Freedom seeker named Cornelius Thornton b. ca 1825, was caught and detained in St. Louis, MO, on 8 July 1850. Advertisement names slave holder Richard Southgate, of Cincinnati. Southgate had several free people of color living with him in 1840, but came from a Kentucky slaveholding family, to whom he could have leased or given Cornelius before his escape. Western union., Hannibal, Mo; November 21, 1850. accessed 7 Feb 2017
