Adjutant General's report, Kansas Colored Volunteers correspondence
Creator: United States. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1863-1864
This bound letter book contains copies of letters sent and received by the Adjutant General's Office in Fort Scott, Kansas. They were assigned to recruit a regiment of colored soldiers. Letters were received from the War Department in Washington, D.C. and from the Office of the Governor in Kansas. The letters focus on the recruitment and commissioning of troops and officers for the Kansas Colored Volunteer's regiments. Many of the letters were written by or sent to General James G. Blunt. It appears the book was kept by Major T. J. Anderson, Assistant Adjutant General. Names of many individuals appear in the volume.

Basic Field Manual: First Aid for Soldiers
Creator: United States. War Dept.
Date: between 1943 and 1946
Basic Field Manual: First Aid for Soldiers. War Department publication FM 21-11, April 7, 1943. Belonged to Private First Class John Lee Meyer, Jr. Meyer, a native of Phillipsburg, Kansas, was drafted into the Army in 1943. He saw heavy combant in Germany as part of the 1st Infantry Division, 18th Regiment, Company F, eventually receiving both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. After the war, Meyer was reassigned to the 1st Division, Chief of Council, Presentation Department in Nuremberg. His new duties included building the architectural model for the redesigned courtroom at the Palace of Justice in preparation for the Nuremberg Trials.

Basic Field Manual: Infantry Drill Regulations
Creator: United States. War Dept.
Date: between 1943 and 1946
Basic Field Manual: Infantry Drill Regulations. War Department publication FM 22-5, August 4, 1941. Belonged to Private First Class John Lee Meyer, Jr. Meyer, a native of Phillipsburg, Kansas, was drafted into the Army in 1943. He saw heavy combant in Germany as part of the 1st Infantry Division, 18th Regiment, Company F, eventually receiving both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. After the war, Meyer was reassigned to the 1st Division, Chief of Council, Presentation Department in Nuremberg. His new duties included building the architectural model for the redesigned courtroom at the Palace of Justice in preparation for the Nuremberg Trials.

Basic Field Manual: Soldier's Handbook
Creator: United States. War Dept.
Date: between 1943 and 1946
Basic Field Manual: Soldier's Handbook. War Department publication FM 21-100, July 23, 1941. Belonged to Private First Class John Lee Meyer, Jr. Meyer, a native of Phillipsburg, Kansas, was drafted into the Army in 1943. He saw heavy combant in Germany as part of the 1st Infantry Division, 18th Regiment, Company F, eventually receiving both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. After the war, Meyer was reassigned to the 1st Division, Chief of Council, Presentation Department in Nuremberg. His new duties included building the architectural model for the redesigned courtroom at the Palace of Justice in preparation for the Nuremberg Trials.

Consultants to the Secretary of War meeting in 1940
Date: January 20, 1940
A photo of the nation's leading psychiatrists who were consultants to the Secretary of War met in Washington D.C. to discuss the future of the War Department neuropsychiatric policies. Dr. Will is seated third from right.

H.J. Alvord, departmental claim agent, Washington, D.C.
Creator: Alvord, H.J.
Date: 1870
This business card from attorney H.J. Alvord indicates that he was well-versed in dealing with Indian depredation claims. These were predominantly claims filed by Euro-Americans living in the West against Native Americans for crimes they allegedly committed in the years following the American Civil War.

Infantry Field Manual: Rifle Company, Rifle Regiment
Creator: United States. War Dept.
Date: 1942
Infantry Field Manual: Rifle Company, Rifle Regiment. War Department publication FM 7-10, June 2, 1942. Belonged to Private First Class John Lee Meyer, Jr. Meyer, a native of Phillipsburg, Kansas, was drafted into the Army in 1943. He saw heavy combant in Germany as part of the 1st Infantry Division, 18th Regiment, Company F, eventually receiving both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. After the war, Meyer was reassigned to the 1st Division, Chief of Council, Presentation Department in Nuremberg. His new duties included building the architectural model for the redesigned courtroom at the Palace of Justice in preparation for the Nuremberg Trials.

James Barnes Whitaker correspondence
Date: 1855-1909
This collection includes materials related to all aspects of James Barnes Whitaker's professional life, including his real estate business and his legal career, particularly for the pensioners he helped. He came to Tecumseh, Shawnee County in 1856 and worked there as a surveyor. In 1857, he moved to Topeka where he remained, serving as county sheriff, surveyor, and Topeka city engineer. He owned an abstract and real estate business in Topeka and was an attorney, representing numerous Civil War veterans in obtaining disability pensions, many of whom served in Kansas units. The collection consists of Whitaker's correspondence (arranged chronologically) and Whitaker's 1857 certificate of appointment as a U.S. Deputy Marshal.

James Barnes Whitaker legal documents
Date: 1855-1899
These legal documents belonging to James Barnes Whitaker include mortgages, leases, quitclaim deeds, indentures, warrants issued to the Marshal's office, tax and other receipts regarding Whitaker's real estate business. There are also Internal Revenue licenses for various occupations, records on pension and war claims, including forms from the War Department, Treasury Office, and Department of the Interior Pension Office. Bound volumes include a notebook of war claims and a county surveyor field notebook. James Barnes Whitaker had a long association with the territory and state of Kansas. He came to Tecumseh, Shawnee County, Kansas, in 1856 from Boston, Massachusetts, and worked as a surveyor there. In 1857, he moved to Topeka where he remained, serving as county sheriff, surveyor, and Topeka city engineer. He was also commissioned a deputy U.S. Marshal. He owned an abstract and real estate business in Topeka and was an attorney, representing numerous Civil War veterans in obtaining disability pensions, many of whom served in Kansas units.

Kansas Adjutant General U.S. War Department correspondence
Date: April 1902 - June 1904
Correspondence sent and received by the Kansas Adjutant General's Office and the U.S. War Department between April 1902 - June 1904. Letters were also sent to Governor William E. Stanley and Governor Willis J. Bailey. Kansas Adjutant Generals during this period were Simeon M. Fox and Samuel H. Kelsey. Correspondents include Brigadier General William Crozier at the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, J. Parker and E.J. McClernand, Majors of Cavalry, and Quartermaster Generals Marshall I. Ludington and Charles F. Humphrey. Frequent correspondence was made with the Headquarters of the Department of the Missouri, in Omaha, the Headquarters of the Northern Division, in St. Louis, and the Headquarters of the Department of the Lakes, in Chicago. Topics discussed include military maneuvers, annual reports, and transportation arrangements.

Kansas Adjutant General U.S. War Department correspondence
Date: July 1904 - December 1906
Correspondence sent and received by the Kansas Adjutant General's Office and the U.S. War Department between July 1904 - December 1906. Letters were also sent to Governor Willis J. Bailey and Governor Edward W. Hoch. Kansas Adjutant Generals during this period were Samuel H. Kelsey and James W.F. Hughes. Correspondents include Brigadier General William Crozier at the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, Quartermaster General Charles F. Humphrey, and James W. Cheney, librarian of the War Department. Frequent record-keeping information is solicited on behalf of the Secretary of War, the Office of the Commissary General, and the Surgeon General's Office. Topics discussed include general orders, army appropriation bills, payment of expenses, and annual reports.

Kansas Adjutant General general correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1861-1862
Collection of correspondence including letters written to Governor Charles Robinson and letters written by Charles Chadwick, Adjutant General of Kansas. Also included are appointments issued by James H. Lane, Commissioner of Recruiting, to Ernestus Gilpatrick, John Owens, Edward P. Kellam, C.K. Gilchrist, J.B. Allen, Felix Brenigan, Isaac Seaman, Robert Little, A.G. Cunningham, Andrew J. Frances, Robert Riddle, Joseph R. Kent, Jeremiah C. Johnson, William Cowan, and Allen Griffen. Topics discussed include the consolidation and reorganization of Kansas regiments and companies and mustering out of individuals. Several letters sent to General J.C. Stone in Leavenworth from citizens endorsing S.E. Ward, a trader at Fort Laramie, report Indian hostility along the road to California. A searchable, full-text version of this correspondence is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Kansas Adjutant General miscellaneous correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1896
Correspondence to and from Adjutant General Simeon M. Fox, who communicated with Sergeant Frank Holz, Captain R.A. McPherson, Colonel P.M. Hoisington, Captain Charles L. Martin, Captain W.B. Crammer, Captain John E. Houston, Brigadier General George H. Barker, and Adjutant Generals from other states and members of the United States Department of War. Topics discussed include the training and equipping of regiments, monthly reporting of expenditures, and records of enlistment requested by pension attorneys on behalf of their clients.

Marion and Pauline Beatty Correspondence
Date: 1946
This series of correspondence includes multiple copies and drafts of a letter from Marion to Pauline Beatty from Heidleberg, Germany on January 21, 1946. The letter discusses the end of his service for World War II and being reunited with Marion in either Europe or the United States depending on what the War Department will allow. Other letters included in the series discuess daily schedules and events of Marion's time in the service.

Noble and Simonson to John H. Eaton
Date: September 2, 1830
In this letter to U.S. Secretary of War John H. Eaton, Department of War agents Noble and Simonson report on the property held by the Baptist missionaries at Carey Mission, Michigan Territory. The report contains a detailed breakdown of the assets at Carey, including the 11 "hewed log" buildings, mill, and other items.

Possible Enemey Chemical Warfare Agents handbill
Creator: United States. War Dept.
Date: between 1943 and 1946
Possible Enemy Chemical Warfare Agents. Approved War Department Graphic Training Aid 3-2, January 4, 1944. Belonged to Private First Class John Lee Meyer, Jr. Meyer, a native of Phillipsburg, Kansas, was drafted into the Army in 1943. He saw heavy combant in Germany as part of the 1st Infantry Division, 18th Regiment, Company F, eventually receiving both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. After the war, Meyer was reassigned to the 1st Division, Chief of Council, Presentation Department in Nuremberg. His new duties included building the architectural model for the redesigned courtroom at the Palace of Justice in preparation for the Nuremberg Trials.

Robert Simerwell to Lewis Cass
Creator: Simerwell, Robert, 1786-1868
Date: April 28, 1833
In this letter to Lewis Cass, Secretary of War for the Jackson Administration, Robert Simerwell asks for permission for his family to accompany a group of Potawatomis west of the Mississippi at the "pulicks expense."

Samuel S. Hamilton to Robert Simerwell
Creator: Hamilton, Samuel S.
Date: September 10, 1830
In this letter to Robert Simerwell, Samuel Hamilton discusses the latest developments with regard to the removal of the Native Indians located at the Carey Mission, Michigan Territory. Included is a short reply from the U.S. Secretary of War's Office of Indian Affairs in which the author states that Secretary of War John Eaton has decided to allow Simerwell to remain at the Carey Mission for a brief time after the appraisement of the property on September 1, 1830. Hamilton's letter also includes a letter that he sent to Reverend S. Bolles explaining the Secretary of War's decision regarding the transition period that followed President Jackson's signature of the Indian Removal Act. Finally, the last part of Hamilton's letter is addressed directly to Simerwell. In this section, Hamilton explains that the Baptist Board of Missions believes that Simerwell should remain at the Carey Mission until all the details concerning the removal of the Native Americans to the lands West of the Mississippi have been finalized between the Board and the U.S. Government.

Thomas C. Stevens correspondence
Date: 1861-1864
These letters, telegrams, and other business and political/military correspondence involve Thomas C. Stevens or Governor Thomas Carney. Carney and Stevens had opened the first wholesale house in Leavenworth together in the spring of 1858. This collection contains many of Governor Carney's personal papers, not found in his administration records collection. In two letters, dated September 3, 1863, Major General John McAllister Schofield, commander of the Department of the Missouri for the Union Army, writes to Governor Carney accepting the services of the Kansas militia to help protect border towns. He also announces his intentions to "publish an order prohibiting all armed men, not in the service of the United States from passing the Missouri line." This correspondence also includes a number of telegrams that Governor Carney received from various individuals. Thomas Ewing Jr., commander of the District of the Border, wrote to Carney on August 27, 1863 asking him to use his influence to prevent a raid into Missouri in retaliation for Quantrill's Raid. Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Army of the Border, wrote to Carney on June 7, 1864 reporting on bushwhackers and hostile Indians.

William D. Street and George W. Martin correspondence
Creator: Street, William D., b. 1851
Date: August 16, 1905-March 21, 1908
These two letters concern the raid led by Northern Cheyenne leader Dull Knife. According to Street, a number of "Indian men, women, and children" were killed fifteen miles to the south of Atwood, Kansas, in April 1875.