“My dear Wife”
Behind Union lines, under a “flag of truce,” Confederate surgeon Robert J. Bell wrote to his wife of the death of her brother Sylvester at the Battle of Helena...
“The National flag was publicly disgraced . . .”
In this special order the local Union commander describes the insult that anti-Union members recently inflicted on the U.S. flag displayed behind the pulpit of a...
Bess Wallace Truman
Elizabeth “Bess” Virginia Wallace was born in 1885 to a prominent Independence, Missouri, family – owners of the Waggoner-Gates flour mill. She is about four...
Champ Clark
Although House Speaker Champ Clark of Missouri was the favorite for the 1912 Democratic Presidential nomination, he also filed a declaration of candidacy for his seat...
Early view of St. Louis
The United States and France signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty on April 30, 1803. As part of the treaty, the town of St. Louis in what is now Missouri was...
“Gettin’ Awful Crowded!”
The Democratic race to challenge Republican President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 opened up when front-runner William McAdoo proved weaker than expected. This cartoon by...
Hook and eye
On January 6, 1903, Christian Andresen, of St. Louis, Missouri, submitted a patent application for his hook and eye invention. In his application, he states, “my...