On Monday morning, May 27, 1861, two enslaved men, 21-year-old Clay and Albert (age unknown), escaped from a property near Rocheport, Missouri. Their enslaver, John W. Rollins, claimed that "it was a concerted plan of theirs and others with them, to attempt to leave the State, and ... reach Iowa and or Illinois." Clay and Albert were last seen heading north towards Sturgeon. Rollins advertised a $1,000 reward for their recapture. In 1864, Rollins sold 22 slaves for a total of about $2,000. Neither Clay nor Albert were in that group.
St. Louis Missouri Republican, May 31, 1861 (HMO); For information on Rollins's 1864 slave sale, see History of Boone County (1882), p. 435 (available online: http://genealogytrails.com/mo/boone/slaves_1864sales.htm)
