ARCHER ALEXANDER

On January 9, 2025, the Missouri Historical Society, in St. Louis, Missouri held its annual Emancipation Day celebration. This event celebrates the January 11, 1865 date when Missouri amended its State Constitution to end slavery across the state. I was a member of the panel for the event, and was so happy that Archer Alexander’s descendant, Ibn Ali was able to join me.

ARCHER ALEXANDER WON HIS OWN FREEDOM

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, did not include Missouri, or Archer and Louisa, and their families. Archer had broken his own chains and was emancipated by September 24, 1863, because of his enslaver’s treasonous actions, and for “important services to the United States military forces.”  In February of 1863, Archer and sixteen other freedom seekers crossed the Missouri River headed for St. Louis, but not all of them would make it. Archer later found refuge and was given protection in the home of an abolitionist named William Greenleaf Eliot, a Unitarian minister, a member of the Western Sanitary Commission and founder of Washington University in St. Louis. On March 28, 1863, Archer’s enslaver Richard Pitman sent men to “retake his property” at Eliot’s home. The following story is related in Eliot’s book Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom published in 1885:

I stopped a moment to look at Archer with …The two boys, Christy and Ed., seven and five years old, and the one-year-old baby, sister Rose, in the arms of Ellen her nurse…As I lifted the gate-latch, a butcher-built man, whip in hand, accosted me, .. At the same time I observed a close-covered wagon and two men standing by it, just across the street, with a rather suspicious appearance, and I paused for a minute… At about one o’clock I returned, and found the whole family in terrified condition. The boys were crying, the nurse half distracted, They thought Archer was killed. As soon as I was well out of sight, the three men had come in, with clubs in hand, and, getting close to where Archer was working, said, Well, let go that horse, you runaway rascal, and come with us.” one of them raised his bludgeon and knocked him down with a blow on the head. The others pulled out knives and pistols, and kicked him in the face. Then they handcuffed him and forcibly dragged the helpless man to their wagon, pushed him in, and drove off…

Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom by William G. Eliot

The seven-year-old young boy, Christy, is William G. Eliot’s son Rev. Christopher Rhodes Eliot, who never forgot that day. When Archer Alexander died on December 8, 1880, and he was buried at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ Cemetery,(which was listed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom in September 2023) his gold watch was given to young Christopher Eliot. Years later, the gold watch was donated to the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis by Eliot’s daughters. This spring, a new exhibit at the museum, titled “COLLECTED” will share Archer Alexander’s Gold Watch helping to bring his story to life once again. For more information about the exhibit see https://mohistory.org/exhibits/collected which will be opening on March 29th, 2025.

I invite you to share this story of Archer Alexander’s life, part of my forthcoming book, Archer Alexander: To Tell a True Story. You can learn more about Archer Alexander, who is on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom visit my blog https://archeralexander.blog/