March 6, 1857 A Simple Man Who Wanted To Be Free

Dred Scott.  His given name may have been “Etheldred”.  He was born into slavery in Southampton County, Virginia sometime in the late 1790s, home of Nat Turner’s rebelion, some 70 years before..  In 1818, Scott belonged to Peter Blow, who moved his family and six slaves to Alabama, to attempt a life of farming. The farm near Huntsville was unsuccessful and the Blow family gave up the effort, moving to St. Louis Missouri in 1830 to run a boarding house.

Blow died in 1832 and Dred Scott was sold to Dr. John Emerson, a surgeon serving in the United States Army.

Dred & Harriet Scott’s restored quarters, at Ft. Snelling

As an army officer, Dr. Emerson moved about frequently, bringing Scott with him. In 1837, Emerson moved to Fort Snelling in the free territory of Wisconsin, now Minnesota. There, Scott met and married Harriet Robinson, a slave belonging to fellow…