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Moses Dickson was an abolitionist who formed the Knights Of Liberty, an anti-slavery secret society with aims of insurrection. At one point, there were nearly 50,000 members ready to fight for Black freedom.

Born free on April 5, 1814 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dickson worked on steamboats as a teenager and went on a three-year tour of the Deep South. Dickson saw the atrocities of slavery up close, which inspired him to want to work to end it.

In 1846, Dickson and eleven other men established the secret society, the International Order Of The Twelve Knights in St. Louis, Mo. The group was mostly referred to by its shorter name, Knights Of Liberty. By 1856 according to Dickson and others, over 47,000 members were part of the Knights.

In 1861, the Civil War began and raged on for four years. Many of the Knights joined the Union Army in its war against the Confederacy, including Dickson. After the war ended, Dickson focused on raising the educational and economic standards of freed Blacks. In 1866, he became an ordained minister with an A.M.E. Church in Missouri. In 1871, Dickson was the Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons in the state.

In 1872, Dickson formed the International Order Of The Twelve Knights And The Daughters Of Tabor, which were billed as an African-American “self-help” organizations. The Christian faith was at the root of the Order’s teachings, along with assisting members in acquiring and maintaining wealth. The Order lived on well past Dickson’s death in 1901, establishing the all-Black Taborian Hospital in 1942.

The hospital, located in Mound Bayou, Miss, employed T.R.M. Howard mentor to Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer as its first chief surgeon. There is a restoration effort by the Order underway to reopen the hospital.

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The Ten Most Interesting Little Known Black History Facts
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