Search results

Title: From John Tasmilen to John Ament
Description: This 1864 letter was written by John Tasmilen in Centralia, Missouri to John Ament. Declaring that “slavery is dead” and the war nearly over, John predicts that preachers will try to take credit for ending slavery, “but they lie, they sanctioned it as long as they could.” John encourages Ament to return to Cass County, Missouri: “I think you would find a great political change since you left…so that I think you might feel safe.”
Date: 1864

Title: From J. French Simpson to Whom It May Concern
Description: In this letter, dated September 5, 1865, J. French Simpson of Carrollton, Illinois, testifies to John Ament’s loyalty: “Mr. Ament is a gentleman and Christian, and since he has lived in this county, I have never heard a disloyal sentiment uttered by him.” Simpson notes that Ament is “formerly of this place and more recently of Missouri.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 5, 1865

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: Diary of John Ament
Description: This diary, kept by John Ament or possibly one of his children between August 7, 1863 and August 24, 1863, records the family's flight out of Cass County, Missouri after being ordered to leave their home. Ament and several neighboring families travelled by wagon “in the dust and dirt,” through the towns of Boonville, Sturgeon, Mexico, and others. The diary, kept in a penmanship notebook originally used to document Ament’s work as Treasurer for his church, includes a transcription of the poem “The Soldier’s Misfortune.”
Object Type: Diary
Date: August 7, 1863 - August 24, 1863

Title: From George Miller to Dear Father and Mother
Description: This letter, dated January 14, 1861, is from George Miller in Pleasant Hill, Cass County, Missouri, to his parents. Miller writes that Lt. Col. Daniel R. Anthony and his Kansas troops invaded Pleasant Hill, stealing 55 slaves and $10,000 worth of property. He complains that the Missouri Secessionists are "fast beginning to give up the contest" and laments that "the country is being ruined."
Object Type: Letter
Date: January 14, 1861

Title: From Dewitt C. Hunter to J.F. Snyder
Description: This letter, dated January 21, 1861, is from Dewitt C. Hunter in Nevada, Missouri to Col. J.F. Snyder. Hunter describes himself as a "secessionist in favor of separate state action and immediate secession." He believes that Missouri is in danger of invasion from Kansas, and he urges Snyder to organize a regiment, procure arms, and prepare to defend the border.
Object Type: Letter
Date: January 21, 1861

Title: From Daniel R. Anthony to Dear Sister
Description: Daniel R. Anthony writes a letter from Camp “Johnson” in Morristown, Missouri to his sister on December 26, 1861. He tells her that he is in command of the camp and 1500 troops while Col. Jennison is away in Mound City, Missouri. Anthony says that he and three other commanders have occupied a Secessionist soldier’s house and established it as their headquarters. He reports that he expects to stay there for about two months, and then move south.
Object Type: Letter
Date: December 26, 1861

Title: Nancy Walker Lyon Harris
Description: This ca. 1860 black-and-white photograph depicts Nancy Walker Lyon Harris, who was born in 1803. Nancy’s father, William Lyon, served as clerk of the court when Cass County, Missouri (originally Van Buren County) was first established. Nancy’s husband, Fleming Harris, helped found Harrisonville, Missouri, in Cass County, and served as its first town commissioner. Nancy died in Cass County in 1864.
Object Type: Image

Title: From Luke Williams to Jonathan B. Fuller
Description: This letter, dated December 6, 1864, is from Luke Williams in Pleasant Hill, Missouri to Rev. Jonathan B. Fuller. Williams invites Fuller to visit the Union Baptist Church of Cass County, Missouri, and assist the pastor in preaching. "We are in a very cold state as a Church," Williams writes, "torn asunder as it were in consequence of the war."
Date: December 6, 1864

Title: Kansas and Nebraska 1856
Description: This color map, entitled “Kansas and Nebraska 1856,” was printed by J.G. Wells in New York.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1856

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