On this date, October 20, 1940, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 3-cent stamp to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The stamp depicts President Abraham Lincoln sharing freedom with a man named Archer Alexander. That amendment abolished slavery in the U.S. and features the Freedom Memorial in our Nation’s Capital. Formerly enslaved people paid for that memorial, often called the Emancipation Memorial, and dedicated it to their President, Abraham Lincoln. That same enslaved man, whose courage earned him freedom, is very seldom even identified. That same man, rising to greet his future with freedom, appears not only on a United States Postage Stamp, but also greets visitors to Lincoln Park to this day.
Born in Virginia, he was brought to the slave state of Missouri, with his wife and children, in a caravan with twenty-five other enslaved people. He worked in the brickyards and with the stone masons building grand homes and huge buildings. He was a talented carver, and his work would adorn those great homes for over a century. He lived an ordinary life with many friends, only dreaming of freedom, until one night in 1863, when he helped sixteen others on the Underground Railroad. He had warned the Union of an impending attack and would become the Last Fugitive Slave in Missouri.
The grand homes he built still stand, and the sites of Civil War encampments and meetings are still well known. But the passing of time threatens this story, as modern-day life fills us, and we pass signs on the highway and only wonder who Archer Alexander was. If we are not careful, these things too may disappear. Our entire nation recognizes this man, yet the very places he lived and loved, raised his family, and worked for others are not. This man is a hero, a Missourian who lived right here among us in St. Charles. What better way to tell the story of our County, of a great man who lived among us and shows the nation what courage looks like even to this day?
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