Emmons Family Collection

Collection

Identifier: A0450

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of materials related to the history of St. Charles, Missouri, and spans the lives of three generations of the Benjamin Emmons family. Persons involved in the early transactions include Edward Bates, Frederick Bates, Charles Dehault Delassus, John C. Edwards, Archibald Gamble, Hamilton Gamble, J. Mackay, William G. Pettus, Amos Stoddard, and Zenon Trudeau. Manuscripts include St. Charles land documents from the French and Spanish periods, including Zenon Trudeau's decree to the inhabitants of St. Charles (1796), materials relating to the Louisiana Purchase, and documents relating to the St. Charles Commons. Also includes a diary of a trip from Virginia to Missouri, and from Dardenne Prairie to Jefferson City by William M. Campbell (1830); correspondence and legal documents of Benjamin L. Emmons, attorney; tax assessments in St. Charles County for 1843; lists of lands and town lots and taxes thereon for 1842 (filed May 3, 1844); list of citizenship papers (1859); a muster roll of the St. Charles Home Guards (filed 1862); emancipation certificates for slaves released by Radical Emancipationist owners in St. Charles (filed September 29, 1863); an annual report of the St. Charles Library Catholic Association (January 7, 1868); and a scrapbook. Some typescript translations.

Dates

1776-1941

Creator

Emmons, Benjamin, 1777-1843 (Creator, Person)

Language of Materials

French, German

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, quote from, or reproduce material in this collection, please contact the Archives Reference Desk at archives@mohistory.org. Copyright restrictions may apply. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright.

Biographical Sketch

Family of Benjamin Emmons (1777-1843), Missouri territorial and state legislator; Benjamin Emmons (1815-1885), colonel in the Missouri Militia; and Benjamin Linton Emmons (1861-1942), a local historian who was engaged in the abstracting business in St. Charles, Missouri.

Extent

1.17 Cubic Feet ( (2 boxes, 1 oversize folder (AMD)))

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Physical and Technical Requirements

There are no physical or technical restrictions.

Donor Information

The collection was compiled from various donations of Benjamin Linton Emmons during the 1940s.

Existence and Location of Copies

The emancipation certificates issued by "Radical Emancipationists" were digitized by Missouri Historical Society staff in 2010. The images may be viewed online by clicking the links beside each item in the inventory.