Sappington Negro Cemetery

According to oral tradition, before 1856 Dr. John Sappington, a pioneer physician in Arrow Rock, gave approximately two acres of land to Emanuel Banks, a longtime and highly regarded servant, for use as a cemetery. Since the mid-nineteenth century, more than 350 Arrow Rock citizens of African American descent and their descendants have been buried there. Those interred include members of the Banks, Brown, Bush, Harvey, Parker, Switzler, and Williams families. Working first as slaves and later as free men and women, many of these family members and others labored as domestic servants, farm workers, and skilled craftsmen, helping build the historic community of Arrow Rock and making major contributions to the history of the area.

Missouri · United States