Mary Decoursey Slaughter
1846 - 1935
In 1850 in Liberty, Missouri, Mary Decoursey Slaughter was born to parents, Joe and Maria Decoursey. Like most babies of African Descent in those days she was born into slavery, as her parents Joe and Maria were enslaved. Previously enslaved by JTV Thompson (Shown in the Slave Schedule below), he eventually gave Joe and Maria to his daughter, who married T.W. Decoursey, as a wedding gift.
In the 1860’s, Clay County was among sixteen Missouri counties known as, “Little Dixie” and was one of seven counties whose populations were made up over 25 percent of enslaved persons of African descent. Allegiance to the Confederacy was prevalent and the buying and selling of humans as property was common on the Liberty square. Thompson himself was a wealthy landowner and treasurer who fought for the Confederate army, no doubt fearing the massive loss he would experience if his 45 enslaved were freed.
Ironically, even though Joseph and Maria were given as a wedding gift, they were not permitted to legally marry. Enslaved were not seen as American citizens and under the Three Fifths Clause were treated as not fully human. It was illegal for them to marry, hold property, read or write. Even still, they forged a relationship and a family and brought Mary into the world as a declaration of their commitment to one another.
On January 11, 1865, following Missouri’s Proclamation of Freedom, Joe, Maria and their fifteen year old daughter Mary were freed. Joe and Maria were finally legally able to marry and begin a life and Mary was permitted to learn and go to school.
Marriage records show us that when Mary was 24 she was married to William Slaughter. Over the course of their marriage, they had eleven children together.
When Mary Decoursey Slaughter passed away at the age of 85, she was living in a house her husband had built with his own hands, where they had raised their children. The house at 325 Harrison Street is right across the road from the property line of the land where her parents were originally enslaved.
In Mary’s story we hear the echos of the theme surrounding the mythical Sankofa bird of the Akan peoples of Ghana, “It is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.” In her story we see the struggle of the past for people of African descent, we see the jewels of wisdom her people gathered along the way, and we see the bright and victorious future the Slaughter family had and the legacy they still carry in Liberty, Missouri. Mary and dozens of her extended family members are buried in the hallowed ground of Potter’s Field in the segregated section of Historic Fairview Cemetery. Make a donation in Mary Decoursey Slaughter’s name today and join us in honoring her memory and the lives she touched and the legacy she brought forth.