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These letters from numerous individuals were received by Samuel James Reader. Only two of the letters, dated September 24, 1898, and October 11, 1899, were written by Reader. Many of the letters refer to the Battle of the Blue, which was Reader's only war experience. The battle occurred on October 22, 1864, in Jackson County, Missouri. The authors of some letters wish to thank Reader for sending them photographs relating to the battle, and others are former comrades from the 2nd Kansas Regiment responding to Reader's letters. Reader received letters from Salmon Brown, the surviving son of John Brown, and Jesse R. Grant, son of Ulysses S. Grant. Six of the letters, dated 1908 and 1909, come from Reader's "boyhood acquaintance" Joseph Smith III, who lived in Independence, Missouri. In one letter, Smith reminisces on time spent in La Harpe, Illinois, where Reader once lived. Smith also acknowledges that he was an abolitionist, who "sympathized with Kansas and her Free State men who prevented the accomplishment of the wicked intent of the Missouri Compromise."
Date: 1895-1914
Item Number: 226131
Call Number: Samuel Reader Coll. #483, Box 4-5
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 226131
Collections - Manuscript - Reader, Samuel James
Date - 1890s
Date - 1900s
Date - 1910s
Military - Wars - Civil War - Battle of the Blue
Military - Wars - Civil War - Kansas Units - State Militia - 2nd Kansas State Militia Infantry
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Manuscript
People - Notable Kansans - Reader, Samuel James, 1836-1914
Places - Cities and towns - Topeka
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Manuscript
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/226131