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1851 Missouri Slave Manumission Document

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Black History

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Scarce Missouri Slave "Deed of Emancipation" Manuscript

January 31, 1851, Missouri Slave Manumission Document Freeing "Viney"--a Negro Woman, Signed by Senator John F. Darby, Fine.
This scarce Deed of Emancipation liberated a 35-year-old African American woman named Viney, who was enslaved by George M. Moore, in St. Louis, Missouri. The manuscript document is written by Moore on a plain letter sheet measuring 12" x 8.25". It is also witnessed by John F. Darby (a four-time mayor of St. Louis and a state senator) and Francis Valz. The toned document has normal folds, tape stains, and a separation of the top panel along a horizontal fold, but it is very legible, and is docketed on the back: "George M. Moore, To: Deed of Emancipation, Viney--negro woman". This rare Slave Manumission document reads, in part:
"Know all men by these presents: that I, George M. Moore of the county of St. Louis in the State of Missouri, from divers good and Sufficient considerations and hereunto moving and inducing have this day emancipated, set free and discharge from Slavery my negro Woman, Slave named Viney, aged about thirty-five years old, of a black color, to be from this day forward a free woman..."
This is a fabulous historical document, written ten years before the Civil War--a time during which some Americans such as George Moore decided to end the enslavement of African Americans.

John Fletcher Darby (1804-1882) was four-time mayor of St. Louis, a congressman, state senator and inaugurator of railroads in Missouri.

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