359:, an African American fraternal organization. The new organization promoted African American advancement through "Christian demeanor," the acquisition of property and wealth, morality, temperance, education, and "man's responsibility to the Supreme Being." This organization, more commonly known as the Order of Twelve, accepted males and females on equal terms. Men and women gathered together in higher level groups and in the governing bodies of the organization, although at the local level the men held their meetings in "temples" and the women in "tabernacles" (similar to "lodges" in
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184:. They formed a secret organization known as the Knights of Liberty which planned to initiate a national insurrection against slavery. Dickson declared "it was determined to organize the slaves throughout the south, drill them, and in ten years from that time strike for freedom" during an interview with the
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and then arranging for their escape by having them "stolen," dressing them as boys, and getting them hired onto a steamer upriver and finally to freedom in Canada. Another man was helped to escape by putting him into a wooden box and shipping him out of
Charleston, SC. After his escape to the north,
270:
who gave him $ 1,000 for the railroad. Contributions also came from
England, from people who knew of the Knights and worked with them. When the Civil War broke out, "there was a shipload of arms and ammunition in Mobile harbor and another in Galveston harbor, sent to us by Englishmen" Dickson said.
207:
reporter, "a concentration of the forces was ordered at
Atlanta, GA. We expected to have nearly 200,000 men when we reached Atlanta." In July, 1857, the men were ready to march. Dickson's orders to them were to "spare women and children," parole non-combatants, treat prisoners well, and capture all
261:
reporter, "some of our most generous supporters were slave owners. They did not approve of the system but they had inherited slaves and treated them so well they had no desire to run away. They had nothing to fear from the railroad." One of these men, he said, was
331:
Masons, publishing a ritual handbook for the
Heroines in 1895. He started schools for black children and lobbied to obtain black teachers for black children. With other returning black Union soldiers, he was one of the co-founders of the "Lincoln Institute" (later
387:. She was known as Mother Dickson, while her husband was referred to as Father Dickson. Their marriage was described as an equal partnership. Mary Elisabeth died in 1891 and has been cited as an early female pioneer of black
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759:
A manual of the
Knights of Tabor and Daughters of the Tabernacle, including the ceremonies of the order, constitutions, installations, dedications, and funerals, with forms, and the Taborian drill and tactics
853:
356:
129:
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344:. In 1879–1880, Rev. Dickson served as President of the Refugee Relief Board which provided aid and support to the approximately 16,000 African Americans from the South who ended up in
156:, on April 5, 1824. His father, Robert, died when he was eight, and his mother, Hannah, died when he was fourteen. He had five sisters and three brothers. As a youth, he trained as a
223:
was about to break out. Dickson decided "a higher power" was at work, and told the
Knights of Liberty to "wait, have patience, hold together, not break ranks, trust in the Lord."
176:
On August 12, 1846, Dickson and eleven other young men met in the second story of an old brick house on Green St. and
Seventh St. (whose name was later changed to Lucas Avenue) in
254:, which used St. Louis as its headquarters and aided hundreds of slaves to freedom. Dickson raised funds for the Railroad and also directly arranged individual escape plans.
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628:
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on
November 28, 1901. His funeral at St. Paul's AME Church in St. Louis was attended by thousands of people from all over the United States. He is buried at the
383:, traveled with her husband on abolitionist speaking tours across the country, was co-founder of The Order of Twelve, and a "faithful and zealous worker" in the
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203:, according to Dickson. These armed men met secretly at night and drilled for the uprising. "Plans were complete for a rising," Dickson told the
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A day was set for the national insurrection but before the time came it had become apparent to the leaders that the relationship between the
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At the end of ten years, these twelve men had grown to a network of resistance that included 42,000 men across every southern state except
20:
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192:, on July 4, 1901. The men took an oath of secrecy: "I can die, but I cannot reveal the name of any member until the slaves are free."
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315:. With the end of the Civil War, Dickson began to focus on education and economic development among the freed people. He joined the
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with 16 black men on
October 16, 1859. and tried to dissuade him, telling him it was too early. But Brown went ahead anyway.
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in 1866 and became an ordained minister the following year. In 1869, Dickson became Grand Master of Grand Lodge of
Missouri,
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In memory of the original twelve Knights of Liberty, in 1872 Dickson and his wife Mary Elizabeth Butcher Peters created the
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Photo of Rev. Moses Dickson Monument taken in Father Dickson Cemetery, located at 845 Sappington Rd, Crestwood, Mo.
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367:. Like many fraternal orders of the time, members received a burial policy and weekly cash payments for the sick.
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An African Life of Resistance: Moses Dickson, the Knights of Liberty and Militant Abolitionism, 1824–1857
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to help escaped slaves to freedom. A smaller secret organization, the Order of Twelve, was created in
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Rebels on the Border: Civil War, Emancipation, and the Reconstruction of Kentucky and Missouri
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ammunitions. "March, fight and conquer, or leave their bodies on the battlefield." he said.
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Dickson also tells of watching a mother and daughter being sold on the auction block in
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on October 5, 1848. They had one daughter, Mamie Augusta. Mary Elizabeth worked in the
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Beginning in 1850, the network created by the Knights of Liberty was also used in the
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Manual of the International Order of Twelve of Knights and Daughters of Tabor, p. 21
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850:
Manual of the International Order of Twelve of Knights and Daughters of Tabor
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Ain't But a Place: An Anthology of African American Writings about St. Louis,
311:, the Knights disbanded and many of their members, including Dickson, joined
559:
Ain't But a Place: An Anthology of African American Writings about St. Louis
349:
345:
165:
299:
474:"Moses Dickson - Black Abolitionist and Founder of The Knights of Liberty"
448:
573:
Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience
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137:
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was becoming so strained that it was decided to postpone the uprising.
647:
Emancipation's Diaspora: Race and Reconstruction in the Upper Midwest
545:
African-American Religion: Interpretive Essays in History and Culture
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686:
The Founder and Father of the International Order of Twelve Knights
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The Founder and Father of the International Order of Twelve Knights
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298:
196:
363:). This organization was most active in the South and the lower
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The International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor
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International Order of Twelve of Knights and Daughters of Tabor
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Having changed his mind about the uprising, Dickson spoke to
977:
International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor
771:
Lawrence O. Christensen, William E. Foley, Gary Kremer,
615:
Lawrence O. Christensen, William E. Foley, Gary Kremer,
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on their way to Kansas and other states as part of the
662:"Dickson, Moses. "Court of Heroines of Jericho." 1895"
16:
American abolitionist (April 5 1824– November 28 1901)
128:. He also founded the black self-help organization
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87:
79:
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543:Timothy E. Fulop, Albert J. Raboteau. Routledge,
375:Dickson married Mary Elizabeth Butcher Peters at
160:. At age sixteen, he began a three-year tour of
942:Service organizations based in the United States
327:, an auxiliary group open to Black woman to the
650:, Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2009, p. 170
571:Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr,
340:, as well as a founding member of the Missouri
775:, University of Missouri Press, 1999, p. 241
619:, University of Missouri Press, 1999, p. 240
116:, an anti-slavery organization that planned a
594:Denver Post, reprinted in Minneapolis Journal
8:
786:"Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library"
19:For World War I vigilante organization, see
734:By J. Blaine Hudson, McFarland, 2006, p. 2
807:"Moses Dickson and The Knights of Liberty"
604:"Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown"
36:
25:
732:Encyclopedia of the Underground Railroad
562:, Missouri History Museum, 1998, p. 292
112:, soldier, minister, and founder of the
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588:
440:
528:
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500:p. 286, Missouri History Museum, 1998
429:List of African-American abolitionists
962:African-American history in St. Louis
323:. He also was highly involved in the
317:African Methodist Episcopalian church
257:"Strange as it may seem, he told the
172:Knights of Liberty and slave uprising
7:
703:"Fighting for the Legacy of Lincoln"
164:, working as an itinerant barber on
21:Knights of Liberty (vigilante group)
140:. Moses Dickson was also active in
91:Mary E. Dickson (married 1848–1891)
407:The Revered Moses Dickson died of
14:
927:African-American Methodist clergy
922:Religious leaders from Cincinnati
773:Dictionary of Missouri Biography
617:Dictionary of Missouri Biography
575:, Oxford University Press, 1999
122:African-American enslaved people
120:in the United States and helped
761:. St. Louis, Mo.: G. I. Jones .
152:Moses Dickson was born free in
957:African-American abolitionists
692:, Vol 9, No. 31, July 31, 1897
635:, Vol 9, No. 31, July 31, 1897
510:"An Underground Railway Story"
1:
478:The Voice of Black Cincinnati
472:Barsan, Sophie (2021-02-01).
303:Moses Dickson as an older man
289:A Life in Slavery and Freedom
236:Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
75:barber, soldier, and minister
987:19th-century American clergy
295:Civil war and Reconstruction
182:slavery in the United States
937:Underground Railroad people
228:the abolitionist John Brown
83:abolitionist, and organizer
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869:Jennifer Rebecca Harbour,
287:, and published a memoir,
180:, to create a plan to end
18:
932:American Methodist clergy
901:Moses Dickson (1824–1901)
35:
338:Jefferson City, Missouri
132:and was a co-founder of
982:19th-century Methodists
972:Methodist abolitionists
757:Dickson, Moses (1879).
453:Moses Dickson Lodge 187
449:"Moses Dickson History"
413:Father Dickson Cemetery
321:Prince Hall Freemasonry
279:the man called himself
142:Prince Hall Freemasonry
124:to freedom through the
872:Bury Me In a Free Land
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304:
875:, Proquest, 2008, p.
606:, Lee and Glynn, 1851
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302:
644:Leslie Ann Schwalm,
496:Early, Gerald Lynn,
381:Underground Railroad
264:General Cassius Clay
248:Underground Railroad
242:Underground Railroad
126:Underground Railroad
967:Activists from Ohio
709:, December 13, 2013
666:UM Clements Library
533:Minneapolis Journal
518:Minneapolis Journal
417:Crestwood, Missouri
342:Equal Rights League
325:Heroines of Jericho
190:Minneapolis Journal
188:, reprinted in the
178:St. Louis, Missouri
108:(1824–1901) was an
856:2016-03-14 at the
722:, LSU Press, 2012
556:Gerald Lyn Early,
405:
334:Lincoln University
305:
285:Harvard University
134:Lincoln University
114:Knights of Liberty
886:Ain't But A Place
828:Ain't But A Place
745:Ain't But a Place
660:Payovich, Tracy.
281:Henry "Box" Brown
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63:November 28, 1901
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903:, The Black Past
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389:philanthropy
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110:abolitionist
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65:(1901-11-28)
952:1901 deaths
947:1824 births
690:The Freeman
633:The Freeman
514:Denver Post
361:Freemasonry
307:During the
283:, attended
276:New Orleans
259:Denver Post
205:Denver Post
201:Mississippi
186:Denver Post
916:Categories
671:2024-02-22
483:2024-02-22
458:2024-02-22
435:References
385:AME Church
352:movement.
166:steamships
148:Early life
51:1824-04-05
350:Exoduster
346:St. Louis
309:Civil War
232:Davenport
221:Civil War
162:the South
854:Archived
830:, p. 287
812:18 March
791:18 March
747:, p. 282
423:See also
268:Kentucky
138:Missouri
96:Children
884:Early,
860:, p. 22
826:Early,
743:Early,
547:, 2013
365:Midwest
579:
158:barber
88:Spouse
395:Death
336:) in
217:South
213:North
197:Texas
814:2016
793:2016
577:ISBN
215:and
199:and
60:Died
45:Born
688:,"
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415:in
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