Guitar, Odon (1825-1908), Collection, 1836-1906 (C1007)

.4 linear feet and 13 oversize volumes

INTRODUCTION

The Guitar collection comprises correspondence, military papers, accounts books and ledgers, and a scrapbook of Union Army General Odon Guitar.

DONOR INFORMATION

An unknown donor presented the Odon Guitar Collection to the State Historical Society of Missouri.

BIOGRAPHICAL SEKTCH

Odon Guitar was born on August 31, 1825, in Richmond, Kentucky, to John Guitar, a French immigrant, and Emily Gordon Guitar, daughter of David Gordon and the niece of Kentucky Chief Justice John Boyle. The Guitar family moved to Columbia, Boone County, Missouri, in 1827 where John Guitar continued his mercantile business.

Upon graduation from the University of Missouri in 1843, Odon Guitar joined a freight expedition transporting goods from Columbia to Chihuahua, Mexico. Suffering a broken leg in a wagon accident, Guitar was transported to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, until he could walk on crutches and was then sent home by steamboat. After volunteering for service with the 1st Missouri Regiment in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) under Colonel Sterling Price, Guitar was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1848.

Guitar served with the Union Army during the Civil War, commanding the 9th Regiment, Cavalry, Missouri State Militia and later the Northern Missouri District in Macon as a brigadier general. He resigned his commission on August 18, 1864, and married Kate Leonard, the daughter of Judge Abiel Leonard, on December 25, 1865, in Howard County, Missouri. He practiced law in Columbia until his death in 1908.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection comprises correspondence, military papers, account books and ledgers, and a scrapbook. There are three series, each organized in chronological order:

FOLDER LIST

Correspondence Series

The Correspondence series focuses primarily on the Civil War in Missouri including southern sympathizers, guerilla bands and raids, the emancipation of slaves, problems associated with protection of freed slaves and their enlistment in the Union Army. The military papers, which have been interfiled with the correspondence, concern routine organizational matters, the stationing of troops, requests for supplies, troop movements, unit reports, lists of Confederate prisoners, and lists of soldiers court martialed. Combined together with the military papers, the correspondence provides insight into life in Missouri during the Civil War, from both the civilian and military viewpoints.

f. 11836-1861
f. 21862 January-March
f. 31862 March-June
f. 41862 July-August
f. 51862 August-October
f. 61862 November-1863 July
f. 71863 July-August
f. 81863 September-November
f. 91863 December
f. 101864 January
f. 111864 February
f. 121864 March
f. 131864 May-October
f. 141866, 1900-1902, 1906

Accounts & Ledger Series

Within the Accounts & Ledgers series, the twelve volumes, dating from 1849 to 1884, contain lists of personal and traveling expenses, travel descriptions, business accounts from Guitar's law practice, trade good purchases, and miscellaneous notations and receipts.

v. 11849-1851
v. 21851-1855
v. 31853-1854
v. 41856-1864
v. 51859-1860
v. 61860
v. 71860-1863
v. 81862
v. 91862-1867
v. 101866-1869
v. 111871-1879
v. 121883-1884

Scrapbook Series

The Scrapbook series consists of a single scrapbook containing newspaper clippings pertaining to the political conventions of 1896 and the attempt by certain parties to switch the United States from the gold standard to the silver standard.

v. 13c.1896

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at The State Historical Society of Missouri-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.