Biography
Alanson Work was a carpenter and committed abolitionist associated with the Mission Institute at Quincy, Illinois. On July 13, 1841, he crossed into Marion County, Missouri, with James E. Burr and George Thompson to help enslaved people escape across the Mississippi River. The intended passengers disclosed the plan, and the three men were seized, threatened by a mob, convicted of larceny described as slave abduction, and sentenced to twelve years of hard labor. Governor John C. Edwards pardoned Work on January 20, 1845, after three years, six months, and seven days, on the condition that he take his family back to Connecticut.
