On Thursday night, October 13, 1859, two enslaved men, 28-year-old George and 22-year-old Jeffrey, escaped from Linn, Missouri on horseback. Their enslaver, D.B. Wilson, offered $200 for their recapture.
These records cover more than 300 recorded escapes from Missouri --including more than two dozen newspaper-identified stampedes-- during the period between 1840 and 1865. The total number of freedom seekers documented here exceeds 1,500 people, with more than half from the wartime period. Newspaper articles and runaway advertisements provide the main sources for these escape episodes. The map below and the detailed listing underneath provide full access to the sources and records.
View All Escapes // 1840s // 1850s // 1860s
Displaying 301 - 314 of 314
Start Date:
Thursday, October 13, 1859
Numbers:
2
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
Sometime in October 1859, a group of 26 enslaved people escaped from western Missouri, and were guided by an antislavery operative through Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois, through Chicago and finally to Detroit.
Start Date:
Saturday, October 15, 1859
Numbers:
26
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Freedom
On October 16, 1859, John Brown and his men raided the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia intended to raise an insurrection among the enslaved population and strike blow toward a general revolution against slavery. Yet at first, many newspapers identified the effort as an attempted slave stampede.
Start Date:
Sunday, October 16, 1859
Numbers:
100
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Violence, Recapture/Death
On Saturday night, October 22, 1859, just days after John Brown's failed raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, authorities in Carroll County, Maryland claimed that they had prevented a planned "stampede" of "some forty slaves." Newspapers claimed that one of the participants confessed to "the secret" and at least five ringleaders got arrested.
Start Date:
Saturday, October 22, 1859
Numbers:
40
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Recapture/Death
On Saturday night, October 22, 1859, "some thirty slaves" escaped from homes in Alexandria and Fairfax counties, Virginia. A North Carolina newspaper wondered if this was a mere "coincidence" coming just days after John Brown's failed raid at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, or if perhaps these freedom seekers were really supposed to be "reinforcements" for the assault on the federal arsenal.
Start Date:
Saturday, October 22, 1859
Numbers:
30
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
On Sunday night, October 23, 1859, enslaved people, 45-year-old David, and three of his children, 13-year-old Richard ("Dick"), 11-year-old Fanny and Jim, around 8-9 years old, escaped from St. Louis. The four freedom seekers were reportedly in company with their mother and a sibling (a girl aged 4-5), both of whom were free. Their enslaver, George L. Lackland, advertised a reward of $1,000 for their recapture.
Start Date:
Sunday, October 23, 1859
Numbers:
4
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
On Saturday, October 29, 1859, an enslaved child, 12-year-old Aaron, escaped from St. Louis. His enslaver advertised a $100 reward for his recapture.
Start Date:
Saturday, October 29, 1859
Numbers:
1
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
On Monday night, October 31, 1859, a roughly 28-year-old enslaved man named Spotswood ("Spot") escaped from Glasgow, Missouri. His enslaver, B.W. Lewis & Bros., advertised a $100 reward for Spotswood's recapture.
Start Date:
Monday, October 31, 1859
Numbers:
1
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
On Wednesday, November 2, 1859, a 12-year-old enslaved girl named Nelly escaped from a property near the Iron Mountain Railroad in Jefferson county, Missouri. Her enslaver, John Stroup, promised to "pay handsomely" for her return, alleging that someone "stole her."
Start Date:
Wednesday, November 2, 1859
Numbers:
1
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
In November 1859, a "stampede" of 10 enslaved people, who were not named, occurred from La Grange, Missouri. The escapees took a boat and apparently crossed the Mississippi river into Illinois.
Start Date:
Monday, November 7, 1859
Numbers:
10
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Freedom
On Friday, November 11, an enslaved man held by David S. Lillard escaped from LaGrange, Missouri.
Start Date:
Friday, November 11, 1859
Numbers:
1
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
On Saturday, November 12, 1859, an enslaved man named Jack, in his late 30s, escaped from near Hamburg in St. Charles county, Missouri. His enslaver, Forunatus Castlio, advertised a $250 reward for Jack's recapture.
Start Date:
Saturday, November 12, 1859
Numbers:
1
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
On Sunday, November 13, 1859, an approximately 50-year-old enslaved woman named Maria escaped from St. Louis. Her enslaver, Charles McLarin, offered a $500 reward for Maria's recapture. McLarin suspected that Maria's escape might be related to the escape of her nephew Willis, who ran away from McLarin in September 1858.
Start Date:
Sunday, November 13, 1859
Numbers:
1
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Unknown
On Monday, November 28, 1859, authorities in Cambridge, Maryland arrested six African Americans, accusing them have having attempted a "stampede."
Start Date:
Monday, November 28, 1859
Numbers:
6
Starting Point:
Outcome:
Recapture/Death