Two Women Who Reflect an Indispensable Tradition

We’ll never know what her African name was. She was simply known
as
”
Lucy,
”
and she was a slave owned by the family of my
great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Hannah Cole, born at the
same time as our nation.
“If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!” – Sojourner Truth (c. 1797-1883)

We’ll never know what her African name was. She was simply known as “Lucy,” and she was a slave owned by the family of my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Hannah Cole, born at the same time as our nation.

In honor of February being Black History Month, and March being Women’s History Month, I’d like to tell the story of these two women.

Upon Hannah’s marriage to William Temple Cole in 1789 in Virginia at the age of 17, 13-year-old Lucy became her personal slave. Hannah and Temple were relatives of Daniel Boone’s, and Temple was also a first cousin of Dolley Madison, First Lady to our 4th President, James Madison.

But Lucy would be lost to the mists of history, if not for the fact that Hannah became famous in the state of Missouri. Because there is more of a historic record of Hannah’s life than was typical for women of the time, it meant that the record of Lucy’s life survived as more than a mere listing of nameless age and sex under “property” in legal documents.

As the Coles pulled up roots and followed the Boone trail west toward Kentucky, with the ultimate goal of settling in Missouri, Lucy helped the family pack and move by wagon time and time again, caring for the children.

However, before they could settle in the wilderness paradise they dreamed about, Temple was killed at the age of 41 in an Indian ambush. When other travelers in the group decided to stop and settle on the northern side of the Missouri River, Hannah continued on. She and her family and Lucy endured a treacherous river crossing in which they became separated from all their belongings for 11 days.

A widowed mother with 9 children to raise, Hannah became the first white woman to settle in Indian territory on the south side of the Missouri River west of St. Louis. At a time when women weren’t supposed to be able to legally own property in their own names, her land deed is one of the first recorded in Cooper County when she bought 110 acres on Jan. 23, 1819.

She became the first woman to own a business license, and eventually she ran the largest of two forts on the south side of the river. Her own home was the cornerstone of the site which became the location of the first county seat of Howard and Cooper counties. Her cabin became the site of the first church service and the first school in the area in 1817.

There is no doubt Hannah could not have accomplished all this without the hard work and assistance of Lucy, the only other adult member of Hannah’s household for many years. Once only valued as much as the pair of horses she was traded for, Lucy went on to become Hannah’s closest confidant and companion, a lifelong friend who knew more about the real Hannah than anyone else. They were together for more than 50 years, until Hannah’s death in 1843.

One hundred and sixty-one years later, an outdoor public arts project in the center of Boonville called “Breaking New Ground” was unveiled. It is the first life-size statue of a woman in the state of Missouri. Since there are no photos of Hannah, the faces of her descendants were used to sculpt a composite for her face. Representative Catherine Hanaway, the first female Speaker of the Missouri House was keynote speaker as more than 200 of Hannah’s descendants attended the ceremony.

Family legend has it that Lucy is not buried in the slave cemetery mandated at the time, but is instead buried in the same grave as Hannah. There will never be a statue erected to honor Lucy, but Lucy nevertheless played an important part in the accomplishments of Hannah, who is remembered today as the pioneer mother of Missouri. May we also remember the name of Lucy as we honor the rich African-American and women’s heritage that is an indispensable part of the foundation of our nation.