It seems like Almost Yesterday that Joseph Dixon of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri was freed from slavery.
It is unknown how this resident of Ste. Genevieve obtained his freedom, but the letter bringing him that status identified him as a 23 year old freeman of color.
Little is known of Mr. Dixon today, but he does figure in three Perry County court cases. In 1830 his name appeared on the slave schedule as the owner of a boy and a girl both less than 10 years of age and a woman between the age of 25 and 30. Joseph thus owned three slaves in 1830 - his wife and his children.
Mr. Dixon then did what seems to us a peculiar thing - he took out a mortgage on his family, all who were legally slaves, and used the funds to purchase a piece of land. This may indeed seem unusual, but Joseph was a smart man. He farmed the land and used the money to pay the monetary bond required to free his family.
The 1850 census reported Joseph Dixon's household in Bois Brule Township consisted of a wife, five children, and an unrelated elderly free black woman.
Joseph's life ended in August of 1857 and he left behind his immediate family, several grandchildren, and an estate worth more than one thousand dollars.
Joseph Dixon's life consisted of hard-earned success, earned in Perry County, Missouri. It may have been a long time ago, but in many ways it seems like Almost Yesterday.It seems like Almost Yesterday that Joseph Dixon of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri was freed from slavery.
It is unknown how this resident of Ste. Genevieve obtained his freedom, but the letter bringing him that status identified him as a 23 year old freeman of color.
Little is known of Mr. Dixon today, but he does figure in three Perry County court cases. In 1830 his name appeared on the slave schedule as the owner of a boy and a girl both less than 10 years of age and a woman between the age of 25 and 30. Joseph thus owned three slaves in 1830 - his wife and his children.
Mr. Dixon then did what seems to us a peculiar thing - he took out a mortgage on his family, all who were legally slaves, and used the funds to purchase a piece of land. This may indeed seem unusual, but Joseph was a smart man. He farmed the land and used the money to pay the monetary bond required to free his family.
The 1850 census reported Joseph Dixon's household in Bois Brule Township consisted of a wife, five children, and an unrelated elderly free black woman.
Joseph's life ended in August of 1857 and he left behind his immediate family, several grandchildren, and an estate worth more than one thousand dollars.
Joseph Dixon's life consisted of hard-earned success, earned in Perry County, Missouri. It may have been a long time ago, but in many ways it seems like Almost Yesterday.
