ST. CHARLES COUNTY HISTORY

Took a final leave of all my fathers family and turned our faces toward the West. We found the roads very bad and of course traveled slowly. Crossed the North Mountain and at noon ate a harty meal of bread, beef and cheese at a spring on the side of Mill Mountain. Fed at Williams and started for Warm Springs about 3 o’clock. We had not proceeded more than two hundred yards before we broke a singletree and were detained until almost night to have a new one made. Then drove four miles to Stewards. Fared well on a plenty of plain substantial food.

And so begins the journal of William M. Campbell from Lexington, Virginia to Dardenne Township in St. Charles County Missouri. Begun in August of 1829, the group of over fifty travelers would have twenty-five enslaved individuals, including Archer Alexander, between three families, the Alexanders, McClures, and Wilsons . Enslaved there were six boys under the age of ten, three young males between ten and twenty-three, two young men between twenty-four and thirty-six, and one older man between thirty-six and fifty-four. Also there were four little girls under the age of ten, seven young women of child-bearing age between ten and twenty-three, two older women still of child bearing age between twenty-four and thirty-six, and one older woman also between the age of thirty-six and fifty-four. Among these was Archer’s newborn son Wesley, and his mother, the black nurse for the McClure’s newborn baby Sally McClure.

This journal of a journey from Lexington, in Rockbridge County in Virginia to St. Charles County Missouri was written between August through October, 1829, includes the enslaved Archer Alexander. Written by William M. Campbell (1805-1849) the son of Samuel LeGrand Campbell (1765-1840) , the second President of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and his wife Agnes Reid Alexander (1772-1846). It can be found in the Leyburn Library, Special Collections and Archives, located at the Washington and Lee University, in Lexington, Virginia. A very special thanks goes to Lisa S. McCown, Senior Assistant and all of the staff there. . This journal is presented here with the spellings as presented by the writer in 1829. All photos by Dorris Keeven-Franke.

Written in 1829, this is the journal of William M. Campbell. This is also the story of Archer Alexander, an enslaved man born in Lexington, Virginia, who was taken to Missouri in 1829. There are 38 entries in Campbell’s journal, which begins on August 20, 1829 that you can read and follow the story of Archer Alexander.Campbell’s journal is located in the Archives at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and is being shared here so that we may hear all the voices, including those whose voices were not shared originally. Please keep in mind the context of the time in which this journal was written.

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