good afternoon.

my name is nick hoffman and am the administrator of museums and historic sites for the wisconsin historical society, which owns and operates villa louis as part of our historic sites system of 12 locations across the state. i sincerely appreciate all of you joining us today for the launch of the book enslaved indenture to free five black women of the upper mississippi. 1800 to 1850. before we begin, i want to remind everyone to silence their cell phones and their questions until the end of the program. after the q&a, we will also have an optional walking tour of the grounds led by the author to connect the experiences of the black women in the book to very place. and i know it warmer than usual for this late in october and we have water available at visitor center if you need it. thank you again to blair dillman, drew hager, the team from the barn for the use of the dustman hotel, and sarah miller for creating the contemporary map of locations covered in the book.

we also have to thank our outstanding site director susan khaya slusser and the wisconsin historic city press for organizing today's program. there's especially important to acknowledge the descendants of mary and patsy and some of whom are here today. i appreciate your time us this weekend and the lasting impact that your ancestors made on our state's history. thank you. across the state, historians and community members are revisiting the histories of their communities to identify the critical missing pieces and elevate a far more complex and diverse past than what most likely know enslaved indentured, free researched and written by mary elise antoine and published by the wisconsin historic society press is. an important part of this elevation and making the making public the long history of ins, black experiences and race. the state. mary's book helps us not only understand a fuller history of this very place period machine,

but it really challenges us to reimagine a more whole picture of life in the upper river valley. mary antoine was born in prairie du chien, wisconsin. her interest in history and the objects people left behind comes from listening to her grandmother tell stories of her family and the people knew. mary attended marquette university, graduating with a b.a. in history after completing her degree, she attended the cooperstown graduate program and received an m.a. in history museum studies from state university college at oneonta new york. after more than a decade working in the east, mary returned her hometown as curator of collections right here at milwaukee mary's. research guided the restoration of the interior of the basement family home. that guest of louis today appreciate with every single visit research is a really key theme here when addressing her biography as an exceptional researcher, mary has produced

numerous articles encyclopedic and books highlighting. her work with the wisconsin historical society press. mary was published the war of 1812 and wisconsin the battle for prairie du chien, which received the wisconsin historical society's board of curators book of merit frenchtown chronicles, co-edited with lucy elder's vel murphy. and of course, today's book, her research is and always active as she continues to already advance her next published works. mary is also board member and past president of the purchasing historical society as well as the wisconsin ambassador for the french heritage quarter. please welcome mary alice antoine. i had a short.

good afternoon and thank you all for coming today. i'd like to acknowledge a couple of people before. i begin this talk and of them are descendants of courtney, one of the five women that i discuss in the book. toby and debbie helped tremendously as i was writing this and made sure that i stayed as accurate as i possibly could. thank you. enslaved indentured free five black women on the upper mississippi p is the story of five women. mary anne maria, patsy courtney and rachael. they all came to prairie du chien from very different

backgrounds with very different locations. but there are lives intertwined in this very small community. mary arianne was free, mariah was indentured patsey, also indentured to courtney was enslaved, as was rachael rachael. mary anne was born in either new orleans or saint louis. we're not quite sure because she was born in the 1700s and the records were and are quite scarce. mariah was born in maryland, patsy and kentucky, courtney, virginia and rachael have no idea as to her birth place. but as i they all came together, encouraged to shine and this is the earliest image we have of that community drawn in 1829 by an officer stationed at the

first for crawford and so of course the first for crawford as the main image there. but to the south of that is part of the small village that was the main village of prairie to sheen and behind it, across moray or slue, is another small village. the village of san ferrol. and that's where much of our story takes place. this is the first map of prairie du chien and it shows how settlement was laid out in this community. the first permanent settlement begins here in, the 1770s, mainly by french speaking people from canada, mitchell, mackinaw and the illinois country, and they select long lots of land measured in our path, which is basically 192 feet. and they selected lots for.

and then also selected lots for the villages. in all, there were three villages here, the upper village, the main village and, the village of son for all of our prairie du chien became part of the northwest territory when the northwest ordinance was written. in 1787, and part of that ordinance was article six, which stated there shall neither nor in voluntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in the punish ment of crimes where the parties shall have been duly convicted. so therefore, the enslavement of human beings was outlawed in the northwest territory included. what are now the states of ohio indiana, illinois, michigan,

wisconsin and part of minnesota. so it was quite a large expanse of land and the ordinance applied to all of that area area. well, the ordinance estab lished how an area could become a state or how it could become a territory so by little the ordinance was divided up the territory. ohio gained statehood in 1803 and its constitution was exactly like the northwest. it says no slavery nor involuntary servitude. well, then more people to settle the area west of where thetate of ohio was. and so you have indiana territory that's established when ohio becomes the state.

and again, because of the northwest ordinance, there was to be no slavery in indiana. territory. but many of the people who settled indiana territory were from states where people held in slavery. and so the indiana constitution stated that if an enslaved person was brought into the territory within 30 days of arrival the person must be taken to a county clerk or court clerk and must sign an indenture. and an indenture was a legal document in which that person agreed freely to work for a person, for a certain of years. so it was a way to not have an enslaved person in a territory but a way to have all the

benefits of a an enslaved person. well, in 1809, the illinois territory is formed and again like the indiana territory, it has the same stipulation that enslaved person has to be brought to a clerk of court and gned an indenture within 30 days ix if the person under the age of 15 and then that person will be held in for a number of years. males until they were age 35 and females until they were age 32. and at this point, what is prairie du chien and what is now wisconsin were part of territory. and so the illinois territorial constitution applied to prairie du chien. well, when illinois became a

state michigan territory was formed and constitution dino deal with issuof enslavement, but a court case did. and becsef rae richard pattinson, it said the ordinance of 1787 forbade slavery in the territory. so there is no right of property exists in humans. and so slavery was not allowed in michigan territory. well in 1818. what is now wisconsin and prudish mean became part of territory. so slavery should have not been allowed in period machine then with the missouri compromise of. 1820 no slavery was to north of that line of latitude and so that basically included what is now iowa and minnesota.

but as we're going to see even though you had all of these laws the enslavement of humans continue to exist in the northwest and what is in wisconsin. so the first woman i talk about is marion which she was born. 1775 and lived in the illinois country is basically southern illinois. cass cascadia, cahokia, prairie, tyrone shea. and while she formed a relationship with pierre du cosset and they had at least two children up here, and francois no, one really knows what happens to pierre. he may have died and so marianne forms a relationship and is married to claude garnier.

claude garnier worked in the fur trade. he worked for michel bruce boy or as we say locally, michael bruce boy and decided to move from the illinois country up to prairie du chien jean. and when he moved up here, he selected two lots of land. he selected two lots that ended up calling lot number two and farm. lot number three, 13. so he owned these two pieces of land and after her a year or so. mary ann up to join claude prairie du chien and he ended up giving farm lot number to mary and now when the lots are first surveyed in the 1870s farm lot number 13 is given to claude

garnier and his heirs because. claude had died and marianne remarries and charles maynard and farm lot number two is given to charles even though it belonged to mary and. so marianne in her lifetime lived at prairie du chien. she was very well known as a person who would take care of people who were sick, who were ill. she probably learned the skills from her mother as to how to produce native medicine foods from herbs and plants that were found. the area and she was known to even take people into her to care for them when they were ill and she left quite a few children, francois to cosette would come up to prairie du chien and live with her six

children whose father was garnier and five children whose were the children of charles maynard and. marianne would outlive all of her. yet at the time always kept her maiden name of marion. the bush. marianne's oldest daughter, helene. helene was born in the 1790s, and she ends up marrying francois gagliano, who comes here from green bay, and he is a skilled blacksmith, and they acquire a lot of land here in the main and we are in the main right now. lot number. four. and marianne and helene become almost like mentors to some of the other women that i discussed

in the book, maria maria was born about 1800 in maryland in the area down the lower right corner, akwa, which is very close to what is now washington, dc, and she was born on a plantation and, born into slavery. the plantation was owned by renaldo. and his john johnson wanted to become a u.s. fur factor. the united established u.s. fur factories in the early 1800s in the hopes that native americans would trade with the united states instead of independent fur traders. the american fur company and

john johnson received his appointment to come to prairie du chien to be the us fur factor, and before he at prairie du chien he acquired mariah and a young boy, henry. we assume that both individuals came from rinaldo johnson's plantation because he had a very large plantation in maryland in which enslaved peoples worked so mariah and henry were brought up to prairie du chien in 1816 to work at the u.s. fur factory. there's a little sketch of what the u.s. fur factory building looked like, but there's also this map of production from the 1820s. and if look at it, you will see

fort crawford third to the right of that is the u.s. indian agency. and to the right of that is the u.s. fur factory, because the united states had developed a policy as a means to. acquire the friendship of the native nations. and that policy was of three parts. they would build military post, they would establish a u.s. indian agent to deal with the native on behalf of the government, and then they would also estab a u.s. fur factory encouraging the native peoples to come to the factory and trade. and so johnson brought mary and henry to prairie du chien to work in this u.s. factory, which was located here in the main village, a prairie to shame. but you have to remember that

enslavement of human beings was not allowed in this area because of the northwest ordinance. but under illinois territory, there was, that codicil that you could bring in person to a clerk of court and have that person sign an indenture and that's what johnson does. he takes mariah to the court in southern illinois and has her sign and indenture in which freely agrees to work for john w johnson for a period of 50 years and. in return, she would be clothed and housed. now remember, she's 16 years old and so she's to work for johnson for 15 or 50 years. henry also is brought to the

clerk of court. and he, too is asked to sign an indenture. and henry is 11 years old. so both maria and henry come to prairie du chien indenture to john w johnson, the u.s. for a factor. well, the fur factory is only a couple of blocks from fort crawford and one of the young men stationed there as a private is jacob. fashion. he's from pennsylvania. enlist in the u.s. army and is stationed at fort crawford. and somehow maria jacob meet and they are married in 1824. now, remember is still indentured to john johnson at this so she must have needed permission to marry jacob but once they are married jacob

purchases of the land that is owned by francois and helene garland. no. and again, so mariah and helene mary and daughters form this friendship to the point where helene and francois sell her and jacob part of their land. in 1827, the winnebago war occurs and it affects mary and the boucher's family. her son is killed. her daughter granddaughter is wounded. and many other people in prairie du chien are affected by the war and so after the close of the hostage is the u.s. government establishes a commission that if you have lost any personal property during the war, you may file a request, be reimbursed

and. mariah files, request for. she says that in the course of the hostilities, she lost a horse and colt valued $60. so even though mariah is indentured to. she and her husband are farming their property and obviously raising livestock on their land here in the maine village village? well, in 1829, johnson decides to leave prairie du sheen. the us fur factory has been closed he wants to go to saint louis, where he feels there is more opportune ity and mariah still is under indentured. indentured johnson and somehow she acquires.

$205 to purchase her freedom. and so this document established this. the fact that even though mariah still had a few years left on her indenture, johnson was willing to free her for the sum of $205. i just think what that was worth in 1829. so was quite a bit of effort. but mariah does buy her freedom and she's free to go wherever she so wishes and she chooses. stay here in prairie to shine in house that she built on her land that she had acquired from mary and daughter. the next woman i talk about is patsy. she was born in kentucky. about 1800 and probably born on

the plantation that was owned by thomas posey. thomas time moves to indiana he becomes the president or as of the illinois or indiana territory and as such, he wishes and lobbies for the fact that slavery allowed in indiana china. and so you can see that the posey's mindset is very much one of having enslaved people on their property and one of those young enslaved people is, patsy well. thomas posey has quite a few children, one of whom has a daughter, eliza allies summary, and she marries young man who has come there from the east by

the name of joseph m street and patsy is given to eliza mary as a gift. or it's just assumed that once eliza married street that she will go with eliza wherever she may move. and street and eliza, along with patsy, who is 67 years old, moved to southern illinois. okay. okay. he's in southern illinois. slavery is not allowed in illinois, but again, there is that codicil that you can take an slave person to court and have them sign an indenture. and that's what joseph street does, patsy, as a free woman of

signs, an indenture to work for joseph m street again for 50 years and she this of her own free and in return clothing and board. this is a very detailed indenture. there's also a long stipulated motion is to how she is to live her life and if she incurs any and fraction for every infraction another year will be added to her indenture. at the same time that patsy signs her indenture. a young man by the name of london also signs an indenture. so patsy and london are indentured to joseph m street.

well, joseph wants an appointment as the u.s. indian agent at parade is shane. he lobbies very hard for this and is appointed the u.s. indian agent for the ho-chunk at prairie. shane joseph assumes that he can continue to live in southern illinois in shawneetown and just come up to prairie du chien whenever it's necessary. well, william clark, who is the superintendent of indian affairs for the upper mississippi. no, you got to live in prairie du chien and st comes up here along with london. patsy remains with mrs. st and their children and. the st family is growing almost yearly and joseph st is always had problems maintaining finance social stability and something

happens while he's in prairie. shane and his property is confiscated and sold at auction and part of his property include it patsey. so patsy was sold at auction but she was purchased by dr. posey, who is mrs. street's brother. and so dr. posey then returns patsey to mrs. street. but again, she's forced to sign another indenture and that indenture, she says she will fulfill all the requirements of the first indenture she signed. also of her own free will. she agrees to move to prairie, to shane with mrs. street and family and so in 1828 patsy mrs. st. one of patsy children and many

of the street children move to prairie two. she there's house available for them in the main village so joseph ends up renting a house from joseph rolet far north of town and, what is now called mill cooley. and so patsy is living in mill cooley and because she's in mill cooley, if you look right to the left, you the property of charles maynard and this is where and the bush lived and so obviously patsy and leon would be home friends there are not many other people living at that far end of the prairie. well, that's way too far away from fort crawford, because in 1829 for crawford is relocated from the main village to the

mainland and by stipulation, the indian agent has to have his agency adjacent to military post and so street purchases a house and moves his family along with patsy and her family, to the new u.s. agency. this is a that was taken in 1873 after a major fire. it's more to document the fire than than it is the buildings behind the burned out area. but where the arrow is the location of the u.s. indian agency. it included a house, a meeting room where joseph street would meet with the native nations, a kitchen as a separate building, and also a blacksmith shop and we know that patsy and her children in the kitchen on pallets next to the fireplace.

prior to coming, patsy had formed a relationship with -- forester, and they had three children, charles, bsy and judy. charles comes to producing with patsy. betsy has died, as a small infant, and we don't know what happened to judy by. the time patsy comes prairie du chien in 1828. judy is already eight years old, so there's a possibility that julie judy was sold by the street family because only charles comes with patsy when patsy arrives in prairie du chien. she forms a relationship with. james triplett we don't know a lot about james history, but he or seems to have been a free

black man because he was hired joseph street to work in the u.s. indian agency, see the top ledger shows that james triplett was paid for his services for a year as laborer. so in that he was paid, assumes that he is a free man because everyone else that is listed as receiving pay for services at that time is also free and the one name on the list, which is four, is francois du koch yet. and that's mary and mabuza's eldest son. and francois is blacksmith at the u.s. indian agency, james triple a later goes on to help with the construction of fort winnebago. at the portage comes back to prairie to shane. he then receives a promotion so

to say as he is hired as the stryker the person that helps the blacksmith and so james is very much a part of the family and james and patsy have five children. james london obviously named for the man who signed an indenture with patsy henry harrison louis and isaac newton henry harrison is one of patsy's son and 1827 one of joseph street's daughters marries a lieutenant stationed at fort crawford. george wilson and as a wedding present, henry, who is now four years old, is given to lieutenant and mrs. wilson as a present. and so young henry, at the age

of four, is placed service to the young couple, and he will remain in service to the wilsons until he obtains his freedom. well, joseph's is transferred to the indian agency. it production is closed. he is told that if he wants to employed, he has to move to the des moines river for the new indian agency that is established for the sauk and faulkner, fox nation. and so he moves to what is now called agency c, iowa on the des moines river and he takes patsy and her sons with him. and this is the agency house. once patsy arrives here, she is given a log cabin, and so at least she has a residence, her own for her sons and herself but patsy will stay indenture

enslaved to the street family into the 1840s and she does not gain her freedom until joseph street and mrs. st both die and the street children at that point are now in iowa, where slavery is not allowed. and so patsy and her sons are given their freedom. in the 1840s, the fourth woman i talk about is courtney. she was born in virginia, 1812, on plantation of james garland. it's an albemarle county in a little part called ivy, which is northwest of charlotte spell. and is born into slavery in virginia. when she's about seven years

old. james garland's brother, captain john spottswood garland, comes to visit and he has recently married mariah smith and. he obviously is seeking assistance for his wife. as for a household servant. and so his brother james gives, john courtney. so at the age of six, seven, courtney leaves virginia, leaves her mother any other family she may have and is brought to detroit, garland to stationed at detroit for a while. he's shifted over to fort howard in green bay and then in time he is posted as the quartermaster for fort snelling. and so courtney is moved from detroit to fort howard back to detroit and to fort snelling,

where she takes care of not only captain and mrs. garland, but this time two garland children. officers in the us army. that time submitted reports to the paymaster to be paid for their wages. and this is a paymaster form in which captain garland asks for pay for himself, pay for a servant that not a soldier, and also rations for himself and for his servant. as a captain, he's allowed to claim one servant, not a soldier. and if you claiming a servant, there is a box down at the end of the form that, you have to describe the servant. and so this paymaster from captain garland enumerates that he is claiming pay for courtney

and fiscal descriptions are required. so courtney is described as black complected, five foot four black eyes, black hair and is listed as a slave. there are four thousands of these paymaster reports filed at the national archive and all of the ones that have been found for captain garland in which he lists courtney, he would list as a servant when she was in detroit, but once she got to fort snelling. she was listed as a slave slave while at fort snelling. a son is born to courtney joseph godfrey and. garland is transferred to the

new fort crawford at prairie to schine. he's to oversee the construct and and so when he comes he comes with his wife with his children with courtney and courtney brings her son joseph. and this is the layout of the officers barracks at the second fort crawford, there were two apartments that built next to each other with a sally port between, and then two more apartments and all were connected by a long roof. and so the each officers apartment included a room and a small room on the first floor. and then there were stairs down to the basement. and in the basement. where was the kitchen? and so garland and his family would live in the upper quarters. and courtney, her family would live and work in the lower quarters quarters. garland is stationed here for a

while. his health deteriorates and he is posted back east. at this point, he decided that courtney and joseph no longer to be part of his family. garland had the option he could have given courtney freedom. he could have allowed her to purchase her freedom. but he decides to do neither. and he sells. courtney to alexis bailey for. $350. bailey lives at mendota. he is the agent for the american fur company and so courtney moves back up to the west, minnesota river and is right across from fort snelling. and she's at mendota. another son is born to her

william. well, in the meantime, a young man, thomas bayless whitmarsh stockton, has graduated from the us military academy. he is first posted to jefferson barracks is by saint louis and then he is to fort snelling while at snelling he becomes friends with. captain and mrs. garland and living in their household as garland's younger sister and stockton and the young lady fall in love and are married. and for a while, captain garland gives the stockton's the use of courtney. but then courtney returns to the family. well, the young lieutenant decides that he too wants a servant within his household. and so he asks the assistant

indian agent he was going to st louis to purchase a servant for him while he is in saint louis. and so mr. langham purchases a young lady by the name of rachel and brings her up to fort snelling. and rachel works in the household of lieutenant stockton. lieutenant stockton stockton is from new york. he never experience enslavement humans while in new york, but since he had been stationed in saint louis for a while. he obviously. became converted to the idea that human enslavement was all right. and so this is where rachel is

purchased. we know nothing about her background. and prior to this state, again, like the other officers, lieutenant stockton files his paymaster requests. and this is one of his paymaster that he files for rachel as a servant. again she's black complected. she's five foot five and dark in hair and eyes. stockton is transferred to the second and fourth. crawford when garland leaves as the quartermaster. fort crawford. stockton is promoted to the quartermaster at fort crawford. and so he brings rachel to peru to shine in here. her son, james henry, is born in

1834. stockton is only here for a couple of years. he requested to oversee construction of the national road from cincinnati to saint louis, and he sends his family to michigan, where he purchased some property and, decides he no longer needs the services of rachel. so again, he several options he could have freed rachel. he could have allowed her to her freedom, but instead he takes her to saint louis and sells her to man by the name of joseph clark. we're not too sure who mr. clark was, but he quickly turns around and sells. rachel and child. and as you can see there, described as slaves for. life on this bill of sale. and he sells them to william walker. william walker is a toous

slaver he lives in saint louis. he large farm, and he goes around purchasing, enslaved men and women, probably children also, puts on his farm in a holding situation until has collected enough individuals. and then he has them chained together, marches to the wharf in saint louis and puts them on a steamboat and sails the river with them. they stop at various ports where the chained individuals are taken off the boat, put into a what's called a slave pen and offered for sale. and what he doesn't sell one port. the people are put back on the steamboat and taken to another port and to finally new orleans is. the final stop.

so rachel realizes that being purchased by william walker, this is her future. she's going to be sold down the river for and it would be the future of her son. and another possibility, rachel, would have been separated from her son. well, missouri, there is a law that's been in effect for a number of years through french occupation and spanish occupation, and even when louisiana purchase occurred and what's now missouri became part of the united states. and it said that if you could prove that you should be free, you could file a freedom suit in the saint louis courts. and there were four reasons for which you could file a freedom suit. if one had been granted freedom, a former enslaver but they had not received their freedom, if

one had been held as an enslaved person and resided for a period of time in a state or territory, were slavery was not allowed? if one was free and could prove, but was illegally returned to slavery or if one had descended from a maternal line from a free woman of color. well, obviously the third or the second reason pertain to rachel. so she went to court, requested file a suit for freedom as a free person and had an attorney appointed. and so filed a suit for her freedom in the saint louis circuit court court, it's rachel versus walker. very important court case. well, as part of this lieutenant stockton is required to testify and you sort of reticent to do

this. so even though rachel's case is filed in 1834, it takes until. 1836 for the case to be heard. so in the meantime, rachel's held in this limbo. is she free? is she not free? and people who filed freedom suits are quite often were placed in the saint louis jail for their security. and then the sheriff could hire them out to earn wages, which would pay for their room and board in the jail. so finally, the court, thomas stockton, to file a reason as to why he held rachel. and he said that because she was an officer in the u.s. army, he had been to the posts at fort

crawford in fort snelling, and as an officer under orders, he could take his personal property property with him to the post and that rachel was of his personal property and she only worked for he and his family. so this the argument that is presented to the court and the court agrees with lieutenant stockton and so rachel does not gain her freedom but her lawyer files an appeal to district circuit court to try to gain a freedom for rachel. in the meantime, alexis bailey decided he no longer needed the services of courtney, and he takes her to saint louis and sells her to samuel rayburn, along with her son, william and kurt courtney for the same reason files a suit for freedom

and her suit is held until a decision is made in rachel versus william walker, because there stories are so similar. whatever decision is in rachel's case will affect courtney case and the district supreme rules that rachel is free. and they say just because an officer is to a certain area he can choose what property he brings with them. he was not ordered to bring a servant or an enslaved individual with him. and so rachel, her freedom and as a result, courtney also gains their freedom and they gain the freedom for their sons. at this point, rachel disappears, we have no idea what the rest of her life was, but

courtney makes the decision to return to prairie du chien because obviously she is she has made a friendship with harleen garland no. mary and the bushes daughter and also fashion. and when returns to perry to change probably lives with mariah for a while but she married meets benjamin and they are married and then mariah sells part of her lot to benjamin and courtney and on that lot they have a house built. so in just one lot here in the main of prairie du chien, you have three of the women's families you have and the bushes daughter, you have mariah and you have courtney and they've formed this friendship. courtney had one son with joseph

godfrey. joseph is retained by alexis bailey, although sells courtney and her son william. he does not sell joseph. he keeps them in servitude until joseph finally runs away and ends up living with the dakota and mary's the dakota woman. in fact, we had one of joseph's descendants with us yesterday yesterday. but when courtney comes to prairie du chien, she brings william her in time. william his name to james bar and with benjamin. courtney has three children margaretha benjamin and catherine who get was known as sarafina. then benjamin are dies while he's stationed in for crawford is a group of volunteers during the mexican war and courtney marries charles witmer and they

have two sons, joseph and jonas. benjamin was a baker and they had a bakery probably on their property after he dies, courtney operating the bakery and charles, her second husband, is also a baker. and so perform a very needed function in this community as bakers and their house used to exist in the 100 block of louis road. this is an image of it as it once looked. william, who changes his name to james, stays in prairie du chien, he becomes employed by the chicago chicago milwaukee and saint paul railroad as a pullman conductor. marries emily glass in and james ah, excuse me. martha glass and james and martha have these children. emily, marianne, john, james, william, frank and jessie and

james takes care of quite a few of his siblings at the same time, and he builds this house in 1880. and it was where the memorial gardens are today. and james continues working and living it, producing the milwaukee road transfers him to milwaukee and he in milwaukee he's injured in a very bad railroad accident. and after two years dies because his injuries and upon his death he is brought back to prairie du chien to be buried and the milwaukee road puts together a private pullman car to bring james, his remains and his family to purchasing and. he is buried in the evergreen

cemetery along with his daughter mary ann, and when his dies she is also buried in evergreen cemetery. so so are five women. mary ann was free. mariah is indentured but purchases her freedom. patsy's indenture and finally gains her freedom through the death of her enslavers. cotney is enslaved and gains her freedom by going to court and filing a freedom suit. and as is rachel, enslaved and gains her freedom. so in the end. these five women lived in freedom, but they are just a small minority of the enslaved people that lived it, prayed is shane and we don't know the fate of all of the other people listed under mary and, mariah,

patsy, courtney and rachel's name. thank you.