicates that the application was rejected. Attached are two bills from 1855 declaring the sale of slaves to Burris, of Howard County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: February 7, 1855-November 10, 1866

Title: Application of John M. Davis
Description: This is John M. Davis’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Forest Mauphin. Mauphin served in the 65th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops, Company K. The application, dated January 1, 1867, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Davis lawfully purchased his slave, and the signatures of four witnesses and a notary public in Chariton County, Missouri. Attached is the August 8, 1850 bill declaring the sale of Forest Mauphin to John M. Davis for $300.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: August 8, 1850-January 1, 1867

Title: Application of James R. Eshill
Description: This is James R. Eshill’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Allen. The application, dated November 9, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, and a statement that Eshill, of Howard County, Missouri, lawfully purchased his slave. The application is signed by four witnesses and a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 9, 1866

Title: Sale of Slave
Description: This document declares the sale of four slaves—Ritter, Bird, Fanny, and John—to Stephen Bedford for $182.50. It was signed and dated by Marion M. Biggerstaff of Clinton County, Missouri on July 5, 1857.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: July 5, 1857

Title: Dred Scott v. Sandford
Description: This is the full text of the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford. Scott, a slave, sued his master for freedom after being taken to live in states where the Missouri Compromise had rendered slavery illegal. On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney handed down a 7-2 ruling that Scott did not have the right to file a federal lawsuit because African Americans “were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.”
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: March 6, 1857

Title: Applications of Sarah Corder
Description: These are Sarah S. Corder’s applications for compensation from the United States government for the military service of John Corder’s slaves, Daniel, Henry, Jack, and Strother. The applications, dated December 4 and 22, 1866, include oaths of allegiance to the United States, statements that John Corder lawfully acquired his slaves, and the signatures of five witnesses and two notary publics in Lafayette County, Missouri. Pencil notes on the ninth, thirteenth, and seventeenth pages indicate that three of the applications were rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: December 4, 1866-December 22, 1866

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

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

Title: Application of Montgomery Slemons
Description: This is Montgomery Slemons’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, George. The application, dated November 14, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Slemons lawfully acquired George, and the signatures of two witnesses, a lawyer, and a notary public in Clinton County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the second page indicates that the application was rejected. Also included is a signed statement that Slemons lawfully purchased another slave, Nat.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 14, 1866

Title: Indenture of Robertson Moore and David L. Cavanagh
Description: This April 1864 document declares the upcoming sale of the late John C. Cavanagh’s real estate and his three slaves, Abe, Lucy, and Eliza. Robertson Moore, Sheriff of Chariton County, announces that he will auction off Cavanagh’s property outside of the courthouse in Keytesville, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: April 1864

Title: Application of Catharine Richmond
Description: This is Catharine Richmond’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of her slave, Basil Hayden. The application, dated November 26, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Richmond lawfully obtained her slave, and the signatures of two witnesses and a notary public in Marion County, Missouri.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 26, 1866

Title: Claim of Rias Lewis against Jonah Moore
Description: This is the legal claim of Rias Lewis, “a free man of color,” against Jonah Moore for $40 in unpaid wages. The claim is dated September 26, 1854 and is signed by a justice of the peace, a public administrator, and two witnesses in Chariton County, Missouri. A note on the back indicates that the debt was settled in court on August 10, 1855. Attached to the claim is the original agreement for Lewis to work for Moore, signed by both parties and dated February 12, 1850.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: February 12, 1850-August 10, 1855

Title: Application of Ira C. Darby
Description: This is Ira C. Darby’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Henry Franklin. The application, dated November 17, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a power of attorney transfer to Isaac C. Dodge, and a statement that Darby lawfully obtained his slave. The application is signed by two witnesses in Howard County, Missouri and by a notary public in Cooper County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the last page indicates that the application was rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 17, 1866

Title: Application of John H. Peacock
Description: This is John H. Peacock’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Antony Mason. The application, dated December 11, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States and the signatures of four witnesses and a notary public in Lafayette County, Missouri. Also attached is a signed statement that Peacock lawfully purchased another slave, Archie, and the October 9, 1854 bill of sale for Archie.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 9, 1854 and December 11, 1866

Title: Application of Jesse Brown
Description: This is Jesse Brown’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave, Simon. The application, dated November 22, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Brown lawfully purchased his slave, and the signatures of two witnesses in Clinton County, Missouri. A note in pencil on the first page indicates that the application was rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 22, 1866

Title: Slave Bill of Sale
Description: This slave bill of sale, dated March 31, 1860, is signed by Lafayette County sheriff John P. Bowman. Bowman attests that he sold a female slave and a slave boy named John to Nathaniel Mitchell at auction on November 7, 1859. Mitchell paid $400 for the female slave and $150 for John.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: March 31, 1860

Title: John C. Caldwell vs. Richard H. Porter
Description: These documents, created between 1855 and 1857, relate to the Jackson County, Missouri court case John C. Caldwell vs. Richard H. Porter. On January 1, 1855, Caldwell purchased a slave named Eliza for $800 from slave dealer Clifton R. Barnes with plans to sell her for a profit in Louisiana. Caldwell later discovered that Eliza was “unsound both in body and mind” and accused Barnes of “fraud and wilfull misrepresentation.” Caldwell took Eliza back to Missouri but Barnes refused to rescind the sales contract.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: 1855-1857

Title: Application of James P. Hamilton
Description: This is James P. Hamilton’s application for compensation from the United States government for the military service of his slave. The application, dated November 8, 1866, includes an oath of allegiance to the United States, a statement that Hamilton lawfully purchased his slave, and the signatures of a witness and a notary public in St. Joseph, Missouri. A note in pencil on the second page indicates that the application was rejected.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: November 8, 1866

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

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