Title	Mary Meachum. (1801-1869)
Creator
Subject	Abolition African Americans Bounty hunters Churches Educator Enslaved People Esther (Enslaved Person) Freedwoman Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 Fugitive slaves Illinois Literacy Meachum, John Berry Meachum, Mary Mississippi River Missouri Saint Louis Schools Shaw, Henry, 1800-1889 Slavery Steamboats Underground Railroad United States
Relation	PHO
Description	Mary Meachum, wife of John Berry Meachum. She and her husband were both freed persons engaged in the efforts of the Underground Railroad through their church, home, and school. On the early morning of May, 21st of 1855 nine enslaved persons including four owned by Henry Shaw; Esther, her two children, and one unnamed male made their break for freedom utilizing the Underground Railroad with the assistance of Mary Meachum. They attempted crossing the Mississippi River to the free state of Illinois. Unfortunately bounty hunters awaited them and they were soon captured and Mary Meachum would be jailed for the attempt. The location of this historic event on the banks of Mississippi River north of downtown St. Louis is today memorialized as the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing.
Publisher	Missouri Botanical Garden
Contributor	Missouri Botanical Garden
Date of original
Date scanned
Type	Image
Format	TIF
Identifier	PHO 2020-0051
Source	Photograph
Language
Coverage
Rights	http://www.mobot.org/mobot/archives/copyright.asp
Width of original
Height of original
Condition of original	good