W.T. Stone corresponded with a friend in England, about his travels to Kansas and his stops in Lawrence and Leavenworth. Stone commented on the strong abolitionist sentiment in Lawrence and how the town is modeled after Boston, Massachusetts. There is little information about W.T. Stone, but according to the 1870 Census there was a W.T. Stone living in Shawnee, Kansas living with the White family. He was approximately 26 years old and working as a farmer.

In 1807, James Henry Gower was born in Maine, but he lived most of his life in Iowa City, Iowa. Gower was a prominent businessman in Iowa City. With the outbreak of the war his son, James Otis, enlisted in Company F, of the Iowa 1st Cavalry Regiment. This collection contains letters from James Otis Gower in which he describes the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, and enclosed a copy of Confederate general, Thomas C. Hindman’s address to his soldiers prior to the battle. James Otis survived the war and was mustered out of service in August 1863, but he died just two years later on September 12, 1865, and was buried in Iowa City. After the war, the rest of his family moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in pursuit of James Henry Gower’s new business venture.

Jonathan Pugh was born in Tennessee but moved to Illinois with his wife Minerva and family in the 1850s. Pugh was very outspoken regarding politics and wrote about his opinions on who should be elected in the 1856 election and why. Pugh was a Southern Whig and believed the Whigs and Democrats needed to unite to help get James Buchanan elected over John C. Freemont and Millard Fillmore. Pugh also commented on the growing tension between Missouri and Kansas and that he expected a battle to erupt if the issue of slavery in the Kansas-Nebraska territory was not dealt with soon.

Captain Maxwell Phillips served in the Third Regiment Indian Home Guards, part of the Kansas Infantry during the Civil War. He was commissioned on May 28, 1863. Phillips recorded in great detail the official procedures and events that took place at Fort Gibson. Phillips described obstacles the regiment faced; such as desertion, cattle rustling, and improper processing of paperwork. The letters contained in this collection reveal the close ties between the Federal officers and the Native Americans that they lived and served with. Phillips stressed the importance of the Native Americans to the Union’s cause and how invaluable they were as allies for the servicemen stationed in the Kansas Territory.

John M. Weidemeyer was born January 10, 1834, in Charlottesville, Virginia. By 1850, John and his parents moved to Osceola, St. Clair County, Missouri. Weidemeyer married Lelia V. Crutchfield in 1856, and the couple resided in Osceola until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Weidemeyer and his family supported the Confederacy and Missouri’s secession from the Union. Weidemeyer recorded in his diary and letters to his wife, Lelia, the struggles of military life for a Confederate soldier. He also gave a first-hand account of the raid and burning of Osceola by James H. Lane and Charles Jennison’s Jayhawkers. John M. Weidemeyer was Captain of Company F of the 6th Missouri Infantry CSA and served in Missouri, Arkansas, but the regiment primarily assisted the Confederate Army on the East coast. After the war, Weidemeyer rejoined his family in Texas, before moving them to Clinton, Missouri, where they lived the remainder of his life. John M. Weidemeyer died on January 12, 1911, at 77 years old.

George Washington Williams served in Company D of the 7th Missouri Cavalry from 1862 thru 1864. His letters are addressed to his wife, Jane, in Sage Town, Illinois, which is present day Gladstone, in Henderson County, Illinois. He described the conditions he and the rest of his unit faced while fighting Confederate forces throughout Arkansas. Williams expressed great concern for his family’s safety and well-being, but voiced little concern for himself. His letters exhibit the difficulties faced by families trying to survive during the conflict. Williams died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on November 25, 1864 from chronic diarrhea.

Mr. William H. Rhea was prominent leader and businessman in Washington County, Arkansas. Mr. Rhea was known for having the first and largest mill in the area, which made him a prime target for Federal troops stationed in Northwest Arkansas. Since resources were very limited soldiers either had to make their own food or take/buy it from citizens in the area. Mills were valuable resources for both armies and were often captured or destroyed by bushwhackers or soldiers passing through the region. Numerous battles throughout the Ozarks were fought either at or around mills.

Major General Henry W. Halleck commanded the Department of Missouri and Department of the Mississippi from November 1861 through July 1862. He was then appointed General-in-Chief, and served as a military advisor to Abraham Lincoln. Contained within the Halleck papers is a single order placed on March 12, 1862 just months prior to being ordered to Washington. Halleck requested Major William Prince at Fort Leavenworth to advance regiments from there to Kansas City and Independence, Missouri. His orders were to clear the border counties of “marauding bands of rebels.”

John Wesley Park moved to Smithville, in Clay County, Missouri in the mid-1850s. Park enjoyed life on the plains and even ventured to Colorado in search of gold. His papers primarily consist of correspondence with his sister Sarah Park in Ohio. In his letters, Park commented on the tension between Missourians and Kansans, and how the issue of slavery and border ruffians dominated social conversation. He did not conceal his feelings on any subject and wrote very honestly and opening about his personal political beliefs and the state of affairs in Missouri leading up to the Civil War.

On September 15, 1865 Amanda Ireland filed a law suit in Jasper County against a group of men for the wrongful death of her husband Austin Ireland in 1861. Amanda sued for five thousand dollars in damages. The Ireland proceedings expose the deadly and dire consequences of guerrilla tactics used during the War and also how individuals used the circumstances of the War to seek monetary wealth and revenge.

William G. Bulgin and his wife Elmina lived with her sister Mary and her husband David Holsman in Carthage, Missouri in 1860. On July 31, 1865, Bulgin filed suit against, John F Vestal, John Shirley, and John L Fuller for damaging and destroying his property during the war. Bulgin alleged that the men were a band of guerilla fighters, who supported the Confederacy. Due to the vicious nature and predominance of the guerrilla warfare in Missouri, many county court rooms were filled with civilian claims of restitution in the post-war years. The final verdict of Bulgin’s lawsuit is unknown, but the case represents types of depredation committed throughout the region and how civilians were left to recover their losses.

John Henry filed a lawsuit against 26 men after the war, claiming they imprisoned him for a month in October 1862. The men held him against his will for his loyalties to the Union. Eventually Henry was able to escape from the men, and he asked for $20,000 in damages. The defendants denied having taken part in the Henry’s imprisonment and harassment. The final verdict of the case is unknown, but it represents the vicious nature of guerrilla warfare in Missouri.

Charles Wadlow was involved in a legal case against Benjamin Perryman in May of 1858. The dispute was over the condition of a female slave Perryman sold to Wadlow. The Probate court did not allow some evidence to be heard in the case and therefore ruled in favor of Mr. Perryman. Wadlow took his appeal all the way to the State Supreme Court, where the judges found that the lower courts had erred and overturned the decision. Slaves were only deemed valuable if they were healthy and able to work for their owners. Therefore, if an individual sold a slave knowing that they were not healthy and did not divulge that information to the buyer, it was considered a breech of contract.

Coleman Bruce wrote to his children William and Martha Jane Jackson regarding the political tension within Missouri and the United States. While Bruce’s children supported the Union, he cited in his letter several injustices committed by Northern men. Bruce’s use of derogatory terminology conveyed his feelings about the Union troops. He also, commented on poor market values for crops and recent news from the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Bruce even stated that Sample Orr, an 1860 Missouri gubernatorial candidate, robbed a Springfield bank of $24,000. Allegedly, the money was taken to Rolla to remain in Union hands. Little documentation on this event exists. Bruce encouraged his children to share this letter with their friends and family, perhaps in an attempt to persuade others to support the Confederacy. The letter draw attentions to the impact the War had on family dynamics as well as the crumbling economic condition in the country.

William H. Mengel, a native of Germany, lived in California, Missouri before the War. Mengel was pressed into service as a teamster for the Missouri State Guard in May 1861. He was released a after a little less than a month and he enlisted in the 1st U.S. Reserve Corps, Missouri Home Guards. Mengel was taken prisoner at the Battle of Lexington, where he fought against the Missouri State Guard. After being paroled, he joined the 26th Missouri Infantry, and was sent to Mississippi and Tennessee. Mengel was eventually mustered out of service in January 1865.

Elizabeth Thompson ran general store with her husband James in Clay, Missouri. James was a cattle header and farmer. At the beginning of the Civil War the Thompsons sold goods to confederate soldiers; however, in August 1862 the Provost Marshall forced them to take an Oath of Allegiance to the United States. After declaring their allegiance to the U.S. the Thompsons then sold supplies exclusively to the Union troops. While business owners and farmers may have felt personally aligned with a certain party, they had to support the controlling army in their area or face dire consequences. The Thompson family papers highlight the struggles the War placed on small business owners in Southwest Missouri.

Henry E. Skaggs lived in Cooke, Texas with his wife Narcissa and their three children in 1860. Skaggs was a “Union Man” and feared that he would be hung for his political beliefs if he remained in Texas, so he and five other men fled to Missouri and joined the 1st Missouri Regiment Cavalry. Henry E. Skaggs joined the United States Military in September of 1862 at the age of thirty-three. Skaggs chronicled his perspective of the Civil War from the latter half of 1862 to mid 1864 as he traveled throughout Missouri and Arkansas.

Peter Marselis Van Winkle developed several lumber mills across Northwest Arkansas. He built a vast road network to expedite the shipment of lumber and urbanization. During the war the Van Winkle family fled their home for refuge in Texas. In 1866, they returned to Arkansas to rebuild their lives and the surrounding community. Peter supplied much of the goods to reconstruct homes and businesses. And perhaps Peter Van Winkle may have single handedly shaped the development of the Ozarks, and rejuvenated the region as the country attempted to restore civilization after the Civil War.

Judson Taylor was a private in the Confederate Army. The exact regiment he served in is unknown. On February 18, 1862 Taylor wrote his last will and testament in the case he did not survive through the War. He divided his possession between his wife Bessie, daughter Jenny, son John and his friend Jake. With the uncertainty of surviving the war, soldiers often wrote letters directing how to divide their property and possessions if they died in battle.

John Dryden wrote his wife while on a cattle drive on the Miami Indian Reserve in Linn County, Kansas in July 1863. Dryden noted in his letter about the large band of bushwhackers in Harrisonville, Missouri and how the Union troops along the Missouri-Kansas border retreated to Paola, KS. Dryden was not tied to either military, although the language he uses in his letter suggests he was a loyal Unionist.

B.L. Niggins was a businessman and landowner near Fort Scott, Kansas. Niggins and his family fearing for their safety fled Bourbon County for Shawnee Kansas in September 1861. Niggins wrote to Mr. A. Baker about his business and affairs in Bourbon County, and asked Baker to help close his accounts. Niggins noted regional events including the growing violence in northwest Missouri, but primarily discussed his business dealings.

In February 1865, A. Halley wrote his daughter in Calhoun, Missouri regarding the sale of confederate property in the region. Halley forewarned his daughter that Captain Henry Jennings was “assessing the property of the copperheads in this county to pay the loss.” The term copperhead was slang used during the Civil War for a northerner sympathetic to the southern cause. Proceeds from the property liquidation would be given to civilians to cover depredation restitution from guerrilla warfare.

On January 31, 1861, John Boone wrote Albert Nelson about the value of land in Vernon County, Missouri. Nelson, a Tennessee resident, inquired about selling his land in Missouri, but Boone advised against any transaction. He stated the extreme “hard times” caused a depreciation of value in all property and he could not sell his land for a profit.

In September 1863, James Morris wrote his wife, Sarah, while camp at Little Rock, Arkansas. Morris served in an unknown Confederate regiment, while his wife remained at their home in Vernon County, Missouri. Morris wrote about the deaths of family and friends and urged Sarah to send their children to school.

William Patton, quartermaster in the 35th Arkansas Infantry, CSA, kept this ledger recording supplies distributed to soldiers. Each page lists a soldier’s name, rank and equipment details. Patton documented purchase dates, quantity and price.

Three reports outlining use, value and transfer of equipment for the 16th Missouri Cavalry. The regiment was organized from the 6th Enrolled Missouri Militia and attached to the District of Southwest Missouri. They scouted and patrolled routes across the Ozarks.

On May 7, 1856, John and Joseph McMahan, administers of James McMahan’s estate in Wright County, sold an African American slave named Henry to Kindred Rose, a resident of Greene County. Rose purchased the nineteen year old slave for $2,025. The McMahan’s claimed Henry to be “sound, sensible, healthy and a slave for life.”

The Thomas R. Livingston Collection consists of three civil law suits related to the estate of the notorious Confederate soldier. These suits include depositions from several of Livingston’s friends and family members. Livingston and his band of Confederates conducted raids throughout the Ozarks to contest the Union’s control of the region. Livingston was known for committing acts of arson, murder, robbery, and disrupting Union supply lines. His ruthless tactics outraged Union officials and civilians. Before the War, Livingston had been a successful and prominent business man. He owned a general store, hotel, saloon, real estate in three counties, and actively traded livestock. His assets were sought as restitution for his actions.

A Confederate Girlhood, the memoir of Louisa Cheairs McKenny Sheppard, reflects upon the life of a young lady raised in the Ozarks during the Civil War. While her reminiscence is decidedly sentimental, it is a compelling representation of wartime and economic struggles and refugee life. Louisa was twelve when the War began, and she recalled the impacted it had on Springfield. Her family eventually fled Missouri for her uncle’s plantation in Mississippi. Over time the family moved to Arkansas, and did not return to Springfield until after the War. A Confederate Girlhood is a recollection of Louisa’s youthful adventures and a tribute to her beloved grandmother.

This bill of sale lists supplies and services purchased from Joseph Engle. Thomas Franklin signed the bill, and he is listed as a Captain in the Dallas County Home Guard in the Missouri State Archives’ Soldiers’ Records database. Engle charged $2.50 a day for shipping goods on a two horse wagon. This document warrants further investigation into shipping charges during the War. It would be interesting to compare shipping rates between counties with varying numbers of guerrilla attacks. The bill is dated August 10, 1861 the same day as the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Connections between the purchase of these supplies and the Battle is unlikely, as the Dallas County Home Guard probably did not know the Battle was taking place. This document adds to the understanding of economic conditions in the Ozarks during the War.

The Minos Miller letters are a collection of correspondence written by Miller to his mother, Martha Hornaday, in Indiana. Miller served in the 36th Iowa Infantry, and his letters home describe the strange and often life altering events that he experiences in the Arkansas. Stationed at Helen, Miller resigned from the 36th Iowa Infantry, and accepted a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Arkansas Infantry (African Descent). He wrote his mother about the condition and development of the African American soldiers. Miller participated in the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863, but spent the remainder of the war in a support capacity.

The 1871 Benton County tax record book lists claims of liberated civilian property during the Civil War. These claims provide descriptions of goods taken, property value, accused soldier and regiment, oaths of loyalty and eyewitness testimonies supporting the claim. This collection provides valuable information about living conditions and market values in the Ozarks, and insight to the relationship between soldiers and civilians during the War.

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

John W. Fisher’s diary documents his duties in the Missouri State Guard from mid October, 1861, through the first week of January, 1862. Fisher was born in Virginia, and lived in Westport, Missouri prior to the War. Fisher served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Missouri State Guard. The diary cites Fisher’s movement through Missouri and Indian Territory. Fisher survived the war, ending his days in a Confederate Veterans home in Harrisonburg, Missouri, in 1910.

The Chadwell Leavenworth Collection comprises a series of letters between family members. Gideon and Lucinda Chadwell’s son, Alexander, served in the Missouri State Guard and later in the 2nd Missouri Cavalry (CS). His letters home tell of his service in the military. Alexander had three sisters, Nancy Amanda, Martha and Mary Emma. The family resided in the Ste. Genevieve area. Although Alexander fought for the Confederacy, the family remained in correspondence with their extended Union sympathetic family in Illinois.

Ephraim Fauquier enrolled as a Private in Company “C”, 3rd Regiment, Iowa Cavalry 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.

John Harvey Doran, a carpenter in Springfield, Missouri kept a journal of his daily activities from August 13, 1864 through September 24, 1865. Doran had steady business building shelves, coffins, framing houses, and other general construction jobs. The journal entries include business notes, news from family and friends, and information about Doran’s brief service in the Enrolled Missouri Militia.

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.