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Title: Petition from Residents of Vernon County, Missouri
Description: This petition was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on August 25, 1859 by 45 citizens of Vernon County, Missouri. The petitioners request that a company of Missouri Volunteers be stationed on the state line in Vernon County “until Kansas has a Constitution…or you are convinced…that her people…will obey some law.” As evidence of their need for protection, they refer to the threat posed by James Montgomery and his men, who are demanding the immediate release of William Wright, a prisoner held in Vernon County.
Object Type: Petition
Date: August 25, 1859

Title: Petition from Vernon County Citizens
Description: This petition, dated November 21, 1860, is addressed to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart and signed by 34 citizens of Little Osage, Vernon County, Missouri. The signers assert that they are “imminently in danger of another invasion” from Kansas guerrillas. They claim that they have been victim to numerous attacks over the past three years, and that during one attack, John Brown stole “ten or eleven thousand dollars” of property. The petitioners ask Stewart to station the Missouri Mounted Militia, Company A, in Little Osage for their protection.
Object Type: Petition
Date: November 21, 1860

Title: Petition of Citizens of Wise County
Description: This petition, dated December 5, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by C. Columbia, Esq., on behalf of 20 families of recent settlers to Wise County, Kansas. Columbia claims that the families staked their claims based on a map that showed the nearest Indian reservation 25 miles away. John Montgomery, Indian Agent, recently informed the families that their land belonged to the Kansas Indian Agency and ordered them to leave within three days. Columbia asks Geary to stay Montgomery’s proceedings, “until the circumstances of the case may be inquired into, and determined in a just and lawful manner.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: December 5, 1856

Title: Petition of Sundry Citizens of Pottawatomie Creek
Description: This petition, dated September 19, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 32 Kansas citizens living near the Pottawatomie, Sugar, and Middle Creeks and the Osage River. The petitioners describe several recent guerrilla attacks in their region, including the Battle of Osawatomie, and ask for Geary to take action. They complain that the attacks, launched by Missourians and “guided by a few desperate men in our midst,” have succeeded in “sacking and burning houses and in robbing and plundering and menacing the lives of our citizens.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: September 19, 1856

Title: Petition from Citizens of Vernon County, Missouri
Description: This petition was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on March 28, 1859 by 43 citizens of Vernon County, Missouri. The petitioners request military protection from a threatened attack by Kansas guerrillas. They state that the guerrillas are assembling near the Little Osage River under the command of James Montgomery, and that “the notorious Brown” has again made an appearance in Kansas. The petitioners believe that "it is the full intention of those lawless men to invade the State and rob and murder the inhabitants.”
Object Type: Petition
Date: March 28, 1859

Title: Petition from Jackson County Citizens
Description: This petition, ca. 1860, is addressed to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart and signed by 43 citizens of Jackson County, Missouri. The signers declare their need for protection from the “murderous attacks of Montgomery” and his band of guerrillas. They ask Stewart to authorize Samuel Ralston to raise a company of troops to serve under the command of Col. Frost.
Object Type: Petition

Title: Petition of F.G. Adams
Description: This petition, dated September 13, 1856, was sent to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary by F.G. Adams and five other citizens of Leavenworth, Kansas. The petitioners, writing from Lawrence, Kansas, state that Leavenworth is “infested by armed bands of men” who robbed them of their property and drove them away from their homes and families. The petitioners seek military protection from Geary to ensure a safe return to Leavenworth.
Object Type: Petition
Date: September 13, 1856

Title: Petition of a Number of Citizens of Anderson and Coffey Counties Praying for Relief
Description: This petition, dated September 23, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 31 “law and order citizens” of Anderson and Coffey Counties. The petitioners complain that bands of abolitionist guerrillas have driven them from their homes, robbed them, destroyed their crops, and threatened their lives. The attackers’ objective, the petitioners claim, is “resisting civil authority and trampling underfoot the laws of the Territory.” The petition requests that Geary send troops to protect the citizens and help them return to their homes.
Object Type: Petition
Date: September 23, 1856

Title: Petition to Set Aside Election for Delegate
Description: This petition, addressed to Kansas Gov. Andrew Reeder, concerns the November 29, 1854 election for Congressional Delegate. The petitioners argue that a large number of Missouri citizens illegally voted in the Kansas election. They ask Reeder to either cast out the votes from the district where Missourians voted, or to nullify the entire election. The petition is signed by 77 residents of Kansas Territory.
Object Type: Petition
Date: 1854

Title: Petition from Bates County Citizens
Description: This petition, dated November 23, 1860, is addressed to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart and signed by 13 citizens of Bates County. The signers declare their need for further protection from Jayhawker attacks. They inform Stewart that they are sending fellow citizen William Doak, a captain in the Missouri Militia, to visit him and request protection. They assure Stewart that Doak is a trustworthy citizen.
Object Type: Petition
Date: November 23, 1860

Title: Petition to the Constitutional Convention of Kansas
Description: This is a petition sent to the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention of Kansas in support of equal political rights for Kansas women. The petition, dated 1859, protests against “any Constitutional distinctions based upon sex,” and is signed by Charles Robinson and 14 others. A second copy of the petition from Auburn, Shawnee County, Kansas is signed by 69 men and women.
Object Type: Petition
Date: 1859

Title: Petition from Leavenworth Women
Description: This petition, written ca. September 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by 16 women in Leavenworth, Kansas. The petitioners complain that they have been driven from their homes by a group of armed men. They say that some of their husbands have been imprisoned or extradited, “leaving us unprotected in the midst of a scene of general robbery and all too frequently of murder.” They also claim that the mayor of Leavenworth and other city officials were aware of the raids and failed to stop them. The petitioners ask Geary for his assistance.
Object Type: Petition

Title: Petition of P. Fuller and Wm. Moore of Centropolis
Description: This petition, written ca. 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by P. Fuller and William Moore of Centropolis, Kansas. Fuller and Moore request, on behalf of the citizens of Douglas County, that Geary send troops to protect them from armed men in the area. The petitioners claim that 600-700 armed men were recently spotted marching near Sugar Creek and Turkey Creek.
Object Type: Petition

Title: Petition for a Provision Train to Leavenworth
Description: This petition, dated September 18, 1856, requests that Kansas Gov. John W. Geary send a provision train to Leavenworth. It states: “Hundreds of our citizens are suffering – almost starving for supplies that could be easily obtained by your aid in three days. It seems impossible to wait until next week, and we hope you will give our case your earliest possible attention.” The petition is signed by ten citizens of Leavenworth, Kansas.
Object Type: Petition
Date: September 18, 1856

Title: Petition from N.J. Chaney & Others
Description: This petition was sent to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart on January 7, 1859 by N.J. Chaney and 12 other citizens of West Point, Bates County, Missouri. The petitioners request that Dr. Thomas J.B. Rockwell be appointed as surgeon for the Missouri Militia companies serving in Bates County “and in adjoining counties of the border.” Among the petition’s signatories are U.S. Deputy Marshal Andrew J. Russell and Bates County Sherriff John W. Cline.
Object Type: Petition
Date: January 7, 1859

Title: Petition from Leaders of Emigrant Train
Description: This petition, dated October 14, 1856, is addressed to Kansas Gov. John W. Geary and is signed by six conductors of an emigrant train that brought families from Mount Pleasant, Iowa to settle in Kansas. They tell Geary that they brought sabres with them because they had heard that armed men were blockading the Missouri River to Free State emigrants. They state that they were stopped at the border by U.S. troops, who searched their wagons, stole their arms, and imprisoned them. The conductors assert their rights as American citizens “to bear arms, and to be exempt from unlawful search or seizure,” and they request Geary’s assistance.
Object Type: Petition
Date: October 14, 1856

Title: Petition to Henry Wager Halleck
Description: This ca. 1862 petition is addressed to Maj. Gen. Halleck of the Commanding Department of the Mississippi, and is signed by twenty officers of the 25th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. The petitioners urge Halleck to promote Lieut. Col. R.T. Van Horn to Colonel, citing his skill and bravery in the First Battle of Lexington and in the Battle of Shiloh.
Object Type: Petition

Title: Petition to H.R. Gamble
Description: This July 11, 1862 petition is addressed to H.R. Gamble, Governor of Missouri. The petitioners, citizens of Jackson County, Missouri, request that Lieut. Col. R.T. Van Horn of the 25th Missouri Volunteer Infantry be assigned "to the Command of the Troops." They cite Van Horn's familiarity with the area, and argue that the Federal troops' ignorance of the area is "the principal reason why the Guerilla bands infesting this District have not been broken up."
Object Type: Petition
Date: July 11, 1862

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

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