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Courtesy of Ruth Ann Hager
When Carl Schumacher called the St. Louis County Library to request a speaker for a commemoration of the 149th anniversary of the Dred Scott decision, he was unaware of the process of discovery he would set into motion. Ruth Ann Hager, a library reference specialist and genealogist, was chosen to give the talk. She began looking for historical documents about the Scott family to discuss as examples of the information one might find when tracing ancestors. But when certain pieces of information contradicted other documents she had found, Hager began to do additional research.
She found far more than she expected. In 2006, Hager discovered the date and place of Harriet Scott’s burial, information that had been absent from the historical record for over 100 years. It was the beginning of a four-year hunt for the truth about Dred Scott’s family, a project that would shed new light on one of St. Louis’ most famous trials.
“Someone asked me this week, if that phone call had not come through, would you have ever touched this research? None,” Hager says, reflecting on how her project began. “It’s sort of fate. A number of people just said that after 150 years Harriet wants her story told.”
Dred Scott, a slave who traveled throughout the United States with his slaveowner, U.S. Army Major John Emerson, is known for his attempt to sue for his freedom. Because Dred and his wife, Harriet, had lived in free territories, they sued Irene Emerson (Major Emerson's widow, who acquired the Scotts after her husband's death), on the grounds that their time outside the South granted them the right to be free. Although the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, the Scotts eventually lost. It was decided that no African-American could be a citizen of the U.S., and that the Scotts therefore had no legal claim to freedom. The decision also declared that Congress did not have the right to deprive a man of his property, therefore nullifying the Missouri Compromise. The decision further divided the U.S. on the question of slavery, leading the country closer to the brink of civil war.
Dred and Harriet Scott did eventually gain their freedom, though not through a court of law. Irene Emerson remarried Calvin Chaffee, an abolitionist representative. Chaffee took his seat in the House only days before the Supreme Court was to hear the case. Upon finding out that his new wife owned the most famous slave in America, he pressured her to grant Dred and Harriet their freedom. They were finally freed in 1857, only a year before Dred’s death.
In her research, Hager uncovered enough new information and historical documents about the Scott family history to fill a book, and so she did. Dred & Harriet Scott: Their Family Story, which includes Hager’s new research, as well as a detailed history of the Scott family, will be released February 5th.
The book’s introduction reminds us that “beyond being legal litigants in one of the most famous court cases in American history, Dred and Harriet were individuals, a husband and wife, parents, and grandparents.” The text that follows examines the history of the Scotts from a family perspective. It discusses the personal consequences that the trial had on the Scott’s two daughters, and chronicles their lives before and after freedom.
“It’s the story of the struggles that parents encounter on behalf of their children,” says Hager of the genealogical research she did. “It’s that human element, and it’s way bigger than the Dred Scott decision. There’s a whole story there that hadn’t been examined about the people that impact on down through the generations.”
Dred & Harriet Scott: Their Family Story clearly has a research librarian’s touch. The book is filled with images of historical documents and genealogy charts. The language is simple, the organization is straightforward and the story is easy to follow. A great resource for research and an interesting view into an important historical figure, the book is most certainly an exiting addition to St. Louis’ history.
“It is intended to not only inform people about Dred Scott’s family story, but to inspire people to say ‘Wow, if they could find that about Dred and Harriet, what could they find about our family?’” says Hager of her book, “it reminds me how important every single person is who comes into our department and says, ‘I’d like to get started.’”
For those interested in learning more about the book, purchasing a copy, or meeting Ruth Ann Hager, the book’s release party will be held at 7:00 pm on February 5th, in the St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh. --Dana Varinsky
