Elkanah English "sold" Slaves, 1850

Well, it was inevitable that we would find some dirty deeds in our past, and it looks like our ancestor Elkanah English and wife Catherine owned slaves and "sold" them in 1850. Elkanah and Catherine English were Vera's great great grandparents.

1852 Dec 6
Deed of emancipation signed Alfred Chadwick of St. Louis County, Missouri, freeing a 32-year-old Negro slave woman named Milly and an 11-year-old Negro slave girl named Bell (alias Isabella). Chadwick frees these two slaves in consideration of $600. Chadwick had purchased these two slaves from Elkanah English and Catherine English on July 1, 1850. Witnesses, Saml. A. Holmes and Jas. R. Lackland. Document recorded in the St. Louis Circuit Court by M.S. Cerre, clerk, December 6, 1852. Includes notation of St. Louis Circuit Court Clerk Stephen Rice, April 26, 1861, certifying that the
foregoing document is a true copy of the deed of emancipation.

Catherine Foulk English Obituary 1882

This is the obituary of Vera Oakley's great great grandma. Vera's maternal grandma was born Lilly English.

FOULK, CATHERINE
St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Tuesday, 21 Nov 1882

ENGLISH - November 20, at 2:30 o'clock, Catherine English, widow of the late Elkanah English, aged 82 years, 8 months.

Funeral from residence 2314 Rosatti at 2 o'clock p.m. on Wednesday, November 22.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend.

Note: Catherine (Foulk) English was laid to rest at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Neil Oakley's Obituary 1943

This is the obituary for Neil Oakley, who was the younger brother of Ronald Oakley. He was a photographer and died in WWII. At some point, according to Larry Oakley, he changed his name the spelling of his name to Neill, which you can see in the obituary.

As I have heard it, the day his mother Pearl received the letter telling that Neill had died was an awful day. Pearl was so upset that she dropped to the floor, crying.

Long Beach Independent | Long Beach, California | Friday, July 30, 1943 | Page 13