Rochester (NY) Douglass's Monthly, "Slavery in Missouri," November 1862

SLAVERY IN MISSOURI. – Negro property in Missouri has depreciated, and it is said to be nearly impossible to sell a slave anywhere in the country for one-fifth the ordinary price, while every other species of property has increased in value. A St. Genevieve paper reports, a stampede of negroes from the county. Slaves have long since ceased to be of value in the counties adjoing [adjoining] Kansas. The counties between Kansas City and the towns in Atkinson county on the St. Louis side of the river, are said to be patrolled by the enrolled militia to prevent the escape of slaves from inland counties. There were only fourteen hundred slaves in St. Louis two years ago, and the best judges estimate that there is less than five hundred, and these principally old and decrepit house servants.  [From New Orleans Delta]