Frontier and Pioneer Life
C
William A. Carter Letter, 1850 (C0542)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
To his wife Mary, from Hangtown or Placerville, California, August 11, 1850. Work, prices, and conditions in the gold fields around Placerville.
Subjects
Theodore Spencer Case Papers, 1880-1940 (K0295)
0.57 c.f.
A handwritten manuscript of an early reminiscence of Kansas City. Scrapbook by Case, a doctor/lawyer, local historian, civic leader, that contains travel photographs, and family material, diplomas and certificates awarded to Case and his son, Ermine C. Case.
Counties
Octavia Blackwell Chilton Letter, 1842 (C2059)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
To Betsey Blackwell, Warrenton, VA, from Boonville, MO, Nov. 3, 1842.
Letter to mother giving family news and greetings and discussing merits of life in Missouri.
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Counties
Auguste A. and Constance Chouteau Deed, 1818 (C1491)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Deed to Fenton F. Goss for a lot in Florissant, MO.
Counties
Clarkson Family Papers, 1810-1870 (C1705)
0.2 cubic feet (7 folders)
This collection contains Clarkson family correspondence primarily between Colonel Charles S. Clarkson, his wife, Charlotte, and their children, originating from Ohio, Kentucky, St. Louis, and other locations, concerning family news and business matters. Correspondence from friends and extended family members is also included.
Clay County, Missouri History Papers, 1850-1896 (K0445)
0.18 c.f.
Letters and oaths relating to disenfranchisement under the "Drake Constitution"; autobiographical statements on early Clay County settlers; miscellaneous items including obituaries, sale and other announcements, and letters to the editor. Presumably all of these holograph documents were in some form published in the Liberty Tribune.
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Counties
Daniel B. Cleghorn Family Papers, 1848-1892 (C0252)
0.12 cubic feet (6 folders)
Diary kept by Cleghorn, 1863, on prospecting trip from McGregor, IA, to Black Hills of Dakota Territory; accounts in back. Letters, accounts, receipts, mining claims. Correspondence concerning "Cleghorn Springs," Rapid City, Dakota Territory.
Ethlyn Cockrell Collection, 1846-1859 (C0254)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
This collection contains a letter from Alfred L. Rockhold to his brother Thomas, telling of a journey from Kentucky, staking claims for homesteads, and putting in crops; 300-400 Mormons in north Missouri on their way to California and Missourians’ feelings toward them; and food prices. The collection also includes a land grant issued in 1859 to War of 1812 veteran Francis Williamson for military services.
Counties
Edward Coles Papers, 1818-1866 (C0258)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Deeds and will pertaining to a tract of land in Pike and Lincoln Counties, MO.
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Counties
A. Loyd Collins Scrapbook, 1938 (C1392)
0.35 cubic feet (1 volume)
Newspaper and magazine articles on the history of Missouri: Champ Clark, Kansas City in 1830, Westport in 1855, John J. Pershing, Platte City, Santa Fe Trail, John Mason Peck, Civil War Battle of Westport, land grant to Evan B. Blair in 1844.
Colman-Hayter Family Papers, 1839-1900 (C0084)
0.2 cubic feet
Correspondence and miscellaneous material of a northwest Missouri family. Includes letters from family members while in the Mexican War, in Oregon, traveling down the Mississippi River, and serving in the Confederate Army.
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Counties
Miriam Davis Colt Diary, 1856 (C2755)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The collection contains a typewritten copy with handwritten insertions of Miriam Davis Colt's diary as edited by J. Christian Bay for Friends of the Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, IA, 1941. The diary includes an introduction by Bay; as well as a description of the journey from New York to Kansas Territory and failed attempt to establish a homestead.
Subjects
Polly Cooley Letter, 1935 (C0838)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Letter dated 1851 to her husband, N.G. Cooley, who was in Idaho prospecting for gold. Reprinted in Carrollton Democrat, 1935.
James S. Cowan Letter, 1847 (C0496)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
To John W. Ellis, Salisbury, Rowan County, Virginia, from St. Louis, Missouri, July 25, 1847. Description of St. Louis in 1847, advice, and an invitation for Ellis to come west.
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Counties
Ada E. Crain Papers, c. 1860-2003 (C3067)
1.3 cubic feet (33 folders)
The papers of a schoolteacher consist of correspondence, genealogical materials, photographs, yearbooks, an 1878 diary, and a manuscript written by Crain. The material details the first half of Crain’s life while living and teaching in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Michigan.
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Counties
Cresswell Family Papers, 1823-1979 (R0007)
1.25 cubic foot (51 folders, 2 oversize volumes)
The Cresswell Family Papers contain the personal, legal, and business papers of the Cresswell family of Washington County, Missouri. The papers include correspondence, land documents, legal papers, slave documents, tax receipts, account books from the furnace and store owned by the family, miscellaneous business papers, local school records, and personal papers.
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Counties
Spencer Crutcher Letters, 1847-1917 (C0242)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Written from Jessamine County, KY, to William N. Crutcher, Frankfort, KY, concerning national politics, farming, and family life. Includes an 1886 letter about a gold prospecting trip to California. Miscellaneous items.
Subjects
Henry C. Culp Diary, 1874-1879 (C3736)
0.08 cubic feet (4 folders)
The collection contains a copy of a diary of a West Virginia man who came to Missouri with his family in the 1870s and settled in Webster and then Pettis Counties. The diary is primarily an account of Culp's travels from West Virginia to Missouri and Kansas, with some record of daily events over a span of five years. Also included are financial accounts, prices for food and supplies, family history, some home remedies, and three hand-drawn maps of a small section of Webster County.
Counties
D
Agnes Powell Daniels Letters, 1876-1899 (C0302)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Mimeographed copies of letters from relatives in Wales, New Zealand, and the U.S. to Daniels, who was living in Morgan County, Missouri. Letters primarily discuss family news.
Counties
Joseph Davis Diary, 1825 (C1096)
0.03 cubic feet (1 volume)
Diary, September 30-October 25, 1825, of a member of the party appointed by President John Quincy Adams to survey and mark a road to Santa Fe. Gives account of return trip from the Mexican border. Negative and positive copies.
Winchester Davis Deed, 1871 (C0517)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Howard County land deeded to Winchester Davis by his parents, Joseph and Sarah E. Davis.
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Counties
John Deane Papers, 1853-1854 (R1222)
(1 folder)
These are two letters from John Deane at Potosi in Washington County, Missouri, to his nephew, John Deane, at New Rochelle, New York, dated May 4, 1853, and to "Friend Leland," dated March 12, 1854. The letters concern wagons, horses, mules, "silver mineral," and the weather.
Counties
Defoe Family Papers, 1840-1867 (C0309)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Primarily land grants and deeds.
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Counties
William R. Denslow Collection, 1841-1929 (C0822)
0.4 cubic feet (21 folders)
The collection contains materials collected by William R. Denslow, including his father’s memoirs, articles on local history, letters dated 1859-1861 written by a young boy working on a whaling ship, and a typescript copy of an 1898 diary describing the Yukon gold fields.
Counties
Doble-Lucas Family Letters, 1856-1865 (C0305)
1 roll of microfilm
Letters from locations in New York, Ohio, Indiana, and California.
Alexander W. Doniphan Letters, 1859 (C3520)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Letters introducing Robert G. Gilmer to Sam Houston and Asbell Smith of Galveston, Texas.
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Counties
Samuel Dowell Military Land Grant, 1819 (C0486)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Grant of 160 acres of land in Missouri, signed by James Monroe.
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Downing and Whinrey Families Papers, 1837-1929 (R0049)
0.25 cubic foot (11 folders)
The Downing and Whinrey Families Papers contain photocopies of receipts and correspondence of the Downing and Whinrey families of southwestern Missouri. Both families had members who went to California to mine gold in the 1850s, some of whom remained to settle in the West. Most of the collection consists of letters written to relatives in Missouri.
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Counties
Nathan Boone Interview, 1851 (C1212)
0.18 cubic feet (1 volume)
Draper's notes and comments on his interviews of Nathan Boone, Daniel Boone's son. Recollections of Daniel Boone's life and of other pioneers in Kentucky and Missouri.
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Lyman Copeland Draper Collection, 1735-1815 (C2964)
136 rolls of microfilm
Microfilm copy of the Draper Collection of manuscripts.
Subjects
Draper-McClurg Family Papers, 1838-2009 (C3069)
5.2 cubic feet (199 folders), 5 rolls of microfilm, 24.6 MB of digital files
The Draper-McClurg family papers are comprised of correspondence, photographs, Civil War diaries and records, and other personal papers of the families of Philander Draper and Joseph W. McClurg. The papers document the families' involvement in politics, farming and orchards, lead mining and smelting, the Civil War, and frontier life in Missouri, the Dakota Territory, and several western states.
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Counties
Thomas Dresser Letter, 1839 (C2067)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
To Mr. and Mrs. Comfort C. Dresser, Chester, VT, from St. Louis, MO, Jan. 29, 1839.
Climate of Missouri, river estate, prospects of parents coming to Missouri.
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Counties
Henry Timberlake Duncan Papers, 1838-1844 (C0304)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Negative photostats of three land grants issued in Vandalia, Illinois, for nearby tracts.
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Dunlap Family Papers, 1780-2002 (C4004)
1.9 cubic feet (91 folders)
The papers of the Dunlap family include genealogical records, a Civil War journal, photographs, maps and land surveys, and other research materials compiled to produce histories of the Dunlap and Kofahl families of Licking, Missouri.
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Counties
E
"An Early History of Oregon County, Missouri", no date (C3503)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Author describes Indigenous peoples of the area, the abundant wild game, timber, the first white settlers, the formation of the county and its villages.
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Counties
"Early History of Oregon County," William E. Lowry, no date (C0785)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Early history of Oregon County including biographical sketches of some of the settlers.
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Counties
"Early Post Roads and Post Offices in Ray and Clay Counties," E.L. Pigg, 1942 (C0704)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Early routes, methods of travel, location of post offices, and postmasters in Ray and Clay Counties, with connecting towns on these postal routes, 1800-1857.
Subjects
Eastern Missouri Collection, 1858-2009 (S1135)
3.5 cubic feet, 1 reel of 16mm film, 1 reel of microfilm, 39 oversize items
The Eastern Missouri Collection is an artificial collection combining miscellaneous small acquisitions related to Missouri places, individuals, organizations, and events. The Eastern Missouri Collection continues to have material added to it. New additions are added at the end of the collection. Researchers should browse the index and container lists to locate pertinent material.
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Counties
Sidney S. Elliott Letter, 1850 (C2644)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The collection contains a letter to Elliott's parents from California, April 5, 1850, describing his experiences in the gold rush.
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Eminence, Missouri, History, 1914 (C0764)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
History of Eminence from the Civil War to 1914, written by Leland Adair.
Counties
Minerva Estes Land Titles, 1854-1859 (C0570)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
One military land grant to Minerva Estes at Jackson, Missouri, June 2, 1854, signed by Franklin Pierce; two land titles to Minerva Estes of Wayne County, Missouri, October 10, 1856, signed by Franklin Pierce, and January 1, 1859, signed by James Buchanan.
Subjects
James W. Evans Letter, 1850 (C1872)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
To Ellis G. Evans, Crawford County, MO, from Frenchman's Bar, Yuba County, CA, Oct. 27, 1850. Letter to his brother describing the hardships of the journey across the plains to the California gold mines. Tells of Indian attacks, shortages of water and food, and difficulties along the Humboldt River.
Subjects
Evening Star Records, 1867 (C0903)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The records contain a logbook of trips on the Missouri River, giving financial account, conditions, and distances of trips; an advertisement of trips to the Idaho gold fields. Consists of negative photostats and typed copies.
Eversmann Family Papers, 1810-1982 (C3743)
0.3 cubic feet
Family history and genealogy of the Eversmann family in Germany. Biographical sketches of Alexander, Ludwig, and Julius Eversmann. Correspondence, financial and legal records of Ludwig Eversmann and Gottfried Duden of Warren County, MO. Also poems, home remedies, and other miscellaneous items. Mostly in German with some English translations.
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Counties
F
John C. Farrar Diaries, 1852-1859 (C2580)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)
Diaries of a California miner from Perryville, Perry County, MO. Covers overland journey and mining ventures at Hangtown and Tuttletown, CA. Notes daily events, profits, roads, and other miners in the vicinity.
Subjects
Farrar-Caldwell Family Papers, 1823-1859 (C2093)
0.08 cubic feet (4 folders)
Correspondence and receipts of a Franklin County, MO, family. The majority of the correspondence is between Josiah Harrison Farrar in the California gold fields and his wife, Lucretia Jane, at home, 1852-1853. Also included are letters from other Farrar-Caldwell relatives in the gold fields. The letters describe California's climate, the crops grown, and contain news of Franklin County neighbors also in California.
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Counties
Russell Ferguson Letters, 1855-1856 (C0316)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Transcripts of two letters to Russell Ferguson in California from his parents, James and Elizabeth Ferguson, Spring River, Lawrence County, MO, mentioning rumors of gold in the Wichita Mountains. One letter from Julia Sutton, also of Spring River. Originals in the possession of Mr. and Mrs. C. Kendall.
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Counties
Gabriel Field Journal, 1819 (C1891)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Journal of a trip from Camp Missouri to Chariton kept by Gabriel Field from October 31 to November 27, 1819, for Colonel H. Atkinson. Journal includes detailed directions and observations of the area. Two maps of route.
James M. Fitzpatrick Letters, 1848-1857 (C2711)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)
Twenty-one letters to and from James Fitzpatrick of Lexington, KY, concerning family news, the California gold rush, farming, and cholera epidemic.
Subjects
Daniel Fogle Letters, 1867 (C2613)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Six letters from Daniel Fogle to his wife while he was on an exploratory expedition to western Missouri and Kansas.