ST. CHARLES COUNTY HISTORY

By Dorris Keeven-Franke

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History happens. All stories, especially the difficult ones, need to be heard. Award winning author, a public historian, professional genealogist, and International speaker. Member of the Missouri Speakers Bureau and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
  • THE CHURCH AT SNOW HILL CALLED SMITH

    THE CHURCH AT SNOW HILL CALLED SMITH

    St. Charles County saw many enslaved men, seek their freedom during the Civil War by joining the U.S. Colored Troops. Over 8,300 enslaved men from Missouri served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. There were 114,931 enslaved people in the state in 1860. But it would not be until Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect in January of 1863, that they could even enlist. And since Missouri was a border state, the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply. Many owners were sympathetic to the Union, and would allow their men to enlist, but they also could claim the $300 bounty that the Government was paying. If an enslaved man’s enslaver was of Confederate sympathies, of course he would not allow them to leave. In that case, if an enslaved man took matters into his own hands, and took the risks of escape, he could earn that same Bounty for himself! Three St. Charles men, Benjamin Ogelsby, Martin Boyd, and Smith Ball would make that dangerous journey, and join the Union troops. In 1864, over 10% of the Union Troops would be made up the U.S. Colored Troops. But many of them would die of disease before returning home.

    The Civil War ended in 1865, and by 1871, many of those former soldiers dreamed of a new life for their families now living in freedom. Nine men came together, and with their funds purchased one acre of land from a white landowner, who was a German and had also fought in the Union Army, named William Potes. There they would established one more stop for the Methodist ministers, in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, that traveled across St. Charles County. Joining the St. Charles Conference that had been established at St. Charles following the war, Sage Chapel at O’Fallon, Grant Chapel in Wentzville, they named their new church Smith Chapel at Snow Hill. Today this is the City of Foristell.

    On September 23, 1871, Benjamin Oglesby’s son-in-law Jackson Luckett, along with Nathaniel Abington, Austin “Oss” Pringle, his son-in-law Smith Ball, David Bird, Thomas McClean, Mark Robinson, Claiborne Richards, and Martin Boyd became Trustees for the newly established Smith Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery at Snow Hill. All are thought to have been born enslaved, and at least five of the nine trustees had been freedom seekers. Nathaniel Abington, Smith Ball, David Bird, Thomas McClean, and Martin Boyd had all served in the U.S. Colored Troops.

    One acre of land was purchased by the Trustees from the adjoining 105-acre farm of William W. Potes farm . The deed filed in the St. Charles County Recorder of Deeds Book 12, Page 38, is dated 23 September 1871 stated:

    One acre of land on the S side of the N ½ of the SW ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section No 19 Twp 47 R 1 E beginning at a certain Rock in the Public Road Eight chains E of the SW corner of the farm now owned by W.W. Potes, then E 4.50 chains thence N 2 chains and 11 2/9 links; thence w 4.50 chains, thence S 2 chains and 22 2/9  links, to place of beginning. The said parcel of land to be divided in three equal lots, the E lot to be used for the cemetery, the center lot to be used for church purposes, and the W lot to be used for school purposes the said parcel of land to be held and controlled by the present trustees and their successors in Office of the M.E. Church at Snow Hill, MO, organized for colored people

    The original church burnt down during the late 1800s, according to an interview with George Abington (1928-2019) whose grandmother Sarah Abington Smith attended the church lived one mile away, and as a child attended the school in the 1930s. Abington’s great-grandfather Nathaniel Abington is one of the original trustees and a founder of the church, and one of the earliest burials in the cemetery. A second church was built over the foundation of the original church but was lost in the 1960s when Douglass School closed. Research has not revealed the actual cause or date yet. The footprint of the church can still be seen today. George Abington shared many fond memories of how all of the AME Churches along the circuit would come together at Camp Meetings every summer, and how it provided an opportunity to visit with other family members that lived in those communities as well. [i]

    Smith Chapel A.M.E. has weathered many storms, and has witnessed many funerals in its’ cemetery. The loved ones lie close by in the cemetery on that one acre of land, still cared for by descendants of the original founders. They still recall the Church Rallies that brought together all of the families, and choirs from the other churches, and the gatherings that would last all day! Carry in dinners, while each pastor took a turn at a sermon, and blessed the meals, the children raced through the grounds with carefree abandon. These were good times, and happy times, that still echo on this hallowed land.

    For more see smithchapelcemetery.com

    [i] This unrecorded interview was done by the author in 2012 when conducting genealogical research for Mr. George Abington, whose grandmother was Sarah Abington Smith, and whose great Grandfather was Nathaniel Abington.

    There are many families that still live in the area that have ties to Smith Chapel Cemetery. If you can contribute photos that may be copied, or would like to share any other information, I would love to hear from you.

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  • Douglass School

    Douglass School

    In 1871, one of the proudest moments for the Trustee’s of the Smith Chapel A.M.E. Church was to build a schoolhouse for their children, grandchildren and all future generations. This was a generation that it had been against the law written in 1847, for them to even learn how to read or write. They proudly named it Douglass after the great American Orator named Frederick Douglass.

    Douglass school replaced an earlier log school for the area’s African American families in the early 1900s. Teachers included Mrs. Marie Washington, Mrs. Woods, Mary Troutt, Mr. Wolfolk, and Vernell Miller, who was the last teacher before desegregation in the 1950s. At its’ height in the 1930s, enrollment totaled thirty to thirty-eight students in the combined grades of one thru eight. There were never enough desks and always a shortage of materials, students frequently sat two to a desk. The materials, books, and erasers, were handed down from the Foristell white school. The school day began promptly at 9:00 with prayer, pledge, and a song, and ended at 4:00 pm. Many of the students who attended walked. Most lived a mile or more from the school and would not arrive home until after dark during the winter months. Electricity or plumbing was never installed in the building and heat was provided by a centrally located coal stove. For several years they drew their water from a well located a few yards from the school.*

    Formal commencement combined graduates from Douglass School and Lincoln School, the African American School across from Grant Chapel Cemetery in Wentzville. After eighth grade the students attended Franklin School in St. Charles which was over twenty miles away. Douglass School is an important African American cultural resource in St. Charles County and is one of only three remaining African American school houses known today.

    Douglass Schoolhouse was moved to Oglesby Park and materials used to recreate what the schoolhouse must have looked like. It is located near the back of the park near the lake.

  • Archer Alexander Memorial

    Archer Alexander Memorial

    A Memorial Service for Archer Alexander, and for his Day of Freedom will be held on Sunday, September 21st, 2025, at 1:00 pm in the St. Peter’s United Church of Christ Cemetery at 2101 Lucas and Hunt, in Normandy (St. Louis) Missouri.

    This event will include a one-act play called “Louisa” performed by actress Peggy Neely Harris which recognizes Archer Alexander’s life and accomplishments. Other speakers will include Ibn Ali, the great great-great-grandson of Archer Alexander and nephew of Muhammad Ali, and historian Dorris Keeven-Franke. A presentation by sculptor Abraham Mohler will share the new memorial and monument being planned at St. Peters U.C.C. Cemetery. Archer Alexander is recognized as a site on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, one of more than 800 sites in this country. He is the icon for Emancipation as he is the enslaved man rising with Lincoln on the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C.’s Lincoln Park. Everyone is welcome, and the public is encouraged to bring lawn chairs. September is National Underground Railroad Month.

    Archer Alexander was the last fugitive slave captured in Missouri, and received his freedom on September 24, 1863, for his important services to the United States Military (Union) after informing them of a plot to destroy a local railroad bridge. He saved hundreds of lives, and a vital link conveying troops, funds and supplies for the Union Army in 1863. After risking his life he took sixteen men from Dardenne Prairie and crossed the river at Howell’s Ferry on a dark February night, using the Underground Railroad. His story is one of over 800 sites that honors, preserves and promotes the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, which continues to inspire people worldwide, run by the National Park Service.