ST. CHARLES COUNTY HISTORY

I first wrote about Sage Chapel Cemetery back in 2018.

Near the center of one of the largest cities in St. Charles County  sits a quiet little plot of ground that transports a visitor to an earlier time when many of its residents were enslaved people. In the early 1800s, Samuel Keithly (1789-1870) came from Kentucky, and settled in St. Charles County, bringing his slaves. The father of a large family with seven children, several step-children, and many grandchildren, the family had other members who owned slaves as well. By the 1840s, the family owned hundreds of acres of land, and had purchased  land near today’s O’Fallon, Missouri where Sage Chapel Cemetery lies. (First published April 27, 2018)

Not much has changed since then, but their story is more important than ever. For years, the history of the formerly enslaved people of St. Charles County was a story that only they knew, shared among themselves, and passed down to younger generations. Their ancestors were forbidden to learn how to read and write until emancipation. How can we fault people for not having enough documentation about a time and place, then require them in order to recognize it, and not credit their family histories passed down from generation to generation? When I share the story of Sage Chapel Cemetery I want to share not only the “documentation” found in their enslaver’s probate and wills, the legal deeds to purchase the land they built on, and the death certificates that can be found today, online through the Secretary of State’s office, but those family histories that only they can tell. There’s the real heart of the story!

Oral Histories, as told by their descendants, provide an incredible journey into the past that no deed, will or death certificate can tell. In my research on Sage Chapel Cemetery, I met Mary and Tom Stephenson. Mary shared the same kind of family portraits of her ancestors, hung in the hallway, that I have of mine. However, her stories told me about more about Mr. Keithlys enslaved people who he brought to Missouri. Those are the real stories. Those are the stories that bring Sage Chapel Cemetery to life. And those are the stories that we need to hear. Let’s revisit Sage Chapel, and “the hill” in O’Fallon.

Daughter of Les Luckett is the first to the left, Nellie Luckett. Photo from the O’Fallon Missouri Historical Society the Mary Stephenson collection and Jim Frain.

Please note: These stories are difficult and they share history that some consider divisive and unnecessary. But we are instructed to tell stories that educational and inspirational. These are true stories, shared with the permission and the respect of those who have shared them with me.

Many of the black families who lived in the O’Fallon had large families that married families that can also be found in the St. John’s AME in St. Charles, Grant Chapel A.M.E. in Wentzville, Smith Chapel in Foristell, and Hopewell Baptist Church in Dardenne. If you would like to share family stories of any of them, or any others please contact me on this blog: stcharlescountyhistory.blog

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