Civil War manuscript resources
This finding aid lists manuscript materials regarding the Civil War that are useful for genealogical research. Manuscript collection numbers or names or other identifiers follow each entry and are in brackets. Some manuscript material has been microfilmed. Most microfilm circulates through interlibrary loan; however, original documents do not. Please refer to the correspondence policy for information on how to request copies of original documents.
The society also maintains several historic sites relating to the Civil War.
Abbott, James B., 1818-1897. Papers. 1815-1896. 154 items; 4 vols (on 3 microfilm reels). Microfilm of originals in the James Burnett Abbott collection, no. 252. Collection includes memoranda books and morning reports regarding free-state (anti-slavery) militia and activities, 1855-1857; staff rolls of officers and men of the 1st regiment, Kansas militia, on duty at Sugar Mound, Kansas, December 19-21, 1857; "Memorandums" [sic] of Soldiers' Statements," 1880-90, containing copies of letters and memoranda concerning soldiers' pensions; and copies of letters dealing primarily with pension matters, 1890-92. Available through interlibrary loan. "Notes on this microfilm copy" and collection register at beginning of microfilm. [Microfilm MS 1258-MS 1260]
Blackman, William I. R., 1824-1882. Papers. 1855-1878. 0.5 ft. (1 box; oversize folder). Included in the collection are rolls of the Kansas volunteers for service in the "Wakarusa war" of November-December 1855, and a muster roll of the Scott Guards [1861?], apparently a Douglas County, Kansas, organization. No finding aids. [Ms. Coll. 278/Port.]
Bowman, Charles S. (Charles Stuart), d. 1868. Papers. 1861-1864. 5000 items (3 boxes). Correspondence and military papers retained by Bowman while he was serving as disbursing and ordnance officer in the voluntary recruiting service for Kansas, 1861-1864. A large part of the collection consists of enlistment papers of soldiers joining Kansas Civil War units; includes muster rolls and records dealing with various aspects of recruitment, equipment, inspections, pay, transportation, orders, stores, and other military matters. The enlistment papers are correlated with a roster of Kansas Civil War military units. Unpublished folder list available in the repository. [Ms. Coll. 290]
Campbell, Malcolm A., b. 1835. Papers. 1863-1911. 11 items (1 folder). Included in the collection is a muster roll for Volunteer Company C, 11th Regiment of Kansas state Militia for October 14-November 12, 1864. No finding aids. [Misc.: Campbell, Malcolm]
Chadwick, Charles, 1825-1900. Papers. 1861-1865. 41 items (1 folder). Included in the collection are lists of captains of militia companies of Kansas to whom monies were paid for the service of members of their companies. No finding aids. [Misc.: Chadwick]
Frontier Guard history. Collection. 1861-1902. 4 items (1 folder). Included are a letter from Colonel D.S. Gordon, Washington, D.C. to F.G. Adams, secretary, Kansas Historical Society (Topeka), giving names of Kansas men belonging to the military company organized for the protection of the national Capitol in 1861 and individual discharges. No finding aids. [Hist.--Frontier]
Fort Larned, Kansas. Records. 1858-1875. 1 microfilm reel. Included are library records and rosters of non-commissioned officers and guards. Available through interlibrary loan. No finding aids. [Microfilm MS 290]
Forts history. Collection. 1853-1902. ca. 400 items (5 boxes). Collection includes muster and payrolls of detachments of the U.S. Army Hospital Corps at Fort Riley, Kansas, 1853-1902, and record of interments in [Fort Dodge, Kansas] post cemetery, 1865-1879. No finding aids. [Ms. Col. 585]
Gilbert, David N., b. 1829. Papers. December 1863-December 1864. 6 items (1 folder). Included is a roster of Company E, 19th Cavalry regiment, Kansas State Militia, [1863?]. No finding aids. [Misc.: Gilbert, D]
Grand Army of the Republic. Kansas Department. Fiscal Records; Reunion Registers. 1879-1936. 35 volumes (on 6 microfilm reels). Included are reunion registers, 1879-1917, showing name, State, regiment, branch, and residence of each attendee; most also show rank, company, and corps. Some are arranged by state of service. Available through interlibrary loan. No finding aids. [Microfilm MS 1047-MS 1052]
Grand Army of the Republic. Kansas Department. Records. 1871-1936. 42 ft. (68 boxes). Copies of charters listing founding members of posts, quarterly reports from local posts to the State headquarters containing names of officers and new or deceased or dropped members, registers of reunions, various records of individual posts, a list of 356 Civil War veterans apparently attending a Grand Army of the Republic reunion [1900?]. Also in the volume are 2 pages of names of 20th Kansas Regiment members. Findng aid available. [Ms. Coll. 126]
Grand Army of the Republic. Post 332, White Cloud, Kansas. Minutes. 1884-1891. 1 volume (on partial reel of microfilm). Included in the minutes are names of elected officers. Available through interlibrary loan. No finding aids. [Microfilm MS 984.02]
Halderman, John Adams, 1833-1908. Correspondence and miscellaneous papers. 1854-1907. 0.4 ft. (1 box). With a letter, 1861 September 6, from officers of the 1st regiment, Kansas Infantry, to Major General Fremont, are names of the officers of the 1st Kansas who signed the document. Also in the collection are commissions for officers of a newly organized volunteer company, 1862 September 22. No finding aids. [Ms. Coll. 370]
Hanway, John S., 1809-1882. Correspondence and miscellaneous papers. 1851-1882. 2 boxes; 4 volumes (on 3 microfilm reels). Included in the collection is a roster of officers, 1863-1865, of the 3rd Indian Home Guard (v. 99). Available through interlibrary loan. Finding aid. [Microfilm MS 823-MS 825]
Harvey, James M. (James Madison), 1833-1894. Papers. 1834-1922. 0.6 ft. (2 boxes; oversize material). Included in the collection are muster rolls of the 4th Kansas Infantry. [Ms. Coll. 375/Oversize]
Hershfield, R.N., 1838?-1922. Papers. 1864. 31 items (1 folder). Included in the collection are permits issued by Colonel R.N. Hershfield as commanding officer of the 7th regiment, Kansas State Militia. No finding aids. [Misc.: Hershfield]
Hollister, Samuel, 1829-1910. Papers. 1857-1866. 0.2 ft. (1 box). The collection includes a payroll of Captain S. Hollister, Company B, 12th regiment, Kansas State Militia, October 8-27, 1864, containing 65 names plus Captain Hollister and 1st Lieutenant William H. Cook. No finding aids. [Ms. Coll. 387]
Kansas Cavalry. 11th Regiment. Company K. Roster and history...1862-1865. 1 microfilm reel . Descriptive roster and history of Company K, September 11, 1862 - May 24, 1865. Available through interlibrary loan. No finding aids. [Microfilm MS 5]
Kelley, Harrison, 1836-1897. Papers. 1859-1897. 4 boxes. Collection includes morning reports, February-June, 1863, of the Ambulance Corps of the 3rd division, A.D.E.A. No finding aids. [Ms. Coll. 408]
Military history. Collection. 1840-[1973]. 12 ft. (18 boxes). Artificial collection relating to the military in Kansas and the Great Plains. Included are muster and other enrollments, abstracts of payments and equipage, accounts, fiscal returns, officers' reports, receipts, passes, personal papers of soldiers, diaries, registers of casualties, courts-martial proceedings, and personnel cards. The collection also contains records of the Paymaster's department, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; captured Confederate Army hospital records and muster rolls; muster rolls and other records of Afro-American Civil War units raised in Missouri; a list of survivors of the 18th and 19th Kansas Cavalry regiments; and records of Camp Funston, Kansas. Military organizations represented include the 1st Dragoons; 6th U.S. Infantry; Army of the Potomac, 2nd Division, 2nd Corps; Army of the Southwest; District of South Kansas; 1st Cherokee Regiment; 2nd Colorado Infantry; 20th Indiana Infantry; Kansas anti-slavery irregular companies; Kansas volunteer and militia companies; Kansas Indian Home Guards; Kansas Colored units; 37th Massachusetts Infantry; 1st Nebraska Infantry; 10th Wisconsin Infantry; 7th U.S. Cavalry; 35th & 89th Infantry divisions, XX Artillery Corps, and 195th Field Artillery Group. Contents: Pre-territorial period (to 1854). -- Territorial period (1854-61). -- Civil War. -- Indian campaigns (1865-79). -- Spanish-American War. --World War, 1914-18. -- World War, 1939-45. -- Vietnam Conflict. Unpublished folder list available in the repository. [Ms. Coll 617]
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S. Kansas Commandery. Records. 1886-1915. 3 ft. (7 boxes). Civil War military officers' veteran's organization. The records include monthly reports of membership, 1894-1906. No finding aids. [Ms. Coll. 618]
Montgomery, James, 1814-1871. Papers. 1859-1906. 93 items (1 box). Correspondence and military, records pertaining to Kansas-Missouri border troubles (1855-1861) and his Civil War service in the 3rd Kansas Infantry opposing General Sterling Price's raid into Kansas and as an officer in the 2nd South Carolina Colored Infantry (Union). Unpublished folder list available in the repository. [Ms. Coll. 446]
Moore, H. Miles, 1826-1909. Papers. 1836-1904. 8 ft. (33 boxes). Collection includes approximately 19 manuscripts relating to courts-martial involving troops of the 3rd and 5th Kansas Volunteer Regiments; H. Miles Moore was the judge advocate. Unpublished finding aid available in the repository. [Ms. Coll. 450]
Osborne County histo ry. Collection. 1876-1981. 1 folder. Includes "Boys Who Wore the Blue", a "roll of soldiers and sailors in Osborne County, Kansas as returned by the township assessors for the year 1889." Arranged by township, the rosters give the veteran's name, rank, unit, and Grand Army of the Republic post affiliation if applicable. Published in the Osborne County Journal, April-May 1889, and transcribed by the Osborne County Genealogical and Historical Society. No finding aids. [Hist.--Osborne Co.]
Parks Day Books, Nov. 1862 to March 1863. Robert Calvin Parks was a Captain in Company B of the 1st Cherokee Regiment organized in 1861 under the command of Stand Watie. The regiment played an important role in several battles along the border of Indian Territory. Stand Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender to Union forces on June 23, 1865. The day book covers only five months, November 1862 through March 1863.
Plumb, Preston (Preston Bierce), 1837-1891. Papers. 1856-1910. 114 items (1 box). Collection includes military papers, including letters and other documents pertaining to his Civil War service and the 11th Kansas Cavalry and appointments, orders, receipts, and court-martial proceedings pertaining to the 11th Kansas Cavalry. Unpublished folder list available in the repository. [Ms. Coll. 474]
Read, John A. (John Andrews), 1835?-1918. Civil War diaries (1862-1864). 1862-1904. 3 volumes (on partial reel of microfilm). Microfilm originals in the John A. Read collection, no. 482. Included in the diaries are descriptions of injuries to troops and names of the deceased that Read treated in the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry serving in Missouri, Tennessee, and Georgia. Available through interlibrary loan. "Notes on this microfilm copy" and volume list at beginning of microfilm. [Microfilm MS 1283]
Reader, S. J. (Samuel James), 1836-1914. Papers. 1853-1955. 130 items (on 8 microfilm reels). Microfilm of originals in the Samuel James Reader collection, no. 483. Included in his papers are a list of those in Company K, 2nd Infantry, Kansas State Militia, and a roster of the regiment at the Battle of the Blue, October 22, 1864. Available through interlibrary loan. "Notes on this microfilm copy" and collection register with folder list at beginning of each roll of microfilm. [Microfilm MS 1285-MS 1292]
Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894, & Sara T. D. (Sara Tappan Doolittle), 1827-1911. Private papers of Charles and Sara T.D. Robinson. 1834-1911. 8 ft. (on 13 microfilm reels). Microfilm of originals in the Charles & Sara T. D. Robinson collection, no. 488. Collection includes a Record of Officers commissioned by Governor Robinson between the dates of February 19 and October 29, 1862, showing names of local militia companies. Available through interlibrary loan. Finding aid: Kansas Historical Society. Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Private Papers of Charles and Sara T.D. Robinson, 1834-1911... (Topeka, Kansas, 1967). [Microfilm MS 640-MS 652]
Scott, Cyrus McNeely, 1848-1915. Diary. 1867-1915. 3 microfilm reels. Filmed with the diary is a roll, April 17-May 3, 1861, of the Frontier Guard (on reel MS 919). Available through interlibrary loan. No finding aids. [Microfilm MS 917-MS 919]
Scudder, Thomas W., 1834-1935. Papers. 1861-1865. 1 folder. Included in the collection are 3 muster rolls of the 5th Kansas Cavalry. No finding aids. [Misc.: Scudder]
Sexton, Aiken J. Letters sent. February-April, 1862. 4 items (1 folder). A roster of officers and privates of Company E, 12th Wisconsin Volunteers, is printed on the back of the March 17, 1862 letter. No finding aids. [Misc.: Sexton: 1862 Mar 17]
Soldiers' Reunions history. Collection. 1881-1913. 5 items (1 box). Collection includes a list of ex-prisoners of war, compiled by the Veterans' reunion at Topeka, September 15, 1881; registers of the Ohio brigade, 1885; and a register of soldiers, residents of Kansas, who attended the Gettysburg, Pa., reunion, July 1-3, 1913. No finding aids. [Ms. Coll. 642]
Suderow, Bryce A. List of Civil War casualties in Blunt's division of Curtis' army. n.d. 1 folder. No finding aids. [Misc.: Suderow]
United States. Adjutant General's Office. Captain Orren A. Curtis, Co. F 15th Kansas Cavalry. 1864-1874. partial reel of microfilm. Microfilm of originals in the National Archives (Washington, D.C.), records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917 (record group 94). Indexes and abstracts of muster rolls and post returns providing information on Orren A. Curtis's military service. Also included are correspondence to, from, and about him and orders, reports, and related records concerning his court-martials for murder in Arkansas and destruction in Harrisonville, Missouri. The file consists of ca. 100 pp. Rolls MS 735.02 and MS 960.02 are identical. Available through interlibrary loan. No finding aids. [Microfilm MS 735.02 or MS 960.02]
United States. Adjutant General's Office. Register of sick and wounded at U.S. Army General Hospital, Fort Scott, Kansas. 1864-1865. 1 microfilm reel. (Hospital records, register no. 15). Microfilm of original in the National Archives (Washington, D.C.), records of the Adjutant General's office, 1780s-1917 (record group 94). Each entry gives the patient number, name, rank, unit, age, date admitted, source, diagnosis, injury date, nature of wound, treatment, disposition of patient, and remarks. Available through interlibrary loan. No finding aids. [Microfilm MS 1010]
United States. Army. Selected records of Kansas Army posts. 1842-1869. 15 microfilm reels (National Archives microfilm publication T837). Records of Forts Dodge, Harker, Hays, Larned, Leavenworth, Scott, Wallace, and Zarah, Kansas. Included are medical histories and post hospital records such as registers of patients and surgical operations, special reports of cholera patients, medical discharges, prescriptions and diagnoses, lists of internments in post cemeteries, and examination records. Available through interlibrary loan. No finding aids. [Microfilm MS 250-MS 263]
United States Veterans Administration, Contact and Administrative Services, Index Division. Pension index file : service organization : 1861-1900. Card index to pension applications of veterans who served in Kansas regiments of the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1900. Finding aid online. [Microfilm MF 4628-4635]
United States. War Department. Collection of Confederate Records. Signal Corps, C.S.A. 1861-1865. 6 microfilm reels (Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations raised directly by the Confederate government [National Archives microfilm publication M258, rolls 116-121]). Alphabetical cards compiled by the War Department from extant records in federal custody. Records consist of a jacket envelope for each soldier labeled with his name, rank and unit. Jackets contain card abstracts of entries relating to the soldier as found in muster rolls, returns, rosters, appointment books, hospital registers, Union prison registers and rolls, parole lists, and inspection reports and the originals of papers relating directly to the soldier. Available through interlibrary loan. Finding aid at the beginning of each reel. [Microfilm MS 1037-MS 1042]
Ware, Eugene F. (Eugene Fitch), 1841-1911. Papers. 1859-1939. 12 ft. (29 boxes; 1 tube). Collection includes military papers (1859-1888) relating to Ware's military career in Colorado, Dakota Territory, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska with the 1st Iowa Infantry and the 4th & 7th Iowa Cavalry regiments. Other parts of the collection include material on the Spanish-American War. Unpublished finding aids available in the repository. [Ms. Coll. 86]
Whitaker, James Barnes, 1832-1899. Papers. 1855-1899. 2 ft (8 boxes). Attorney who represented Civil War veterans in obtaining disability pensions; of Topeka, Kansas. Most of the veterans he served had been in Kansas units. Included in the collection is a ledger book of war claims, 1866-1869, containing a list of receipts for Civil War discharge papers. No finding aids. [Ms. Coll. 540]