Settlers

Abolitionists in Missouri

Abolitionists in Missouri
"Huck Finn and Jim" Lithograph by Thomas Hart Benton, Missouri State Historical Society

Two Kinds… Although there were people in Missouri throughout the pre-Civil War period who abhorred the institution of slavery, those who advocated its abolition were a minority.  Their views were bitterly opposed and often suppressed by the irate proslavery forces.  There were two kinds of abolitionists:  (1) those who only advocated ending the system and (2) those who acted illegally to spirit slaves away.  The Missouri slaveholder did not discriminate between the two and considered the first as bad as the second.  …Among Three Groups Abolitionists in Missouri can be classified into three groups:  (1) certain…

John Floersch Charged for Selling Liquor to Slaves

Filed Sept 10, 1851 Ira Norris, Clerk The State vs. John Floersch Dealing with Slaves Selling liquor on July 1, 1851 to a slave - without consent of their owner! One has to wonder if in a tragic irony this is ahead of any Independence Day celebration on the 4th. Witnesses James Serrat John Quermott John Heed… Luther State of Missouri County of Platte In the Circuit Court September Tenth 1851 Platte County to wit: The Grand Jury?? For the state of Missouri for the Body of the County of Platte, aforesaid, Upon this oath present…

Jacob Marries Anna Smitz MAR 3 1851

Jacob Marries Anna Smitz MAR 3 1851

Holy Trinity Catholic ChurchWeston, MO Copy of the original handwritten marriage record of Jacob Florsch (sic) and Anna Smitz filed at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 407 Cherry St, Weston, Missouri. Rev. Father Francis Rutkowski, Roman Catholic priest, Pastor of the Most Holy Trinity Church in Weston Mo., Platte County

Platte Lodge, No. 56, A.F. & A.M.

This lodge was incorporated by the Legislature, with N.M. Schrock, W.M.; W.E. Black, S.W.; and John E. Pitt, J.W. The lodge had been incorporated or charted by the Grand Lodge as early as 1846, and this legislative charter was to enable the lodge to hold the real estate it acquired the following year, when the Presbyterian Churcn and the lodge built a meeting -house and hall. The meetings of the Lodge were held each Saturday night before full moon, in the upper story of Johnston & Lewis' store, on Lot 6, Block 29, in Platte City…

JOHN BROWN IN KANSAS

JOHN BROWN IN KANSAS

Photo: The Life of John Brown, no. 16: In Spite of a Price on His Head, John Brown, in 1859, Liberated 12 Negroes From a Missouri Plantation [painting] / (photographed by Peter A. Juley & Son). See Civil War on the Western Border, The missouri-kansas conflict 1854-1865 Family lore has always alluded o the fact Johann Floersch was actively involved in the Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape to the North. See State vs. Floersch, Late Justice, page 18. From the Kansas Magazine Some time in the summer of 1850, John Brown was conducting a band of…

The Angelus: Reflections on the Missouri River

The Angelus: Reflections on the Missouri River

By Paul Floersch - September 9, 2020 Joseph and I recently finished our canoe trip from Omaha to St. Louis. Joseph chose to continue down the Mississippi, and I returned home to resume Latin studies before entering the monastery, God willing, in October.For me, one of the most remarkable things about going down river on the Mighty Mo was considering that in 1843, almost 180 years ago, Johannes Flörsch and his wife, Elisabetha Maria were traveling up this same river with their children likely to escape economic and religious hardships which were boiling up in Germany…

Cholera

The first visit of cholera to Platte City was this summer. A stranger got out of the stage, and commenced screaming and cramping, at the post office. A hasty consultation was held, and Judge Norton, H.H. Hope and W.M. Paxton determined to lead him to a vacant house, standing on the lot occupied the by present jail. But the man fell on Main Street, with cramp, and screamed so as to alarm the town. We gave him the best of care, but in thirty-six hours, he died. The breath had hardly ceased before a trembling gang,…

An Abolitionist in Weston

Frederick Starr, a Presbyterian minister from Rochester, N.Y., settles in Weston, as pastor of the Presbyterian Church. He was an outspoken Abolitionist: and during the border strife he fearlessly promulgated his principles, and built up, at Weston, a strong anti-slavery party. His life was often in danger from mob-violence. In the midst of the excitement, he thought it prudent to remove to St. Louis. He traveled east, and was lionized by his party. He visited Weston during the war and was kindly received. He died in St. Louis Jan. 8, 1867. Paxton, p. 123

California Gold Rush of 1849

Dec 31: The California emigration is the distinguishing feature of the year 1849. From three to four hundred of our most enterprising citizens fell victims to the gold fever. One-half never returned, and that half did well or died from home. The other half returned, broken in fortune, but satisfied with adventure. Paxton, p. 120

Phoenix Lodge No. 30 I.O.O.F. Buys Property in Weston

Independent Order of Odd Fellows Apparently there are similarities to the Free Masons. Masonry is not Christian, and at high levels is openly luciferian. To some degree, individual masons’ reluctance to reveal this to the “uninitiated” is due to ignorance of what happens in the higher degrees, but for some it’s a matter of fulfilling their duty to keep the secrets of Freemasonry with them to the grave. Because of this, it is not wise to trust much of what masons have to say about masonry. This is the nature of an occult secret society. Sept.5:…