Description
Slave-traders and whiskey-sellers were often deplored on an equal basis in pre-Civil War Missouri, yet the man who bought and sold slaves on the market as a business was not always the frightful ogre he was represented to be. At least two instances are on record of slaves seeking the refuge of a St. Louis slave-trader. The social standing of the Missouri slave-trader, however, was far from being an enviable one; he was deplored generally, but nevertheless tolerated as a necessary evil.
In his treatise on “Slavery in Missouri," Dr. H. A. Trexler gives what is perhaps the most reliable picture of slavery conditions in this state. Writing the Johns Hopkins University Studies (Series 33, No. 2), Dr Trexler characterizes the Missouri slave-trader:
Picture of a Slave-Trader. - “The slave-trader is generally pictured as the brutal, conscienceless, evil genius of the slavery system, detested even by those with whom he dealt. In Missouri he held no very enviable position. ‘Slave-traders and whisky sellers were equally hated by many,' wrote one antislavery clergyman of St. Louis, while another maintained that large fortunes were made by the trade, and some of those who made them were held as fit associates for the best men on change.'
“Dr. John Doy. the Kansas abolitionist, who had a personal grievance against the Missouri slaveholder, claimed that General (George P.) Dorris, whom he described as a brutal dealer, was highly respected and belonged to the aristocracy of Platte County.' Some of the slaveholders who were interviewed declared that the slave-trader and the saloon-keeper were tolerated as necessary evils, but that they were personally loathed and socially ostracized. Others, however, stated that it was a question of the individual trader, some being liked and some disliked.
Business Contemptible of Itself. - "If the slave-trader was a hard man and detested, he at least had the satisfaction of knowing that the wisest and gentlest of men would be hated if plying his trade. The very nature of the business made it contemptible.
The smaller towns seem to have been regularly visited (by the slave-trader) while the larger centers had permanent dealers. There were two such in Lexington in 1861*, but they are said to have had difficulty in getting sufficiently large gangs to make the business pay. There was at least one permanent firm of dealers in St. Joseph in 1856. John Doy asserts that while he was imprisoned in St. Joseph many Negroes were shipped from there to St. Louis buyers. Columbia and Marshall were regularly visited, and Platte City had quite a thriving trade. John R. White of Howard County was a wealthy planter of good repute who dealt in slaves. He lived on a farm of 1,053 acres and was taxed with 46 Negroes in 1856.
"The slave-trader, like the stock-dealer, undoubtedly plied his trade wherever he could obtain his commodity. St. Louis became a considerable center for shipping gangs down the Mississippi. One Reuben Bartlett openly advertised for Negroes for the ’Memphis and Louisiana markets.’ "The St. Louis Directory of 1859 lists two ‘Slave Dealers’ among the classified businesses. These were Bernard M. Lynch, 100 Locust Street, and Corbin Thompson, 3 South Sixth Street.
The former may be taken as a type of the great Missouri slave dealer, who had his correspondents in the outlying parts of the state. His historic slave-pen in St. Louis was afterwards used as a military prison. Like other dealers, Lynch advertised his business in the newspapers, and posted in his office the rates and the conditions under which he handled Negroes.
Slaves Find Strange Refuge. “Lynch could not have been the terror-inspiring ogre that the slave dealer is usually pictured to be. On two different occasions slaves ran for refuge to his door. Statistics of his business are uncertain for he was evidently clever enough to empty his pen on tax assessment day. In 1852 Lynch was taxed on 3 slaves, on the same number in 1857, and on 4 in 1860.’’
(*Researcher’s note: Webb, Merrill & Co. was one of two slave trader firms operating in Lexington, Missouri, and it had an agent based in Platte City, Missouri, named John S. Kelly.)Date(s) of Creation
6/14/1934
