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Title: Court Martial Proceedings Against Capt. John E. Stewart
Description: This document details the court martial proceedings at Kansas City, Missouri against Capt. John E. Stewart, Co. C, 9th Kansas Volunteers on November 18, 1863. Stewart is accused of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a Gentleman” by misrepresenting himself as a Missouri citizen to Kansas City election officials on November 5, 1863. Stewart pleaded not guilty and was acquitted. On the last page of the document, General Ewing writes a response in which he asks the court to reconsider the verdict.
Date: November 18, 1863

Title: U.S. vs. Charles Robinson
Description: These legal documents include a warrant, dated May 24, 1856, for the arrest of Charles Robinson for committing treason against the United States. Attached is a summary of a witness's testimony: “he had heard Charles Robinson, in common conversation, repeatedly urge upon the people the propriety and necessity of resisting the enforcement of the Territorial laws.” Also included is a motion to sever Robinson’s case from that of a co-defendant, as well as a motion for continuance, dated September 10, 1856. The court documents are from the First District Court of the United States, Douglas County, Kansas Territory.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: May 24, 1856 and September 10, 1856

Title: From A.J. Sexton to Catherine
Description: This letter was written on April 29, 1862, by A.J. Sexton in camp at Fort Riley, Kansas, to his wife Catherine. A.J. writes of his plans to send Catherine $20.00 after he is paid on May 1st. He reports that the health of his regiment is good, and he believes they will be sent next to Mexico. A.J. refers to the Battle of Shiloh, and writes with regret about the death of Wisconsin Gov. Harvey shortly after the battle.
Date: April 29, 1862

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Mother
Description: This unsigned April 11, 1858 letter, presumably from Edward Fitch to his mother, discusses the immigrants living in Kansas Territory. The Irish immigrants, Fitch says, are predominantly pro-slavery, while the German immigrants are mostly supporters of the Free State Party. He also describes to his mother the spring flowers in Lawrence, Kansas and his beautiful baby.
Date: April 11, 1858

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown
Description: This letter, dated March 8, 1862, is from Leigh R. Webber to Miss Brown. Webber describes marching with his regiment from Kansas City, Missouri to Fort Scott, Kansas, and shares concerns about an upcoming march to Fort Smith, Kansas.
Date: March 8, 1862

Title: From Daniel L. Chandler to John Stillman Brown
Description: This letter, dated September 11, 1861 is from Daniel L. Chandler to John Stillman Brown. Chandler reports that his regiment just arrived at Fort Scott, Kansas after a forced march from Lawrence. He complains that the unnecessary march and a lack of blankets caused a number of soldiers to fall ill.
Date: September 11, 1861

Title: From Leigh R. Webber to Charles Brown
Description: On March 23, 1862, Leigh R. Webber writes a letter from Fort Scott, Kansas to John Stillman Brown. He describes daily life in the "cheerless camp," complains about the disobedient and rowdy soldiers in his regiment, and expresses a longing for the "excitement of battle." He reports that his regiment has been ordered to advance to Fort Smith.
Date: March 23, 1862

Title: Statement of C.W. Babcock
Description: This is C.W. Babcock’s sworn statement to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary. Dated October 11, 1856, the statement claims that a man named Castleman, posing as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, unlawfully arrested Babcock in Topeka, forcibly moved him to Lecompton, and held him there for three hours.
Object Type: Legal Document
Date: October 11, 1856

Title: From Alice Trego to Joseph H. Trego
Description: This letter, dated September 22, 1862, is from Alice Trego in Mound City, Kansas to her husband Joseph. She reports on the movements of Kansas military units and informs Joseph that Gen. James Lane was authorized to raise four regiments of black soldiers. Alice also mentions that there has been a picket guard of citizens in her neighborhood ever since the Sacking of Olathe. She laments, “Oh! how I wish the war was over, and slavery abolished.”
Date: September 22, 1862

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: On September 14 and 15, 1860, Florella Brown Adair writes from Grafton Station, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella describes the contents of a barrel of clothing and other items she is sending to them. She says that her health has improved, and that her relatives and friends are “trying to make me look more like civilized folk than we did in Kansas.” Florella adds that she recently spent hours in conversation with a friend “about Kansas matters.”
Date: September 14, 1860-September 15, 1860

Title: Letters Sent (Provost Marshal, Northern District of Kansas)
Description: This notebook contains copies of correspondence sent by the Provost Marshal's Office, Northern District of Kansas in Leavenworth, Kansas, between January and August 1865. The correspondence addresses topics such as enrollment, desertions, and reports of muster. Participants in the correspondence include Provost Marshal General James B. Fry and Capt. J. McCahon, Provost Marshal for the Northern District of Kansas.
Date: January 1865-August 1865

Title: From Florella Brown Adair to Samuel Lyle Adair and Emma Adair
Description: This letter was written on April 1, 2, and 8, 1861 by Florella Brown Adair in Greenfield, Ohio, to her husband Samuel Lyle Adair and daughter Emma Adair. Florella writes about going on a “calling & begging trip for Kansas” among friends in the area, and how she was disappointed to receive only $3.00 for her efforts. Florella discovered that many people had already given funds for Kansas to Mr. Stephenson, who managed to collect over $300.00 by representing himself as an acquaintance of John Brown.
Date: April 1, 1861-April 8, 1861

Title: From Sara Robinson to Charles Robinson
Description: Sara Robinson writes a letter to her husband, Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, on May 11, 1862. She discusses officer appointments in a Kansas military regiment, and reports that some regiments have been ordered to leave for New Mexico soon. She also discusses their finances, expresses concern for her ill husband's health, and seeks his permission to let her visit him.
Date: May 11, 1862

Title: From Sara Robinson to Charles S. Gleed
Description: This letter is from Sara Robinson, abolitionist and wife of Kansas Gov. Charles Robinson, to Charles S. Gleed, a businessman in Topeka. Robinson writes from Lawrence, Kansas on January 7, 1881 and criticizes an "error" in an article Gleed wrote: "[you] connected John Brown's name with the safety of Lawrence. He really never had anything to do with its defense in any way." Attached to the letter is an unsigned document describing Brown's role in the "Invasion of the 2800" on September 14, 1856.
Date: January 7, 1881

Title: From George Collamore to G.L. Stearns
Description: This letter was written on October 23, 1861 by George Collamore in Lawrence, Kansas to G.L. Stearns. Collamore writes that Kansas cannot expect a good harvest next year because so many men have volunteered for the service and left the state. He says that “large numbers of fugitives from Missouri…are daily arriving,” and many of them lack clothing for the winter. Collamore adds that “slavery is fast disappearing in Missouri,” and may be completely abolished within six months.
Object Type: Letter
Date: October 23, 1861

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Parents
Description: Edward Fitch writes a letter to his parents from Lawrence, Kansas on May 5, 1861. He tells them that if Missouri secedes, Kansas will have to fight. He asks how people in Massachusetts feel about the war, and expresses hope that the “Yankees” will go to battle with the South and not stop until slavery is eradicated. “War is terrible,” he says, “but sometimes it is necessary for the good of the whole world.”
Date: May 5, 1861

Title: Excerpt from John Deering's Diary
Description: This excerpt from John Deering’s diary was written between January 5 and June 7, 1858. Deering, who arrived in Kansas Territory from Maine in March 1857, describes daily life in Douglas County, Kansas. Deering records his purchase of a new claim after his own was “taken by Indians,” and his efforts to build a shop in Prairie City, Kansas. On February 27, Deering writes that he attended an election to nominate delegates for the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention. On April 23, he notes that he heard Jim Lane and others speak about the constitution.
Object Type: Diary
Date: January 5, 1858-June 7, 1858

Title: From James Montgomery to George L. Stearns
Description: James Montgomery writes a letter from Mound City, Kansas to George L. Stearns on May 8, 1861. He reports that, “We are in a perilous position here, and have not ammunition enough to make a respectable fight.” He says that he has organized a regiment to help defend Kansas against pro-slavery Missourians, whose troops are camped along the border of Linn and Bourbon counties. He mentions that an Osage Indian chief attacked some of these troops, then “tied them with ropes to the Horns of his Saddles and dragged them out of the country.” Montgomery asks for Stearns’s assistance in acquiring arms and declares that, “If we have to fight, we will carry the war out of Kansas.”
Date: May 8, 1861

Title: From B. Hoonsley to George R. Smith
Description: On December 11, 1855, B. Hoonsley writes from Big Creek to Gen. George R. Smith. Hoonsley says that "all is confusion here," and reports a rumor that there is still fighting in Lawrence, Kansas, although "it may all be false." He adds that the destruction of Lawrence was predicted months ago by several men. Hoonsley informs Smith that he and two other men are "marked objects" and suggests that "the legislation ought to take immediate…action."
Object Type: Letter
Date: December 11, 1855

Title: Medical Record of Examination of Recruits
Description: This is a bound volume of records noting the medical examinations of men recruited to the Union Army in Kansas. The records, dating from November 5, 1864 to April 20, 1865, include the recruits' names, ages, country or state of birth, occupation, height, complexion, eye and hair color, chest measurements, race, and town or county of residence.
Date: November 5, 1864-April 20, 1865

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

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