The Dinah Robinson Courtyard

The Dinah Robinson Courtyard. Weston City Park. , Dinah (Wright) Robinson, born 1817, arrived enslaved in Weston, Missouri, from Virginia in the mid-1840s. Abolitionist Rev. Frederick Starr admitted Dinah and her husband, Thomas, into the Presbyterian Church on April 1, 1854. By February 16, 1859, Dinah purchased her and Thomas's freedom, along with their children, Moses and Eliza Jane, from Rev. J.B. and Virginia Dale Wright. On January 3, 1860, they sold Dinah the lot where this courtyard now stands., Dinah Robinson acquired additional lots extending from this courtyard to the other side of Mill Creek. She played a significant role in fostering the Colored school and church. On June 15, 1867, she purchased the Thomas Street Alley for the Trustees of the Second Missionary Baptist Church, established in 1865 at 627 Blackhawk Street. The alleyway runs alongside the Mary McLeod Bethune School for Colored Children, as well as Dinah's 804 Thomas Street home, and gave access to the rear entrance of the African Methodist Episcopal Church fronting Washington Street. The church's ownership of the alley secured safe access to a section of Mill Creek where Colored baptisms and community social gatherings took place., Mrs. Dinah Robinson, a prominent civic leader of Weston's Black community, died on February 22, 1895. She and her family are buried in unmarked graves at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Weston, Missouri., LEGEND , 1. You Are Here - lot purchased by Dinah Robinson 1860 , 2. Dinah Robinson purchased two lots 1864 and 1876 (tennis courts) , 3. Mill Creek - Colored baptisms and social functions held here , 4. Blackhawk Walk - sidewalk formerly Blackhawk Street , 5. 808 Thomas - widowed Mariah Dayton Vaughn sued former owners of her 1876 residence; won Marshall's Deed lawsuit 1878 (Marshall J.B. Evans presided) , 6. 806 Thomas - German Lutheran Church, Union Headquarters, Mary McLeod Bethune School for Colored Children , 7. 804 Thomas - Dinah Robinson's family residence 1876 , 8. Thomas Street Alley - bought by Dinah Robinson for Second Missionary Baptist Church, 15 Jan 1867 , 9. 601 Blackhawk (Woodbine House) - Mariah Dayton Vaughn bought home 1880 , 10. 627 Blackhawk - Second Missionary Baptist Church est. 1865, completed 1867 , 11. 637 Blackhawk - Marshall J.B. Evans home , 12. 870 Washington - African Methodist Episcopal Church 1866 , 13. Presbyterian Church - Rev. Fred Starr admitted Thomas and Dinah Robinson 1854 , 14. 307 Washington - Mariah Dayton Vaughn bought homestead 1882 , 15. 1017 Spring - Hulse Home where Rev. Starr taught Negro students 1854 , 16. 502 Spring - Second Missionary Baptist Church moved to new building 1893 , 17. 522 Main upstairs - William D. and Sawney Vaughn owned and operated restaurant 1903 , 18. To African American Monument, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Welt Street , 19. Memorial bricks for this courtyard were salvaged from the Livery Stable built in 1856., Dedicated September 12, 2021