Wednesday, September 16, 2009 9:55 PM CDT
Weekend performances re-live
famous 1847 Matson slave trial
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
OAKLAND — Throughout a slave family’s efforts to win their freedom, Gideon “Matt” Ashmore was there to provide them shelter and transportation across the Illinois prairie.
When the time came to cast this important role in the “Trial & Tribulations: The Story of the 1847 Matson Slave Trial” program, the organizers turned to someone who knows Gideon Ashmore’s history quite well. They chose Ashmore family descendent Roger Ashmore, who is an Oakland native and a genealogy enthusiast.
Roger Ashmore will portray his ancestor during the living history component of the “Trial & Tribulations” program. He will be among costumed actors who will play historical figures and visit with the program’s audiences Friday and Saturday at the Rutherford House and the Independence Pioneer Village in Oakland.
Other components will include a “Three Fifths of a Man” original drama, an Oakland Historical Foundation Museum exhibit, a “Lincoln & Slavery” presentation by Ron Keller from Lincoln College, and more.
Sessions are set for 4-8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday. For ticket information, call 508-9113.
Roger Ashmore said patriarch Samuel Ashmore moved his family, including son Gideon, in 1829 from Tennessee to a site north of modern day Oakland, becoming some of the area’s first settlers. He said Gideon, a business man and teacher, later mapped out and sold lots around what would become Oakland’s town square.
Although the family was from a slave state, Roger Ashmore said Samuel and Gideon detested slavery. He said this hatred may have come from Samuel’s grandfather and father fighting for their freedom in the Revolution and the War of 1812, respectively. He added Samuel’s uncle advocated for sending freed slaves to Liberia in Africa.
Gideon’s known abolitionist sentiments probably brought him to the attention of free man Anthony Bryant, Roger Ashmore said. Bryant sought shelter for his wife and her four children, who were all slaves, at Gideon’s inn on the town square, where Oakland’s Columbian Building is now located.
Slave owner Robert Matson, a Kentuckian, had brought Jane Bryant and her children to live on his farm east of nearby Newman. His white housekeeper subsequently threatened to send the children to the South to be sold.
When Matson had a warrant issued for the arrest of the slaves, Gideon Ashmore used his wagon to take them to the Coles County jail in Charleston. Roger Ashmore said Gideon made this decision with Dr. Hiram Rutherford, who was also helping shelter the Bryant family.
“They thought maybe that (the jail) would be the safest place for them at the time,” Roger Ashmore said.
Roger Ashmore said Gideon joined with many others in donating money for the Bryant family’s case and attending the court hearings, in which attorney Abraham Lincoln represented the slave owner. This was the only time in Lincoln’s career that he represented a slave owner, and historians still speculate about his reasons.
After the Bryant family won their freedom in court, Roger Ashmore said Gideon took them across the prairie in January 1848 to the Mississippi River port at Quincy. From there, the family took a boat south to New Orleans and then headed across the sea to Liberia.
“When (Gideon) took a stand, he saw it all the way through,” Roger Ashmore said.
Historians have recorded that the Bryant family encountered difficult times in Liberia and they later disappeared from the historical record.
Roger Ashmore said Gideon’s stand on their behalf may have earned the ill will of Southern sympathizing neighbors in his hometown. He said Gideon moved in 1848 to Wisconsin and founded the small town of Arena, where he operated a ferry service. Gideon spent the rest of his life in Arena, where he died in 1892.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.
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