Existing comment:
Sold on the Steps of Justice
Jefferson National Expansion Museum
Auctions were once a common site on the stately steps of the Old Courthouse in front of you. The court organized property sales when people went bankrupt or died without a will. Between 1839 and 1862, the court sold more than 500 enslaved men, women, and children here.
Though the issue of slavery divided people, auctions like these were common at courthouses throughout the state. Missouri outlawed slavery in early 1865, just a few months before the Civil War ended. |