Remember Dred Scott Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

GeoCrater: I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note.

GeoCrater
Geocaching.com Community Volunteer Reviewer

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Hidden : 3/19/2006
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

It's a pico. Short drive into a well kept area. After several logs: please note that you can drive to within a few feet of the cache, please don't bushwack from the nearby office complex. There are gates. Come again if closed, likely after dark. Please respect any mourners and stay away if a funeral is in service. No need to bother the vegetation.

I've seen this area from Wynn Dr.(BIG hint, this is the access area) and read the sign that said Slave Cemetary many times. There are actually 2 seperate areas, one has a nice memorial to the students of Oakwood College that passed while attending the school and is an active cemetary. The other, not active is an old slave cemetary that has a small marker with a bit of information at the entrance. It mentions that Dred Scott's wife and children are buried here. Nicely kept up. Please be respectful and take a moment to read the words on the marker stones that are around the border. There is a pond to the west that had several ducks and a pair of geese on it the morning I was placing this.

Who was Dred Scott?? He is best known as a name on a famous court case. A copy of the court document can be found at the web link below.
In March of 1857, the United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, declared that all blacks -- slaves as well as free -- were not and could never become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permitting slavery in all of the country's territories.

The case before the court was that of Dred Scott v. Sanford. Dred Scott, a slave who had lived in the free state of Illinois and the free territory of Wisconsin before moving back to the slave state of Missouri, had appealed to the Supreme Court in hopes of being granted his freedom.

Taney -- a staunch supporter of slavery and intent on protecting southerners from northern aggression -- wrote in the Court's majority opinion that, because Scott was black, he was not a citizen and therefore had no right to sue. The framers of the Constitution, he wrote, believed that blacks "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever profit could be made by it."

Referring to the language in the Declaration of Independence that includes the phrase, "all men are created equal," Taney reasoned that "it is too clear for dispute, that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration. . . ."

Abolitionists were incensed. Although disappointed, Frederick Douglass, found a bright side to the decision and announced, "my hopes were never brighter than now." For Douglass, the decision would bring slavery to the attention of the nation and was a step toward slavery's ultimate destruction. (visit link)

Information added 7/20/06
Pertaining to the lack of headstones/markers at the site:
After grave orientation, perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the cemetery is the relative scarcity of grave markers for the number is interments known to be here. Although the cemetery is believed to hold burials from the late eighteenth century, and was in regular use throughout the nineteenth century, grave markers from the decades preceding the Civil War have either vanished, or never existed. This is a common aspect of African American burial grounds across the country and has little to do with income or social status. Traditional African burial traditions place less emphasis on the precise spot of burial, and much importance on the place, or burial ground as a whole. Spirits of the dead are believed to linger in the general area of the burial ground, and are not tied to a specific grave site.5 This belief carried over to the Americas, where slaves were often unable to mark a grave, or could only erect a temporary marker, such as a fieldstone, or a wooden board or stick. Permanent grave markers were viewed as unnecessary, because a deceased relative or ancestor could, and would, be honored without paying homage to a specific grave site. Also, because families were frequently broken up or moved by the brutality of the slave system, there was no guarantee that there would be anyone around to tend an ancestor's grave site in later years.

Communities of free Blacks in Pennsylvania began adopting Christianized traditions of permanently marking graves as early as the late eighteenth century in Philadelphia, and in the 1830's in most other parts of the state. Older traditions carried through, however, as non-permanent and semi-permanent grave markers persist almost to the present day. While many nineteenth century graves at Midland were probably left unmarked, many more were probably marked only with these temporary markers, which would account for the paucity of surviving gravestones. Numerous depressions, sunken ground and uneven spots in the Midland landscape attest to the presence of these "unmarked" graves.
(visit link)

So, who was Dred Scott? A slave originally named Sam that lived in Huntsville near the present day Oakwood College campus. He was owned by Peter Blow. Sam lived there for several years and had a wife, also a slave but from another nearby plantation. At some point after his brother passed away Sam decided to go by his brother's name, Dred. Peter Blow was not a good businessman and decided to sell his land and to move to Florence to try his fortune running a hotel. Dred went with him and he never saw his wife again. Still not good with running a business, Peter moved to St. Louis and failed there too. When he died, Dred was sold to satisfy debts and was purchased by Dr. John Emerson. Dred traveled with Dr. Emerson across the west and due to his small size, just under 5', others jokingly compared him to Gen Winfield Scott, who was over 6' tall.
"In 1846, Dred Scott filed a petition in the Missouri court at St. Louis. In his suit. Dred maintained that as he had lived in states and territories where slavery was illegal. he was therefore no longer a slave. His case would drag on in court for almost 10 years."
taken from the article found in the following link: (visit link)

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