Around 1800, Dred Scott was born in Virginia. He was a slave owned by the Peter Blow family. Very little is known about Scott's early years or his family. The family documents that do exist indicate that Scott was originally named Samuel. When Scott's older brother, Dred, died as a young man, Samuel took his brother's name.
In 1830, the Blow family moved to Huntsville, Alabama, but after an unsuccessful farming attempt, they moved to St. Louis. While in St. Louis, the Blow family sold Scott to Dr. John Emerson, a surgeon serving in the U.S. Army. Emerson's career required him to move frequently. He traveled to several areas in the United States, including Illinois, a free state, and Wisconsin, a free territory. Scott lived in these places with Emerson as a slave. While traveling, Emerson met and married Irene Sandford. The newlyweds returned to Missouri, but after only one year of marriage, John died in 1843. Following Emerson's death, Irene's brother, John F.A. Sandford, became executor of the Emerson estate.
During this time, Scott made his first plea for freedom. First, Scott requested to buy his freedom, offering Irene $300. She denied his request. Scott then filed a suit to obtain his freedom. The case went to trial in St. Louis in 1847. Scott lost the trial, but the Missouri Supreme Court granted him a second trial because hearsay, which is not allowed as evidence in U.S. courts, had been submitted as evidence in the case.
Three years later, a jury ruled in favor of Scott, granting Scott and his family freedom. Emerson's widow, Irene, appealed the court's decision. The Missouri Supreme Court overturned the decision, and Scott and his wife were returned to the Emerson family.
Scott filed an appeal in federal court. The case was heard before the U.S. Circuit Court in Missouri. The Circuit Court upheld the decision of the Missouri Supreme Court, so Scott appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sandford in Dred Scott v. Sandford. Justice Roger Taney wrote the majority opinion for the case. He stated that blacks, slaves as well as free, were not citizens of the United States; blacks could not file a suit in federal court; and that slaves were property. Therefore, even if Scott lived in a free state or free territory, he was still considered Emerson's property. The Court also found the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional.
Despite the Supreme Court's decision, Scott did eventually receive his freedom. Irene Emerson's second husband, Dr. Calvin Chaffee, a Massachusetts congressman and abolitionist, transferred ownership of the Scott family to the Blow family. The Blow family emancipated Scott, and Scott and his wife were formally freed in 1857. Scott worked in St. Louis as a porter for less than nine months before he died from tuberculosis in 1858.
