Joan Best wrote: > State archivists invited to restore and preserve some four million > court documents left unexamined for over a century in file cabinets > in the St. Louis Courthouse have found nearly 300 lawsuits by slaves > seeking their freedom between 1809 and 1865. Thanks to Joan for the Freedom Lawsuits website. I was able to find 3 lawsuits there concerning one of my ancestors, and also more concerning related families. Although not exactly pleasant reading these documents are providing me with good genealogical information re my ancestors travels, and the names of material witnesses to the cases, some of which are known to me, but some of which I need to explore to discover the connections. I still need to read through them all, and decipher the handwriting, but I have already obtained information that I didn't have before. Not to mention a glimpse into the political and social realities that slaves faced at that time. So, thanks Joan! http://www.stlcourtrecords.wustl.edu/index.cfm Ray Shoemaker <raywshoe@yahoo.com>