Bryce is right on the money. Andrea's Vanity or Biographical History comes with all of the advantages and foibles that an anecdotal history comes with - some truth in general, lots of interesting memories, some self-serving comments and statements. Not your ordinary fare of history but much like the body of work performed by Stephen Ambrose's undertaking with WWII soldiers. The main difference is that there was (if I remember correctly) a subscription fee to have your biography told. That would mean that individuals without the means to tell their story were not included; that most of the well to do merchants, politicians or farmers shed the best light on themselves or cast asperions on their enemies; they were clouded by imperfect memories, and southerners were either ill-represented or not represented at all. All-in-all though enough nuggets of information that makes trying to track down secondary supportive sources worth the reading.

Robley wrote a more formal history and also used first person anecdotal information but the objectivity was more evident. I particularly enjoyed references to the Marmiton Massacre as I have found very few other references to the event (one bi-enniel report and some newspaper articles). Again events may have been reflected against time or an imbalance in reporting, but I have found that this is very common given the extreme hatred between Missourians and Kansans in the 1850's-1860's.

The most enlightening material in the Transmississippi remains first person letters, diaries, journals, and newspaper correspondents. It has yet to be codified or mined and new materials turn up every day.

Thanks,
Howard Mann