Hannibal Messenger, March 19, 1857 (Courtesy of the Historical Society of Missouri)

Search Summary

• Search conducted by Cooper Wingert between March 19-24, 2019.
• Keywords: slave and stampede.
• Totals: 3 hits

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• In March 1857, the Hannibal Messenger reported on a proposed railroad between Palmyra, Missouri and Quincy, Illinois, noting fears that “if a railroad connection from Missouri was made with that place [Quincy] we might expect a general stampede of all the negroes in the State.” (“Dr. Jeter’s Letter,” Hannibal Messenger, March 19, 1857)
• In December 1859, the paper reprinted part of a letter from the postmaster of Emerson, located in northwestern Marion County, Missouri. He noted that “a day or two since a lot of negroes in this neighborhood were making preparations for a general stampede, but the scheme was detected before they got off, and their plans defeated.” (Hannibal Messenger, December 6, 1859)
• The paper reprinted a widely circulated report of the Margaret Garner case, describing “a stampede of slaves from the border counties of Kentucky” in late January 1856. (Hannibal Messenger, February 2, 1856)

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General Notes

• The Hannibal Messenger is available to the public through the State Historical Society of Missouri’s digital newspapers collection.
• The paper also reported on one of our key timeline events, the escape of a large family of slaves from St. Louis in July 1856. Although frequently referred to as a “stampede” in the press, the Hannibal Messenger simply noted that “some nine negroes ranaway from Judge Walsh… in St. Louis. A reward of $1,500 is offered for their recovery.” (Hannibal Messenger, July 19, 1856)
  

  Hannibal Messenger, July 19, 1856