Slavery and Emancipation in Arrow Rock Township
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Description
This driving tour highlights historic sites pertaining to the history of slavery and emancipation in Arrow Rock Township.
1. Sappington African American Cemetery
Collectively, the Sappington family were the largest slaveholders in Saline County, Missouri. During the years the Sappington plantations were operational, the enslaved workers on the property were buried in a separate cemetery from Sappington’s family and Arrow Rock’s white community. Importantly, however, the free Black community in Arrow Rock continued to bury their loved ones in the original cemetery. In totality, over 350 members of Arrow Rock’s historic Black community were laid to rest in the cemetery. In this regard, the so-called “Sappington Negro Cemetery” reflects both the residue of slavery and Black community formation post-emancipation in central Missouri. In 2021, after a series of refurbishment projects, the state of Missouri named the Sappington African American Cemetery the 92nd Missouri State Park.
2. Prairie Park/ William Sappington House
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, the William B. Sappington House, also referred to as the Prairie Park plantation, is one of the best examples of homes owned by slaveholders in Missouri. Operated by the son of Dr. John Sappington, William B. Sappington commissioned the mansion in 1844. Dr. Sappington was one of the state's wealthiest and most influential entrepreneurs, famed for using quinine pills to treat fevers. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, the property was home to thirty-eight enslaved people. In this regard, Prairie Park was significantly larger than most other slave-holding properties in the region both in acreage and number of enslaved workers. Still, it is worth noting that these figures pale in comparison to the largest plantations of the South, reflecting the state’s overall trend towards small-scale slavery. The people held on the property were exploited for their agricultural labor on Sappington’s 600-acre hemp plantation and domestic chores in the kitchen and home. Behind the home sits a two-room cabin that more than likely housed two enslaved families during the plantation’s years of operation. It is the only remaining “slave cabin” at Prairie Park, although part of another cabin’s foundation was used to construct the property’s current barn. Today, the home is a private residence and museum, available for public tours upon appointment.
3. J. Hudson Tavern
Central to commercial and community life in Arrow Rock, the history of J. Hudson’s Tavern is long intertwined with the town’s Black community. The building was constructed to serve the first generation of Arrow Rock residents by enslaved people in 1834. As a local landmark, slave auctions were frequently held on the steps of the tavern. After emancipation, J. Hudson’s Tavern was one of the earliest and largest employers of free African-Americans in the town. Kremer estimates that from the early 1900s to the 1950s, the number of Black employees at J. Hudson’s Tavern steadily increased from five to around twenty at any point. However, African Americans were still not allowed to patronize the establishment during the years of Jim Crow segregation. In 1956, two years after Brown v. Board of Education, the tavern’s “whites only” seating policy was revoked after intervention from Missouri Governor Phil Donnelly.. After longtime manager of the restaurant Mary Lou Pearson rejected seating to an interracial group from Missouri Valley College, one of the sit-in participants complained to the Governor's office. Governor Donnelly called Pearson and ordered the restaurant to fall in line with the new laws. In an interview Pearson remembers Donnelly reportedly stating, ”Mary Lou, we have to let them in any time they come.” J. Hudson’s Tavern is still open today, making the restaurant the “oldest continuously operating restaurant west of the Mississippi”.
4. Brown’s Chapel Free Will Baptist Church
Named after famous abolitionist John Brown, Brown’s Chapel was the first Black church established in Arrow Rock post-emancipation. The Friends of Arrow Rock organization estimates that the church was probably constructed as early as 1869. It is suspected that the Church also served as the first school for Black children in the town. According to historian Gary Kremer, the school was founded by famed Black Missouri leader James Milton Turner during a trip to the village. The school was one of many contributions made by Turner to the education of Black people in the state, including founding Lincoln University in 1866. After remaining shuttered for years, the church was restored by the Friends of Arrow Rock organization in 1998. In recent years, Juneteenth events have been held at the venue in commemoration of African American history in Arrow Rock.
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5. Arrow Rock Black History Museum, Brown Lodge
Likely constructed in 1877, Brown Lodge was the first Black lodge established in Arrow Rock post-emancipation. The building was erected to serve the town’s chapter of the Ancient Free and Accepted Prince Hall Masons, an African-American fraternal organization. 33 These organizations played an essential role in the formation of free Black communities after the Civil War by offering social functions and early forms of economic relief. Although three other African-American community lodges were later built, Brown Lodge is the only such building still standing. After the Prince Hall Masons disbanded in 1938, the building continued to serve as a Black-owned restaurant until the 1950s. Today, the building has been restored and acts as Arrow Rock’s Black History Museum.
