Dred Scott lived as a child northeast of here on Peter Blow plantation early in the 1800s. The Blow family moved to Missouri and in 1830 sold Scott to an army officer stationed in various free territories. In 1846 Scott sued for his and his family's freedom because he had lived where slavery was illegal. In 1857, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not outlaw slavery and that Scott was property, not a citizen. The Dred Scott decision outraged abolitionists and further divided the nation. Blow's sons purchased Scott's freedom in 1857, and he died in 1858.