ST. CHARLES COUNTY HISTORY
By Dorris Keeven-Franke
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Category: African American History
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Many of St. Charles County’s enslaved men would resist enslavement and risk everything to enlist in the U.S. Colored Troops. Leaving families behind, they used the network to freedom known as the Underground Railroad to enlist in the U.S Colored Troops during the Civil War. One man named Benjamin Oglesby was born in Bedford, Virginia…
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Benjamin Oglesby was only one of the thousands of enslaved men who joined the U.S. Colored Troops from St. Charles County.
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In 2023, the historic cemetery was listed on the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom because of the burial location of Smith Ball, Martin Boyd and Benjamin Oglesby, all freedom seekers that would flee their enslavers. They would return home after serving in the Union Army during the Civil War and purchase…
ST. CHARLES COUNTY HISTORY 