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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: From Joseph H. Trego to Alice Trego
Description: This letter, dated August 6 and 7, 1862, is from Joseph H. Trego to his wife Alice. Trego, a lieutenant in the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, writes from Camp Beech Grove. He reports that the weather is so hot that a number of his fellow soldiers have become ill. He includes $690 with his letter and instructs his wife to “take good care of it . . . you may need it before you will find anyone to take my place if I should be so unfortunate as to get killed.”
Date: August 6, 1862-August 7, 1862

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

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This undated letter was written ca. December 1862 by Florella Brown Adair in Osawatomie, Kansas, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella expresses distress over reports regarding “the great battle of the 6 of this month.” She states that their son Charles is among the missing, and does not know if he is dead or has been taken prisoner. Florella says that her friends “seemed to sympathize & hoped it might not be so bad, or that it was not true, as many reports are exagerated.”

Title: From Eugenia Bronaugh to John A. Bushnell
Description: Eugenia Bronaugh writes a letter from Hickory Grove, Missouri to John A. Bushnell of Calhoun, Missouri on October 15, 1863. She says that she went to the post office to pick up a letter from him and the officer on duty refused to give it to her because it had been determined to be disloyal. Eugenia argues that, “You meant no disloyalty, it is far from you to do anything against our government—the government which has and is protecting us.” Nevertheless, she warns him to “weigh every word” he writes.
Object Type: Letter
Date: October 15, 1863

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: On November 30, 1862, Florella Brown Adair writes from Osawatomie, Kansas, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella discusses various household and community matters, stating that she has “a black woman coming to help me.” She says she heard a report that Gen. Blunt was going to Fort Smith with his whole command, and also heard that their son Charles was involved in battle and was “among the first to take the Rebbel Battery.”
Date: November 30, 1862

Title: From William Heryford Jr. to Lisbon Applegate
Description: This letter, dated March 24, 1865, is from William Heryford, Jr. to Lisbon Applegate in Keytesville, Chariton County, Missouri. Heryford states that he had contracted a black girl named Rose to work in his home for a year, but her master, Mr. Hyde, violated their contract by taking her home prematurely. Heryford requests that Applegate hire an attorney for him, and complains that “Mr. Hyde is the last man friend . . . to take advantage of me after the many favors Ive done him during this unholy war.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: March 24, 1865

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

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown
Description: On August 30 and 31, 1862, Leigh R. Webber writes from Gibson County, Tennessee to Miss Brown. Webber says there are rumors that his regiment may go back to Kansas, but he hopes not. He writes that some of his fellow soldiers say "they had rather go to hell than to Lawrence and that it is the meanest place they were ever in, full of damned Abolitionists." Webber also offers his opinion that "guerrillas infest the country just in proportion, as the great rebel armies...are successful."
Date: August 30, 1862 - August 31, 1862

Title: From Mary E. Bedford to A.M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated January 11, 1864, is from Mary E. Bedford to her husband, Lieut. Alex M. Bedford. She expresses concern about his ailing health, and promises to send him money and provisions. She shares news of relatives, and reports that “it is peaceable hear now but the lord only knows how long it will remain so.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: January 11, 1864

Title: Laura Hidden Pearson
Description: This tintype, ca. 1860, depicts Laura Hidden Pearson, an Ohio native who married William D. Pearson in Cass County, Missouri. William was the oldest child of Robert D. Pearson, an early Cass County pioneer. William served in Confederate Captain Shanks’ company for nine months until he was taken prisoner near Lexington, Missouri; he was eventually released on parole. Laura and William married after the war.
Object Type: Image

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

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: On September 6, 1860, Florella Brown Adair writes from Grafton, Ohio to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella says that her friends think she should spend the winter in Ohio instead of returning to Kansas, and that “if you & Emma were out of Kansas I should be glad & we would not return there until things are better in temporal prospects.” Florella shares a rumor about a Methodist preacher in Osawatomie, Kansas, who was seen several times with “colored emegrants” on their way to Canada. “I am inclined to think he has been falsely accused by free state men in Kansas” she concludes.
Date: September 6, 1860

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Friends at Home
Description: Edward Fitch writes a July 26, 1855 letter from aboard a steamboat on Lake Erie. He tells friends in his hometown of Hopkinton, Massachusetts that he is en route from Boston to Osawatomie, Kansas. He describes the other members of his travelling party, a group of nineteen emigrants he is taking to Kansas for the New England Emigrant Aid Company.
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 26, 1855

Title: From T.W. Trego to Dear Sister Alice
Description: This letter, dated June 10, 1862, is from T.W. Trego in Chicago to his sister-in-law Alice. He asks Alice about her husband Joseph, a lieutenant in the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment. He mentions that Col. Jennison told him that Joseph might have been transferred to the 6th Regiment; he asks Alice whether this is true. T.W. adds that he hopes “the biggest part of the fuss will soon be over so that Joseph can be released from his duties in the field, and devote himself to you.”
Date: June 10, 1862

Title: From John A. Bushnell to Eugenia Bronaugh
Description: John A. Bushnell writes a letter from St. Louis to Eugenia Bronaugh of Hickory Grove, Missouri on August 3, 1864. He tells her that one of his former slaves was arrested and brutally attacked in Sedalia, Missouri, and he expresses hope that the Conservative Party will put an end to the violence and lawlessness. He tells Eugenia that he wishes he could write to her freely, without “the fear of fiendish eyes,” but he suspects that all of the letters he sends her are intercepted and read.
Date: August 3, 1864

Title: From Thomas R. Mitchell to J.T. Sweringen
Description: This letter is from Thomas R. Mitchell to J.T. Sweringen. Mitchell writes from Huntsville, Missouri on June 20, 1857, to inform Sweringen that Mrs. Ralston has safely arrived in town: "She found no difficulty in getting along amongst the 'border ruffians.'" He also expresses his concern that crops in Missouri are scarce this season.
Date: June 20, 1857

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair
Description: This letter was written January 28 and 30, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Lafayette, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair. Florella describes her trip from Grafton, Ohio to Lafayette. She writes that everyone is talking about “Kansas & the political condition of the union…Many think war will be declared before many weeks. Democrats lay all the blame on Republicans & Kansas for all the trouble, but not many are ready to fight for the south.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: January 28, 1861-January 30, 1861

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: From Mary E. Bedford to Alex M. Bedford
Description: On July 17, 1863, Mary E. Bedford writes from Savannah, Missouri to her husband Alex M. Bedford. Mary says that she believes Alex will be exchanged soon, and expresses hope that the war will soon come to an end. She states that she could not retrieve the horse Alex left in Clay County, Missouri, because it was taken as contraband. Mary provides an update about various friends in the area, including several who have left and some who joined the military. She adds that the price of goods is very high and that she may go to Kentucky to stay with relatives.
Date: July 17, 1863

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

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