Charles G. Upton was born in Osceola, Missouri in 1852. He would go on to write a memoir about his life in Missouri prior to the start of the Civil War and how his family survived the horrific event. Upton mentions in his account the Burning of Osceola by General James Henry Lane and his Brother Thomas’s service in the Union Army. The Upton family would have to leave Missouri and settled in Illinois to escape Confederate soldiers. Upton would go on to marry Mary Ellen Woodcock in 1871 and the two resided in Leavenworth, Kansas. Upton died in 1941 and is buried in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Richard Henry Roberts was born on November 11, 1843 in Brookville, Indiana to Billingsley and Emily Roberts.1 In the spring of 1853, he moved to Cedar County, Missouri where he lived until 1864 when Guerrilla violence forced his family to relocate to Nebraska.2 He received letters from two of his cousins in the Union army, […]

Andrew Williams was a slave belonging to Henry Williams near Mt. Vernon, in Lawrence Co., Missouri. He fought with General Sterling Price in Arkansas in 1861, but was freed by the 6th Kansas Regiment in 1862. While in Lawrence, Kansas, Williams witnessed the infamous raid of the city by William Quantrill and his men on August 21, 1863. He worked for the 7th Kansas Cavalry until they went farther west from Topeka. After the war ended, Williams worked as a gardener for William Connelly from 1908 to 1910. It was Connelly who convinced Williams to write down his life experiences.

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.

The Isely Family Papers contain correspondence and other documents dating from the late 1850s through the 1930s. A significant portion of the collection consists of letters written during the Civil War between Christian H. Isely and his wife, Marie Elizabeth “Eliza” Dubach. Christian served in the 2nd Kansas Cavalry and they traveled throughout Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma; which was then Indian Territory. During the war, Eliza went to live with Christian’s parents in Ohio, rather than stay with her father in Willow Dale, Kansas, due to the unstable conditions in the Kansas-Missouri border region. The Isely’s were a profoundly religious family and their correspondences depict the deeply rooted connection between religion and political convictions and how their beliefs often divided their family.

Partheny Horn was a strong southern supporter who in 1863, who along with a group of other Missouri women left the state seeking refuge in Texas. Partheny and her family lived in Cedar County, Missouri before the war. She recalled her brother’s departure into service and the trials she and the other woman faced on their harrowing journey to Texas. Horn’s memoir provides a fascinating account of their experiences and documents the physical and mental strength of women during the War. Horn authored the memoir fifty years after the war ended, thus her description are not entirely historically accurate. The memoir does, however, offer a very unique and invaluable perspective of the war’s impact on southern women in Missouri.

Freeman Barrows moved to Missouri from Massachusetts in 1841. He was one of the early prominent figures of Bates County, serving as County Clerk, Recorder, and later Probate Judge. Freeman died on April 26, 1861, but wrote prolifically about the rising political tension along the Kansas Missouri border and throughout the country. During the war, Jayhawkers stole the family’s livestock, equipment, and anything else that was portable. Though the family survived the war, they incurred a large sum of debt. The Barrows collection consists of correspondence between family members from 1837-1883, and depicts the hardships families in southwest Missouri faced during the war and the years that followed.

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.

The Rice family papers consist of five letters written between family and friends of Isaac Tandy Rice and his wife Mary C. Rice. Isaac served in Company F, 35th Arkansas Infantry, CSA during the Civil War. The Rice family left northwest Arkansas during the war and settled in Texas. Their letters discuss family news and hopes of returning home.

The Ozias Ruark collection contains correspondence and a diary detailing the service of a captain in the 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Throughout his diary, Ruark comments on four underlying themes: the impact of the war on civilians, foraging, engagements with guerrillas and the daily routine of camp life. He also notes weather, towns and the Ozarks landscape. Ruark’s perspective as a soldier provides a valuable portrait of military life in the region.

This extraordinary diary contains entries written by both Union and Confederate soldiers. It originally belonged to George Falconer, enrolled in Col J. J. Clarkson’s Confederate Cavalry. During the Battle of Locust Grove, 3 July 1862, Falconer was taken prisoner, and Maj. Albert Ellithorpe, Indian Home Guards, 1st Kansas Infantry, captured the diary. Most of the entries are written by Ellithorpe, who described engagements with Confederate soldiers, Kansas politicians and bushwhackers. Ellithorpe participated in several battles including Locust Grove, Cane Hill, Prairie Grove and a smaller engagement with Thomas Livingston’s bushwhackers.

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.

The Hunter-Hagler collection provides rare documentation on how women endured the War in the Ozarks. The letters are written by Elizabeth Hunter and her daughters, Priscilla A. Hunter and Charlotte Elizabeth (Hunter) Hagler. The Hunters write Margaret Hunter Newberry, who married and left the family farm. The letters describe how the Hunter family survived harsh winters, sold goods at the market, and provide graphic details of murder, theft and destruction caused by bushwhackers in Jasper and Lawrence Counties. Perpetual violence caused the Hunter family to leave their beloved homestead, and flee to Illinois in late 1864. Elizabeth wrote her daughter affectionately and often, and through these letters Elizabeth relates the brutal conditions in which the family endured.

The Robert Carnahan Letters consists of two correspondences written by Carnahan to his wife in November of 1861. Carnahan enlisted as an officer in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry at Camp Butler, Illinois in August of 1861. The 3rd Illinois Cavalry first served as part of John C. Fremont’s campaign to capture Springfield, Missouri. The first letters is written from Springfield, and the second is from Lebanon as the 3rd Illinois Cavalry marched to Rolla.

Joseph H. Trego, a Lieutenant in the 5th Kansas Cavalry, wrote his brother Thomas Trego about his experiences around Kansas City in early October 1861. The 5th Kansas Cavalry was organized on July 12, 1861, and many of its companies were stationed along the Kansas and Missouri border. Trego made several remarks about the poor leadership and judgment of Samuel D. Sturgis, and at one point humorously called him “Prince Sturges.” Trego provided accounts of Union forces raiding civilians in Missouri, and of a Confederate spy who destroyed an ordinance wagon in their camp. Trego informs his brother that he might be marching south again to protect southern Kansas from invading Missouri and Cherokee soldiers. This single letter exemplifies many of the hardship that faced civilians in Missouri and Kansas during the Civil War.

The Lizzie Gilmore collection is a series of letters written by Elizabeth C. Gilmore, primarily to her cousins in Crittenden County, Kentucky. Through her letters, “Lizzie” notes political differences among her family, guerrilla warfare in Missouri and Kentucky, and the hardships she faced in Laclede County. She commented on the fears of living among the war split community of Lebanon and the nature of co-existence. Lizzie declared her loyalty to the Union, but she specifically states, “but that is as far as I go.” It is unknown if she was opposed northern aggression, advocated for states rights, or supported slavery. This collection provides a glimpse of life for a Laclede County citizen facing the struggles of war and reconstruction in the Ozarks.

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 Stirman Davidson Collection is a spirited group of letters written to Rebecca Stirman Davidson, of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The bulk of the letters are from her brother Erasmus “Ras” Stirman, while serving in the Civil War. The letters tell the story of Erasmus service in the Confederate Army, his fears and doubts about winning the War, and leading his company of sharpshooters into certain death. Erasmus loved meeting new women, and his letters to Rebecca are full of candor and humor, often telling a larger tale of the social and cultural customs of the era to which he opportunistically flaunted. Erasmus’ successes in the military, coupled with his family’s access to political and societal privilege, combine to tell a wonderful story of upper class life in the Civil War of the Ozarks.

On August 17, 1861 Missouri Governor Hamilton R. Gamble ordered a proclamation establishing the Missouri State Militia for defense of the State against guerrilla activity. Gamble soon realized the need for additional troops, and on July 22, 1862 he issued General Order Number 29 organizing the Enrolled Missouri Militia (EMM). General Colley B. Holland assumed command of the 4th Military district, consisting of the counties in southwest Missouri, on October 30, 1862. Based in Springfield, Missouri, roughly 2,500 men reported for duty, operating under the jurisdiction of the State of Missouri. Holland’s documented all activities related to his command in the enrolled Missouri Militia order book for the 4th Military District in Southwest Missouri, from November 1862 through May 1863. His reports cover the Battles of Springfield and Hartville and also include details about depredation in Southwest Missouri and the extensive guerrilla activity that took place in the region.

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.