SC015-6 Abiel Leonard and Odon Guitar Papers Finding Aid

Abiel Leonard (1797-1863) was a schoolteacher, lawyer, landowner, and politician who lived in Missouri during the early years of statehood. He served in the Missouri state legislature in 1834 and was appointed to a seat on the Missouri Supreme Court in 1855. Odon Guitar (1825-1908) came to Missouri in 1827 and lived in Boone County. He was a lawyer, politician, and a brigadier general in the Civil War serving for the Union forces in Missouri. The collection covers a large span of years and includes a variety of material including correspondence, legal documents, copies of 19th-century newspapers, photographs mostly relating to the Guitar family, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, manuscripts, certificates, invitations, and other items. Of special interest are family letters, a duel contract between Abiel Leonard and Taylor Berry, Guitar's letters concerning his California gold rush venture, Guitar's Civil War dealings, and genealogy information with some written in French.