Missouri's Civil War history revealed in new online resource

ST. LOUIS -- A vast, virtually unexamined National Archives collection on Missouri's Civil War history is now accessible to Civil War buffs, genealogists and other researchers, thanks to an online resource created by the State Archives.

Staff and volunteers are indexing a voluminous collection of legal documents, narratives and correspondence that tells the story of ordinary Missourians during the most fractious time in U.S. history, State Archivist Kenneth Winn said.

The source is the National Archives' collection of papers belonging to the so-called Union provost marshal, whom the Union Army installed in countless Missouri communities to mete out "rough-and-ready justice" as civil justice broke down and marshal law took over.

"Missouri was a wreck," Winn said. "It was so divided. There was more civil violence in Missouri than anywhere else."

The collection, which sat virtually unused in the National Archives in Washington, is packed with anecdotal details of runaway slaves, house burnings, Confederate property destroyed or taken, demands for Union loyalty, and requests for help or justice. In short, the messy stuff of Missouri's divided Civil War sentiments.

Here's a taste:

One entry, written in 1861 by St. Louisan Adolph Hugo, complains of drunken soldiers breaking into his home, tottering about with cocked revolvers, frightening his wife, servant, and children.

Another is written by Amelia Thomas, a Linn County wife of an infantry soldier from a black regiment. She tells of her mistreatment by a white landlord, who repossessed her rental property, then hired "a Negro woman to help them move my things and then paid her out of my goods ..."

"There's lots of great stuff," Winn said. "It's going to rewrite the history of Missouri's role in the Civil War."

Two years ago, a friend who happens to be a Civil War historian told Winn about the national collection, "a huge ocean of stuff that he thought no one knew about," he said. "We ran with it."

But first, State Archives had to concoct a system that would make the data accessible.

Winn asked the National Archives to microfilm the provost marshal documents related to Missouri.

Then, State Archives got students, staff and volunteers to index the material by names, county, or key words to enable a search.

Scholars, genealogists, or other researchers need only go to the Missouri Secretary of State's web site, the State Archives section, and click on the Civil War Provost Marshal Index Database. Then, begin the search.

What pops up are the name, county, city, date and subject of the search topic, and the reel number of the microfilm where the documents can be found.

Based on that preliminary search, a researcher can decide whether to travel to the State Archives to pore over the documents. "If you're a historian writing a book, I recommend you come," Winn said.

Otherwise, the State Archives will copy the documents and send them to the researcher.

So far, the State Archives has indexed 80 of the 330 microfilm rolls sent by National Archives.

It's a work in progress, and State Archives continually will update the files.

"If you can't find what you're looking for, come back in a few months," Winn said.

There are vast published resources on Civil War battles and regiments, but this gives access to contemporary records relating to specific individuals, said Dennis Northcott, associate archivist for reference at the Missouri Historical Society.

"What makes it exciting, is that these wonderful records are available at the Archives, and people can access it. It's of great value to genealogists."

On the Net

Missouri State Archives: www.sos.state.mo.us/archives/provost/