American Civil War

B

John L. Beveridge Special Orders, 1865 (C2197)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The collection contains positive photostats of Special Orders No. 144 to investigate complaints of Dresden, Pettis County, MO, citizens against Captain Devohue and the Pettis County Volunteers Militia for alleged interference with citizens (rebels who had taken the oath) and their property.

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Bird Family Papers, 1831-1959 (R0170)
0.1 cubic foot (5 folders)

 Finding Aid

The Bird Family Papers contain photocopies of miscellaneous correspondence, estate papers, land records, business records, and biographical materials pertaining to the Bird, Byrd, Moore, and Hunter families of southeastern Missouri. The papers concern the business and estates in Mississippi, New Madrid, and Scott counties in Missouri and the Bird estate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

William Bishop Papers, 1839-1891 (C3894)
0.4 cubic feet

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Papers of a commander of a Union Cavalry unit in northeast Missouri during the Civil War, and State Treasurer of Missouri following the war. The papers consist of personal and military correspondence and miscellaneous documents, and State Treasurer records.

Black Family Letters, 1861-1878 (C1898)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains Civil War correspondence of George W. and Alexander Black of Company E, 21st Regiment, Missouri Volunteers, with members of their family; the correspondence concerns their deaths; family news and business letters.

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John A. Blackwell Papers, 1852-1940 (C3732)
2.3 cubic feet (59 folders)

 Finding Aid

Contains the correspondence, diaries, writings, Civil War papers, and medical practice records of a doctor from Bedford, Indiana, who later lived in Foristell and Wellsville, Missouri. Also included are family letters, Woman’s Christian Temperance Union records, and a history of the Clover family.

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H.M. Bledsoe Portrait, 1895 (P0296)
1 photograph

1 b/w bust and negative of H.M. Bledsoe (1825-1899), taken at Pleasant Hill.

Blumenhorst Family Papers, 1586-1959 (S0442)
1.2 cubic foot, 117 folders

 Finding Aid

The Blumenhorst Papers contain correspondence, bills of sale, wills, and a diary, chronicling the histories of the Craig, Lewis, Watts, Wallace, and Woodson families from 1586 to 1959.

Lynn Bock Research Collection, 1856-2000 (CG0062)
4.0 c.f.

 Finding Aid

This collection contains mostly copied materials and excerpts from published materials, nearly all relating to the creator’s research on the Battle of Island No. 10 and New Madrid, Missouri, in 1862. It also includes two manuscript versions of his book, “Island No. 10: Struggle for the Mississippi Valley” (co-authored with Larry J. Daniel, published in 1996,) and materials related to his efforts to get that book published. There are also folders of correspondence, related to his research, several reissues of newspapers that dealt with the battle for Island No. 10, and some materials related to his research for the article “Constitutional Warfare in Missouri.”

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Leonard Valentine Bolon Papers, 1865-1866 (R0313)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The Leonard Valentine Bolon Papers contain photocopies of two Civil War letters, from Rolla and Benton Barracks in St. Louis, written by Leonard V. Bolon of Co. F, 49th Wisconsin Infantry. Also included is a photocopy of verse written in Cuba, Illinois, Bolon’s hometown, in 1866.

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Joel M. Bolton Memoir, 1930 (C1801)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

A 1930 memoir of Confederate soldier Joel Monroe Bolton of Jefferson City, MO, who served as a sergeant in a cavalry regiment in the West throughout the Civil War.

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T.B. Bond Papers, no date (C1747)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The papers of T.B. Bond contain blank forms of the Confederate States Army; a certificate of disability for discharge; a report of the sick and wounded; a register of surgical cases; and a valentine.

W.C. Boulware Letter, 1861 (C1959)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

To Family from Lexington, MO, Sept. 28, 1861. Letter describing the battle of Lexington, in which the author participated, and its aftermath.

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Joe Boxley Wilson Creek Battle Account, 1905 (C2390)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The collection contains an account of the Battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield, MO, 1861, and events leading up to it, as told by Joe Boxley to William E. Connelley. According to Connelley's interview, Boxley was an enslaved African American whose enslaver insisted Joe ride with him to General Price's camp and fight the Yankees.

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John R. Boyd Handbill, no date (C2832)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Handbill addressed to the men of Buchanan and adjoining counties, calling for men to fight against Fremont.

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Semphronius Hamilton Boyd Letter, 1865 (C1481)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The collection consists of a letter in which Boyd, emancipationist representative from Missouri, condemned secession as "a spiritual malady" and opposed recognition or admission into the Union of the seceded states.

John F. Bradbury, Jr. Postcard Collection, 1889-2022 (R1551)
4 cubic feet (122 folders, 4,432 postcards)

 Finding Aid

The John F. Bradbury, Jr. Postcard Collection contains postcards collected by Bradbury, containing images from the Ozarks and Southern Missouri. The postcards consist of real photograph, commercially printed, and illustrated postcards. The images mainly feature Missouri towns, railroads, Route 66, resorts, and rivers.

Moses J. Bradford Letters, 1863-1865 (C2727)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains Photostats of letters from Moses J. Bradford to his wife in Rolla, MO, from various Union prison camps expressing fears about the war and about the safety of his family and describing prison life and conditions.

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Moses Jasper Bradford Papers, 1861-1865 (R0360)
0.02 cubic foot (2 folders)

 Finding Aid

The Moses Jasper Bradford Papers contain original and photocopied Civil War letters of a native of Relfe, Phelps County, Missouri, and an officer of the Missouri State Guard and the 10th Missouri Infantry (CSA). He wrote from camps in Missouri and Arkansas, and, after his capture in 1863, from Union prison camps in Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, South Carolina, and Georgia.

George Bradley Papers, 1863 (R0566)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The George Bradley Papers consist of a photocopied letter from Little Rock, Arkansas, dated April 13, 1863, by Confederate soldier George W. Bradley from Phelps County, Missouri. In his correspondence, Bradley comments on camp life, changes in command of the army, fellow soldiers from Phelps County, and the course of the war in Arkansas.

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Victoria Branham Photograph Collection, 1863-1925 (P0213)
28 photographs

A collection of cabinet cards and carte de visit from the Civil War era, many of military officers.

Lizzie E. Brannock Letter, 1864 (C0224)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

To brother Edwin from Chapel Hill, MO, Jan. 13, 1864. Desolate conditions of Missouri during the Civil War, her husband's imprisonment in St. Louis by the Union army, and her attempts to support her family.

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William W. Branson Diary, 1861-1862 (C0218)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Branson was a member of an Iowa regiment during the campaign of 1861 in Missouri. He fought in the Battle of Wilson's Creek, August 10, 1861.

William Clark Breckenridge Papers, 1752-1927 (C1036)
4.75 cubic feet (117 folders, 21 volumes), 1 card file, 3 rolls of microfilm

 Finding Aid

The papers of the St. Louis businessman, writer, and historian contain correspondence, scrapbooks, book sale announcements, and miscellaneous materials, with an emphasis on St. Louis and Missouri history.

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Sidney A. Breese Papers, 1863-1867 (C3429)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)

 Finding Aid

Letters and official papers to and from the quartermaster's office and the chief of ordnance and ordnance stores. Breese was captain of the 6th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry in charge of ordnance and ordnance stores during the Civil War.

Jane Bridgewater Oath of Allegiance, 1863 (C0473)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

A test oath sworn before C.S. Moore, 22 May 1863.

Wiley Britton Papers, 1878-1997 (C4401)
0.2 cubic feet (5 folders), 14 MB of digital files (4 jpegs)

 Finding Aid

The papers contain memoirs, correspondence, financial records, newspaper clippings, and genealogical information collected by Wiley Britton and his children.

Dutton Brookfield Papers, 1844-1979 (C2732)
72.4 cubic feet (5702 folders, 5 audio cassettes, 2 volumes, 1 microfilm reel)

 Finding Aid

The papers of Dutton Brookfield contain the business, political and personal papers and photographs of a Kansas City, MO, community leader. Brookfield was President of Unitog Company (1953-1979), a mayoral candidate (1963, 1971), and on boards of numerous corporations and educational and civic organizations. Family papers include letters from the Civil War, World War I and II, and Vietnam.

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Isham Browder Papers, 1855-1862 (R0115)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The Isham Browder Papers contains photocopies of letters written to Isham Browder of Dallas, Texas, from his brother Edward Browder, a Confederate soldier from Flat Creek, Missouri and Boggy Depot, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. There are also receipts from merchants in Dallas.

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Bergun H. Brown Papers, 1861-1972 (C3798)
0.2 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

A collection of letters, diary, service documents, short histories, anecdotes, maps, excerpts from books, and newspaper articles compiled by Guy M. Brown and entitled Bergun H. Brown’s Civil War Days. Material concerns Bergun Brown’s Civil War service as a private in the 29th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry; some family history material is also included.  Includes photocopies of Brown's manuscript letters and diary, with typescript copies. The annotations, short histories, and anecdotes were written by Guy M. Brown, Bergun’s son.

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James Brown Papers, 1856-1866 (C0231)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder), 1 roll of microfilm

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Letter from H.C.N. Brown, Front Royal, 1856, concerning the hire of Henry and his wife Catherine, probably enslaved. Poem. Death of Virginius Brown in the Civil War. Political conditions, 1866, money, crops, and formerly enslaved individuals.

John Brown Collection, 1855-1904 (K0218)
0.01 c.f.

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Photocopies of letters written from Kansas Territory by Brown and his son, John Brown, Jr. to Orson Day of White Hall, NY. Brown, who "just returned from the Kansas War," details his concerns for the Territory and gives travel instructions to Day who apparently planned to move his family to Kansas. Also copies of various newspaper accounts (1859) of the action at Harper's Ferry; and a reprint of an anti-Brown article.

William Brown Quantrill Raid Account, 1909 (C2391)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The collection contains an account told by William Brown to William E. Connelly, who wrote it down. Brown was an observer of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence. According to the accounts, his house was burned by the guerrillas.

Columbus and Bennet Bryan Letters, 1862-1863 (C0209)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

From two brothers, who were Union soldiers in southern Missouri and Arkansas, to their family in Caledonia, MO. Troop movement, camp life, and general topics.

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John Buckner Biographical Information, no date (C1878)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Information concerning John Buckner and his slave, Abe, their service in the Civil War, and settlement in Scotland County, MO, in the 1870s.

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John T. Buegel Civil War Diary, 1861-1864 (C1844)
0.06 cubic feet (3 folders)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The collection contains a diary, in German, with translation by William G. Bek, 1945. The diary documents Buegel's career as a soldier in Company F, 3rd Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, including battles of Camp Jackson, Wilson's Creek and Springfield, and Sherman's march to the sea.

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S.G. Bundy Autobiography, 1912 (C2985)
1 roll of microfilm

 Finding Aid

The collection contains an autobiography of a farmer, pioneer, rural school teacher, Union soldier, and Methodist missionary and minister.

Thomas Ervin Burgess Papers, circa 1862 (R0640)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The Thomas Ervin Burgess Papers consists of photocopies of a Civil War photograph, service record, and genealogical data of Sergeant Thomas E. Burgess of Gasconade County, Missouri. Burgess served in Dallmeyer's Battalion of Missouri Militia, the 10th Missouri Cavalry, and the 2nd Missouri Cavalry in the Union Army, 1861-1865.

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Christian Johann Burki Papers, 1861-1886 (R1416)
0.1 cubic foot (4 folders)

 Finding Aid

The Christian Johann Bürki Papers contain materials related to his service during the Civil War. Born in Bern, Switzerland, Bürki moved to the United States prior to the Civil War and enlisted at St. Louis in the Missouri Volunteer Infantry, 15th Regiment, known as the ‘Swiss Rifles,’ where he rose to the rank of captain.

Maggie Burnside Letter, 1863 (C0560)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Letter from Maggie Burnside to Matilda Girdner of Alexandria, Ohio, March 21, 1863. The letter describes sugar making and raising money and provisions for Union soldiers with a "Soldier's Supper." Also describes resistance to the conscription bill.

Richard W. Burt Papers, 1817-1911 (C0226)
0.12 cubic feet (6 folders)

 Finding Aid

Description of everyday life in Ohio during the 1840s. Letters on army life during the Mexican War and the Civil War. Letters include descriptions of battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Vicksburg. Scrapbook contains clippings from Burt's Progressive Age, Coshocton, Ohio, clippings of his letters regarding the Mexican and Civil Wars, and other miscellaneous clippings.

Washington Burtnett Papers, 1855-1862 (C2146)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Photograph and biography of Burtnett, 1861 Union Army discharge, 1855 Sons of Temperance membership, 1856 record book fly leaf, and two 1862 letters to his wife and children. Burtnett wrote about the war, McClellan and Pope outside Richmond, army marches, communications, and his duties as acting clerk for his commander, Captain McDonald.

Bush Family Papers, 1819-1923 (C3887)
0.2 cubic feet, 1 roll of microfilm

 Finding Aid

Journals, farm records, and correspondence of a Boone County, KY, family who settled in southeastern Arkansas. Details 1819-1820 steamboat trips up the Missouri River from St. Louis to Council Bluffs, and farm operations in the 1850s and 1860s.

Sarah Lewis Bush Family Papers, 1888-1972 (K0237)
1 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other documents regarding members of Bush's family: Dr. Charles Wesley Burrill, Surgeon General of the Grand Army of the Republic and doctor in Kansas City, Evelyn Burrill Lewis, and William A. Lewis, educators in Kansas City

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Douglas Ritchie Bushnell Papers, 1861-1866 (R0675)
(1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The Douglas Ritchie Bushnell Papers contain the photocopy letters of an officer of the 13th Illinois Infantry, written during campaigns in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Bushnell was killed in action at Ringgold, Georgia, in November 1863. There are also a few letters from his wife, Emily, and other correspondents.

C

Caby and Hahn Families Papers, 1856-1960 (R1305)
(2 oversize folders)

 Finding Aid

This is the Robert W. Beiriger collection of family records of the Caby and Hahn families in Bollinger County, Missouri. The collection includes a land record, military pension papers, birth and marriage records, and five photographs of some of the individuals noted in the documents.

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Henry Titus Canfield Papers, 1858-ca, 1 (K0204)
0.1 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Civil War era letters from Canfield, then a civilian clerk with Gen. James B. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee (17th Army Corps), to his sweetheart, Delia Mansfield, as well as a series of compositions which appear to be submissions to a local newspaper (in Ohio?).

Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, Oaths of Loyalty, 1865-1866 (C1062)
0.02 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

Abstract of oaths filed in conformity with requirements of 7th section of 2nd article of the new constitution.

"Captain William Farley Carter, Model for a Monument," Joseph M. Shockley, no date (C2132)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains a biography of Carter (1843-1930) and history of the Confederate cemetery and monument at Springfield, MO.

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Robert Huston Carnahan Papers, 1861 (R0627)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The Robert Huston Carnahan Papers contain a letter from Robert H. Carnahan, an officer in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry stationed at Rolla in Phelps County, Missouri. In the letter, dated December 3, 1861, Carnahan commented on winter quarters and camp life.

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