This is a copy of the Daily Dispatch on 1855-05-29 that describes the escape of five enslaved people in Alton, Illinois, which presumably points to Mary Meachum's attempted escape of nine enslaved people across the Mississippi River, among whom five were captured.
William Waton would have been Cyrene's grandfather who moved to St. Louis with his parents in 1792, there is report that the family brought 110 enslaved people with them from Missouri.
Crittenden E. Clark was one of the earliest Black graduates of Washington University School of Law, earning his degree in 1897 as the only African American in his class. His achievement reflected both the possibilities and limits of inclusion at the university during this period. Clark went on to a distinguished legal and political career in St. Louis, becoming one of the few Black attorneys in the city with a WashU law degree and an active figure in local Republican Party politics. In 1922, he became the first African American elected justice of the peace in Missouri, and later, at the age of seventy-five, served as an associate city counselor. A longtime resident of the Mill Creek neighborhood, where he lived for four decades, Clark was widely respected as a civic leader, and his success underscores both the rarity and significance of Black legal achievement in the late nineteenth century.
Christopher Cockrill (1818 – 1873), born in Fayette, Virginia, moved with his parents and family to Missouri in the 1820s. His father, Starks S. Cockrill, Sr., obtained land grants on what is now Tyson Research Center Property, and in 1830, the Cockrill family held three people in slavery in Bonhomme Township. By the recording of the 1850 census, Starks S. Cockrill Sr., Starks Cockrill Jr., and Christopher Cockrill had all established separate households next to one another and worked as farmers. While the families of Starks Cockrill Sr. and Jr. moved to Texas by 1860, Christopher Cockrill continued to live in Bonhomme Township, where he enslaved five people according to the 1860 census and held land on what is now Tyson property according to an 1870 plat map.
The Cockrills were enslavers. The 1830 Census for Bonhomme Township lists two girls and a boy aged between 10-23 as enslaved by Starks Cockrill, Sr. In the 1850, he enslaved three men aged between 22-35, four boys aged between 4-10, a 30-year old woman and a 2-year old girl in Bonhomme Township. In 1860, Christopher Cockrill enslaved a 30-year old man, a 25-year old woman, and three boys aged 1, 6 and 11 in Bonhomme Township.
Like many men of European heritage in nineteenth century St. Louis, Christian Morschel (1834-1901) involved himself with several business ventures to expand his wealth. Morschel specialized in the mining industry. He may have been interested in the land along the Meramec for the purpose of sand and gravel mining. By 1870 he was living in Bonhomme Township with his family and co-owned land with Philip Kais in what is today Tyson Research Center that bordered a stretch of the Meramec according to 1878 and 1893 plat maps. Although records indicate that Morschell died in 1901, a 1909 plat map names Morschell owning land with J. B. Hollman.
A bond of indemnity presented to Eliot by John A Kassin/Kasson stating that Eliot paid Kassin/Kasson $600.00 to purchase Lydia, an enslaved woman, in order to set her free.
Bill of sale for the purchase of enslaved person Sarah and her infant child by Henry Shaw for the sum of 500 dollars. As the Probate Court of St. Louis on 1850-09-07, aid order Marshall Brotherton administrator of Eliza Brown declared.
This is a bill of sale for the purchase of an enslaved person named Jim by Henry Shaw. Henry Shaw purchased from the previous enslaver of Jim, now deceased, John J. Brown. Shaw bid $1010, which, being the highest, allowed him to purchase the enslaved person Jim. Marshall Brotherton(?) acted as the administrator. This ruling was made in the December Term 1851 of the Probate Court of the County of St. Louis, State of Missouri.
This is the bill of sale of Juliette, previously enslaved by Antoine Chenie, to Henry Shaw at the cost of eight hundred and thirty six dollars. This is dated May 20th, 1836 and manumitted April 24th, 1839.
Bill of sale for purchase of enslaved persons Joseph, Tabitha, and her daughter Sarah by Henry Shaw in 1848. For the price of 1050 dollars, they were sold by Thomas H. Purnell to Henry Shaw.
Augustus O. Thornton was one of the few Black students admitted to Washington University’s Manual Training School in the late 19th century. Graduating in 1892 alongside Eugene Hutt, Thornton was known for his academic diligence and leadership. After graduation, he became a public school teacher and later dean of boys at Sumner High School, the first high school for African Americans west of the Mississippi River. His career reflected the limited but vital educational and professional pathways open to Black educators in the segregated school systems of the era.
The document details:
6 months of 26 dollar per month for rent,
22 months of 20 dollar per month for unnamed expense,
"Mount of Peter's hier" - $262,
"Mount of Bridget's hiear" - $93
Deducts per time hours entry
Due by Peter - $111
Due by Bridget -$13
Due by Hour Peter - $25
Mount of Last Review
...
To Peter - $150
To Bridget - $20
Eighth Census of the United States, 1860, Schedule 2, Slave Inhabitants, Central Township. St. Louis, Missouri, 02, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City, Missouri; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
![1860 Slave Schedule [Pierre Chouteau Jr]](https://digitalexhibits.library.washu.edu/files/large/a01c7c320048e8dfe419bc3311b5c36c2e6309b5.jpg)