Ephraim Fauquier enrolled as a Private in Company “C”, 3rd Regiment, Iowa Calvary Volunteers on September 2, 1861 at Keokuk, Iowa, for three years service. His letters to his wife Margaret and their children – Charles, Lizzie and Thomas – span his service in the Union Army, across the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks.

The Mack Collection offers valuable insight into the lives of Union sympathizers in the Ozarks. In many ways, their experiences are typical of Southern Unionists, though their home in Missouri placed them squarely in a border region. The war was bitter and personal for the Mack family. Their experiences as refugees and those who fighting guerrillas in the 1st Arkansas Cavalry (U.S.) hardened their feelings towards Confederate sympathizers. As Radical Republicans, the Macks entered the political arena only to find themselves at odds with fellow Unionists.

Regrettably, the Mack collection contains only half of the correspondence between the family members. The surviving letters were written to those serving in the army. While the soldier’s responses are missing, the existing letters provide researchers with a unique perspective on the civilian experience in southwest Missouri.

John H. Utz served under General Sterling Price, and participated in the Battles of Lexington and Pea Ridge. Utz returned home after his “six months service” was up, and took the oath of allegiance to the Union sometime in 1862. He married Sarah Elizabeth (“Sallie”) Duncan in February 1863, and their first child was born in July 1864. In the fall of 1864, Utz attempted to join Sterling Price in his expedition through Missouri, which resulted in his imprisonment.

The John H. Utz collection is a series of sixty plus letters compiled by his descendents. The letters were self-published by the family in Biographical Sketches of the Bartlett Marshall Duncan and Henry Utz Families. Very limited copies of the book are available to the public, and the letters in the collection are reproduced as they were printed in the book. This collection depicts Utz experiences as a prisoner of war from 1864 through 1865

The William Dameron papers document the incarceration of William and his attempt to obtain parole. In October of 1864, William was captured as a Confederate prisoner of war in Stone County, Missouri. He taken to Springfield, Missouri and later transferred to St. Louis for incarceration. William proclaimed Union loyalties, service in the Enrolled Missouri Militia, and forced conscription into the Confederate Army. He wrote his wife asking for assistance in obtaining his freedom. This collection contains two letters home, and his prisoner of war examinations.