Free Negroes Licensed in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1835

The St. Louis County Court was founded in 1824, three years after Missouri became a state. For the first fifty years this administrative court included both St. Louis City and County. Beginning in 1835, the court granted licenses to free negroes to allow them to live in the state. These specific records included each free negro’s age, height, personal appearance, and occupation—a relative gold mine! They also list those free negroes not granted licenses.

The following names have been extracted from the St. Louis County Court Records, Volume 1. In extracting this information, every attempt has been made to copy the information exactly as it appears on the film. These records are available at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters, Special Collections Department, on microfilm roll SLCCR-2, Vol. 1. The first six rolls of this series, volumes 1–23 (1824–1877), are a typed transcription of the original records, plus indexing, prepared by the WPA.

Christine Human Hughes originally contributed this material to appear in the Fall 2005 St. Louis Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 38, No. 3, pages 73-82.

• All
• Next
• Last

• All
• Next
• Last