Merrit Withers
1808 - between 1890 and 1900
In 1834, Merrit travelled from Kentucky to Liberty, Missouri with Abijah Withers, the man who enslaved him. Together, they built a log house for the Withers family and three cabins for the people Withers enslaved. When Abijah returned to Kentucky to bring his family and the people he enslaved to live on the new farm, Merrit ran the farm in his stead. Click here to read more about Wither’s Farm.
While the national and local debate over the institution of slavery raged on, Merrit diligently cared for the farm, and helped propel Abijah Withers to great wealth and social status in the area.
In November 1863, General Order No. 135 approved the enlistment of all-able bodied men of African descent into the Union army. Enslaved men throughout Clay County took this as the opportunity to secure their freedom and fight for the freedom of their loved ones.
Click here to read more about the enlistment of Black men from Clay County.
On January 1, 1864, Merrit joined the Union Army at the Liberty Recruitment Station and was a private in the 67th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops. Merrit was 56 years old when he enlisted and served as a regiment cook before being honorably discharged for chronic rheumatism. After the war ended, Abijah Withers filed a compensation form, which would make him eligible to receive $300 compensation for the enlistment of the man he enslaved. Because a bill of sale could not be found, he provided a detailed notarized record of some of Merrit’s history within the institution of slavery. Through this document, it is confirmed that prior to Abijah Withers, Merrit was enslaved by John H. Barryman in Kentucky.
After the Civil War, Merrit returned to the Withers farm to work for pay and live on the property. In 1866, Merrit and Anise Lincoln were one of the flood African American couples who were legally married. It is not known how long they were a couple before that, and there were no children recorded in the marriage record. They continued to live on Abijah Withers’ property as paid staff until they were recorded as living on Main Street in the 1880 federal census. Merrit’s last documentation shows that he received a Civil War pension in 1891. His death year is unknown, but it is most likely that he and his wife are buried at Fairview, the only open, public cemetery in Liberty at the time.
The marriage record of Merrit Withers and Anise Lincoln - January 22, 1866
* Spelling of Merrit varies from document to document. The spelling used here is what was determined to be used the most frequently and is what will be engraved on the memorial.