Twin-City herald. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1927-1940, 1927-06-25
HISTORIC BACKGROUND OF THE
NEGRO POPULATION IN
MINNESOTA
BY Abram L. Harris
CHAPTER 1

The history of the Negro in Mime
sofa dates back to 1886 when bred
Scott remained here for short time.
But. prior to his coming several white
citizens in Ramsey County had Negro
slaves. According to document of
this period Major Taliaferro had in
herited several slaves whom he hired
to officers of the garrison at Fort
Smelling.
Trafficking in slaves does not ap-
pear to have doomed very large in
Minnesota at any time dur ing the
slave regime. It is reported that only
one slave was ever sold within the
bounds of Minnesota. This man was
George Thompson who was owned by
an officer at Fort Smelling and who
was sold to Mr.. Burnson for $1,000.
When CAPTAIN Plympton of the Fifth
Infantry wished to purchase a female
slave from Major Taliaferro, referred
to above, the latter refused, giving as
his reason his desire to ultimately free
his slaves. Another female slave
owned by Major Taliaferro was given
by him in wedlock to bred Scott, the
Major performing the ceremonies.
The Civil War with the invasion of
the Southern States by Federal troops,
and the abolitionist movement with it's
Underground Railroad, were great fac
tors in the early distribution of Ne
groes to Northern States. Many OF
the free Negroes of the South had fed
from the land Of their nativity long
before the Civil War began. A few of
these came to Minnesota. Mention
has already been made of bred Scott
the historic fugitive slave.
Between 1886 and 1856 a number OF
free Negroes who worked as porters
and stewards on the steamboats, that
piled the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
settled in Minnesota. In 1856 small
group, including Blakely Durant
Thomas A. Jackson, Robert Bruce
Joseph Farr and ]. K. Hilyard, came
to Minnesota to live. After the provi,
sional emancipation of 1867, a group
of Negroes headed for Minnesota
gathered at Jefferson City, Missouri,
and at st. Louis, Missouri. There
were about 800 in the party which was
the largest contingent to come at any
time in these early migrations. The
white workers in St. Paul were in
tensely hostile to the landing of these
newcomers Of color. So these ICON
trabands of war;" as they were called,
were taken to the United States Army
quarters at Fort Smelling and from
there distributed to various parts of
the state-to Blue Earth, Washington.
Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. The
members of the first groups were
chiefly southern Negroes who had
been working in the Middle Western
States, and on the Erie Canal, and
on the Ohio and Mississippi River
boats. A small number of this orig
inal group had come directly from the
South Western States.
When the Union Army invaded the
South many Negroes who had already
enlisted in the Confederate Army fed
to the side of their saviours. This
was the case with William Crosel who
escaped from the Confederate Army
in 1854 and entered the services of
Captain John Darlington of the 7th
Minnesota Regiment. Crosel was
brought to Fort Smelling by the Regi.
ment upon its return. Later he set.
tied in Minneapolis. At an earlier
date julius Todd was brought to Min.
Continued on page