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Title: Civil War Muster Rolls
Description: These muster rolls from 1861 and 1864 list the names of soldiers enlisted in Captain James R. Murphy’s Company of Home Guards from Caldwell County, Missouri. Attached is a January 22, 1946 letter from Bertha E. Booth of Caldwell County to Mr. Shoemaker. Booth notes that the muster roll from 1864 is likely to be “a list of the militiamen who were in pursuit of the Thrailkill (Confed.) raiders.”
Date: 1861 and 1864

Title: Election Results, 1860
Description: This document lists the results of an August 1860 election in Missouri. It shows Claiborne Fox Jackson receiving a large majority of the votes in the election for Governor. It also shows the results of elections for Congressman, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, and several other positions.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: August 1860

Title: Notice! to Abolitionists and Freesoilers of Weston
Description: This broadside calls on “The Abolitionists and Freesoilers of Weston and vicinity” to meet at the Weston, Missouri courthouse on September 1, 1854 at 7:00pm, “to adopt such measures as they may deem most proper and expedient, and best calculated to Counteract the Effect produced by some of the doings of some of the men connected with the ‘Platte County Self-Defensive Association.’” The broadside was issued by “Many Citizens” on September 1, 1854 in Weston.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: September 1, 1854

Title: Oath of Loyalty of Dennis Gaughan
Description: This document establishes that Dennis Gaughan has taken an oath of loyalty to the United States and to the state of Missouri. It declares that Gaughan will support the Constitution, obey the laws of the United States and of the provisional government of Missouri, and “do all in my power to discourage and put down the present rebellion.” The oath is dated February 16, 1862 and is signed by Gaughan, a witness, and a clerk.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: February 16, 1862

Title: Public Meeting!!
Description: This broadside announces a public meeting featuring a speech by Rev. Fred Starr, Jr., who was driven out of Kansas for his anti-slavery stance. Starr will address the audience about “the recent Outrages against the free Citizens of Kansas, by which the Right of Suffrage has been Invaded! The Pulpit Overthrown! The Missionaries Dispersed! The Press Destroyed! And the Liberty of Speech denied to Freemen.” The announcement was printed June 4, 1855 at the office of the Batavia Democrat, presumably in Batavia, New York.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: June 4, 1855

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father
Description: This letter was written on March 31, 1855, by Frederick Starr in Weston, Missouri, to his father. Starr describes the election fraud that took place at the Kansas legislative elections on March 30, calling it “a high handed outrage.” He says that hundreds of armed, pro-slavery Missourians came into Kansas to disrupt the election, and that more than 800 illegal votes were cast in Leavenworth, Kansas. Starr asks his father to publish the information in his letter in the Albany Evening Journal, without mentioning his name.
Date: March 31, 1855

Title: Proceedings of the Lafayette County Board
Description: This is a series of proceedings of the County Board of Lafayette County, Missouri, dated August 14 – October 2, 1862, and signed by R.C. Vaughan, Secretary. In each of the proceedings, the Board compiles a list of disloyal citizens residing in the neighborhoods where soldiers or loyal citizens were murdered. The Board members agree to charge all of the disloyal citizens 7-10% of the value of their estates.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: August 14, 1862-October 2, 1862

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father and All
Description: On October 30, 1854, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to “Dear Father and all.” Starr describes the hostile atmosphere in Weston: “for 2 years I have lived in this community, and because I was born in the north, have been belied, opposed & persecuted…I have been stigmatized as an abolitionist, & everything done to drive me from the country that could be done.” Starr also writes about attending a meeting of the Self Defensive Association of Platte County, Missouri, to give his opinions on slavery and answer charges of abolitionism.
Date: October 30, 1854

Title: From Frederick Starr to Unknown
Description: This is an excerpt from a letter written on December 1, 1854 by Frederick Starr to an unknown recipient. Starr describes a recent “outrage on the ballot box” during elections in Kansas, when “Some 1200 or 1400 Missourians armed with bowie-knives & revolvers took the polls.” Starr says that many free-soilers were unable to reach the polls at all, and declares that “Big times are coming.” He adds that circumstances in Weston, Missouri “look dark.”
Date: December 1, 1854

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father
Description: On February 26, 1855, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to his father. Starr states that after the Self Defensive Association ordered all free blacks to leave the city within 30 days, the local citizens armed themselves to prevent the order being carried out. Ten days later, the citizens forced “a mulatto barber, who was in the habit of gambling & drinking with white men,” to leave the city; “To this no one made any objection for he was generally considered a bad citizen.” Starr adds that the community has turned against Gen. Stringfellow, who was accused of calling all servants “whores.”
Date: February 26, 1855

Title: Sentinel Extra: Mass Meeting at Platte City
Description: This September 12, 1863 article from the Platte County Sentinel describes a “mass meeting” held at Platte City, Missouri, on September 7, 1863. According to the article, attendees at the meeting passed several resolutions condemning the recent attacks on Lawrence. Attendees also passed a resolution calling for the immediate emanicpation of all the slaves in Missouri.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: September 12, 1863

Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father
Description: On January 15, 1855, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to his father. Starr describes attending a meeting of the Platte County, Missouri Self Defensive Association, where he spoke about how a northern man could not be expected to change his opinion of slavery just because he moved to the south. Starr also told the Association’s members that slavery in Missouri, and especially in Platte County, was not representative of the institution as a whole, because “it is here of a milder type than any where else in the nation.”
Date: January 15, 1855

Title: From George Applegate to James Applegate
Description: This letter, dated March 3, 1865, is from George Applegate in Lisbon, California to his brother James Applegate in Missouri. He discusses life in California, then curses abolitionists: “All the harm I wish them is that they may indure [sic] all the evils their suicidal course is bringing on our once happy land...” He expresses shock and anger that a black attorney was admitted to the United States Supreme Court.
Date: March 3, 1865

Title: Notice! to Citizens of Weston
Description: This broadside calls on “The Citizens of Weston and vicinity” to meet at the Weston, Missouri courthouse on September 1, 1854 at 7:00pm, “to adopt such measures as they may deem most proper and expedient, and best calculated to counteract the effect produced by SOME of the doings of SOME of the men connected with the ‘PLATTE COUNTY SELF DEFENSIVE ASSOCIATION.’” The broadside is signed “Many Citizens,” and is dated August 31, 1854.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: August 31, 1854

Title: From J.L. Bennett to Alex M. Bedford
Description: This letter, dated April 24, 1865, was written by J.L. Bennett in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Lt. Alex M. Bedford, a prisoner of war. Bennett states that he recently met with Gen. Craig and Maj. Bruce in St. Joseph, and that Maj. Bruce telegraphed Washington to request Bedford’s release. He advises Bedford to write to Gen. Hickcock in Washington and say that he is “tired of the war & willing to take the oath and return home.” Bennett instructs Bedford to let him know when he is released, and that he will make arrangements for him to meet his family in St. Joseph.
Date: April 24, 1865

Title: From Charles R. Street to Alex M. Bedford
Description: On July 24, 1865, Charles R. Street writes from Huntington, New York to Alex M. Bedford in Savannah, Missouri. Street says he was glad to hear that Bedford returned from military prison to his family. He writes about the difficult loss of his wife and “the loss of my country” to abolitionists: “I have no hopes of the old Government, we must submit to a new order of things.” Street also admits that “there is a terrible bitterness of feeling” in Huntington, New York on the subject of politics.
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 24, 1865

Title: Diary of C.T. Kimmel
Description: This is an excerpt from the diary of C.T. Kimmel, an assistant surgeon in the 2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry. The entries, dated May 10 – June 2, 1865, describe Kimmel mustering out of service and returning home to Chariton County, Missouri. He mentions nearby guerrilla warfare, and writes about mourning the death of President Lincoln. Attached is an invitation to a New Year’s Union Ball on December 31, 1865 in Brunswick, Missouri.
Object Type: Diary
Date: May 10, 1865-December 30, 1865

Title: Memorial to the President of the United States
Description: This 1854 broadside, entitled “Memorial to the President of the United States,” was drafted “on behalf of the settlers upon lands in Kansas Territory, ceded to the United States in July last, by the Delaware Indians.” The memorandum protests against a new treaty between the U.S. government and the Delaware Indians, because it will result in white settlers being driven from Kansas Territory and “will benefit none but speculators.” The document’s authors beg the President to reconsider the treaty.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: 1854

Title: John R. Boyd Handbill
Description: This handbill, signed by John R. Boyd, urges the citizens of Buchanan County, Missouri to join arms and fight against the “usurping invader, Fremont.” Boyd instructs them to bring their shot guns and rifles to Rock House Prairie, where hundreds of men have set up camp and plan to fight until they achieve freedom, “or be buried beneath the dead bodies of men who would rather die than be slaves.”
Object Type: Leaflet

Title: From Alex M. Bedford to Joseph L. Bennett
Description: On April 13, 1865, Alex M. Bedford writes from Fort Delaware, Delaware, Division 34, to Joseph L. Bennett in Savannah, Missouri. Bedford writes about the surrender of Gen. Lee and his army: “they have gone up & our confederacy has played out & I will return home by taking the oath or any other way.” Complaining of poor health, Bedford seeks Bennett’s help in expediting his release, and suggests that he ask Major Bruce of St. Joseph, Missouri, to write to the War Department on his behalf.
Date: April 13, 1865

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

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