Dred Scott Born: 1795 Died: 1858

Dred Scott was an African American born a slave in Southampton County, Virginia. A doctor in the army purchased Dred at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. In 1834, Dr. Emerson took Dred to Rock Island Illinois and in 1836 to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, free territories where slavery was illegal. At Fort Snelling, Dred met and married another slave named Harriet. They had two children. They returned to Jefferson Barracks in 1837. In 1843, Dr. Emerson died, leaving all his possessions including the slaves to his wife and family. Dr. Emerson's widow moved east and left a man named Taylor Blow in charge of Dred and the other slaves. In order to help himself become a free man, Dred filed suit against Mrs. Emerson at the St. Louis courthouse for assault and battery and false imprisonment. Dred claimed that Dr. Emerson had taken him to free territory while he was alive, therefore Dred should be a free man. The court ruled against him. At the second trial, also held in St. Louis, the court agreed Dred should be free. His owners did not agree. Eventually after many years and trials, the case went to the Supreme Court. The highest court in the country declared that because Dred was born a slave, he could be taken anywhere his master chose, and would remain a slave. In 1857, his owners set Dred free, he died one year later in St. Louis.