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She was born a slave in Virginia somewhere between 1815-1820. Harriet Robinson was the property of Major Lawrence Taliaferro (1794–1871). Major Taliaferro was a Virginia born soldier who had served in the War of 1812 and at one point owned twenty one slaves. When he became a federal Indian Agent he was sent to Fort Snelling, at the time a territory which would eventually be the state of Minnesota. Since he held slaves, they accompanied him as he moved including Harriet Robinson.
There was one problem with Harriet's new location. In 1820, the United States Government had passed "The Missouri Comprise" which basically drew a line across the states declaring new states in the north would be admitted as free while new states in the south would be admitted as slave. Being as the new home of Harriet was north of the so-called dividing line (36°30′ parallel) she would be free. However, since the teenager belonged to a military man from a slave state, she stayed enslaved.
In Southampton County, Virginia another slave was born named Dred Scott (c. 1799–1858). He was sold to Dr. John Emerson (1803-1843) who was also serving in the United States Army. As a surgeon, he was sent to various forts throughout the country and in 1837 he arrived at Fort Snelling with his slave Dred Scott accompanying him.
It was here Harriet Robinson met Dred Scott and the couple were wed in 1837. The couple had a civil service (slave marriages were illegal) with Harriet's owner, Taliaferro officiating the wedding. Justice of the Peace Taliaferro sold Harriet to her husband's slave owner so the couple were able to live together.
The following year in April Dr. Emerson was headed to Fort Jessup located in Louisiana. Harriet traveled with her husband more over the one thousand mile trip while she was carrying their first child. By October the doctor and his slaves were headed back to Fort Snelling, but Harriet was close to giving birth, so close in fact she gave birth on the trip north. After Eliza's birth, mother and daughter continued on to Fort Snelling. When Dr. Emerson was sent to the Seminole Wars in Florida, he hired out the couple to work in St. Louis. It was here she gave birth to a daughter she named Lizzie.
In 1843 Dr. Emerson passed away and the slaves became the property of his widow Irene (1815-1903). Complicating the Scotts life was the fact Irene moved into her fathers home who was enthusiastically proslavery. The couple began working on the Alexander Sanford plantation located in St. Louis County. This continued until the spring of 1846 until the Scotts had enough and decided it was time to claim their freedom.
April 6, 1846 - Two separate petitions are submitted in the St. Louis Circuit Court to request the freedom of Harriet and Dred Scott. Enslaved individuals had begun to file lawsuits in the courts of Missouri and many were granted their freedom if they had lived in free states with their slave owners. Harriet had served her master for many years while living at Fort Snelling and believed she certainly qualified for this decision as well.
On June 30, 1847 the case was finally heard and dismissed on a technicality. For Harriet it was just the beginning of the battle that resolved eleven years later when on March 6, 1857 the Supreme Court decided the Scott's were to remain enslaved.
During those eleven years, the Scotts including their two daughters Eliza and Lizzie were managed by the sheriff of St. Louis. They were hired out and their wages were held by the Sheriff with the understanding the earnings would go to the winners of the case either Irene Emerson or the Scotts.
For Irene Emerson, her life moved on. She moved to Springfield, Massachusetts and handed over the care of her slaves to her brother John Sanford. It was here where she met an antislavery congressman and married him in 1850. Dr. Calvin Clifford Chaffee (1811-1896) was in for a big surprise when he discovered exactly who is wife was.
Life was not easy for the Scott's especially among those who supported slavery. They had received a protection order from the courts against their removal from St. Louis, from threats, physical abuse or the risk of being captured and sold deeper into the south. The couple were survivors depending upon support among those anti-slavery advocates helping to emotionally and monetarily support them.
During the eleven years the country was becoming more entrenched in their views of slavery and by the time the court's decision was announced it was just another loud beat on the drum that eventually was leading to war.
In a 7-2 ruling by the Supreme Court in a majority opinion written by Roger Taney he wrote:
"a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves," whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen and therefore did not have standing to sue in federal court. Because the Court lacked jurisdiction, Taney dismissed the case on procedural grounds." {4}
The most shocked could have been Calvin Chaffee the husband of Irene Emerson when he discovered one month before the Supreme Court's decision she was the owner of the most famous slaves in the nation. Representative Chaffee was now facing "disparaging commentary" throughout the newspapers of the country. The man who was known as a fervent abolitionist, was now, through his wife, a slave owner.
Upon the decision he insisted his wife transfer ownership to Taylor Blow, a Missouri congressman and supporter and encourager to the Scotts. It was Blow that granted the Scotts their freedom, however Mrs. Chaffee insisted on collecting the wages the sheriff was holding for lending out the Scotts during the court years. She kept $750.00 or approximately $25,000.00 in today's dollars.
Chaffee did not seek reelection in 1858. He served as Librarian of the House of Representatives (1860-1862) and eventually the couple returned to Springfield to live out the rest of their lives.
May 26, 1857 - Dred, Harriet, along with nineteen year old Eliza and her eleven year old sister Lizzie Scott celebrate their first day of freedom. They took up residency in St. Louis where Harriet took in laundry as her husband became a local celebrity as he worked as a hotel porter at Barnum's Hotel in St. Louis. Unfortunately, for the family they had little time to enjoy their freedom, as he died a little more than one year later on September 17, 1858 somewhere between fifty-seven/or fifty eight years of age.
Harriet lived through President Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil War and witnessed the passage of the Constitutional Amendments granting all African Americans, freedom, citizenship and the right to vote (at least for men however daughter Lizzie would live to vote). She died on June 17, 1876 and goes down in history as the unnamed other plaintiff in what today is known as the "landmark" Supreme Court decision "Dred Scott v Sanford".
Sources
1. https://wams.nyhistory.org/a-nation-divided/antebellum/harriet-robinson-scott/
2. https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/harriet-robinson-scott/
3. https://www.farmersmuseum.org/dredscott/
4. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/60us393
5. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13558075/harriet-scott
6. https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/scott/scott.asp
{*} https://lostmuseum.cuny.edu/archive/excerpts-from-majority-opinion-of-us-supreme
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