St. Peter's United Church of Christ Cemetery

Archer Alexander (c. 1813–1880) was born into slavery near Richmond, Virginia. In the 1820s, he was brought to Missouri, where he was enslaved by the Alexander family in St. Charles County. A skilled carpenter and mason, Alexander contributed to the construction of several buildings, including the stone house on Boone’s Lick Road.

During the Civil War, Alexander overheard plans by Confederate sympathizers to sabotage a Union railroad bridge. Risking his life, he informed Union forces, leading to the prevention of the attack. This act forced him to flee, and he eventually found refuge in St. Louis with William Greenleaf Eliot, a Unitarian minister and co-founder of Washington University. Eliot protected Alexander from slave catchers and helped secure his freedom through the Confiscation Act of 1862.

Alexander's image was later used for the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C., unveiled in 1876. The statue depicts President Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave, modeled after Alexander, symbolizing the end of slavery in the United States.

He spent the remainder of his life in St. Louis, passing away in 1880. Alexander was buried in an unmarked grave at St. Peter's United Church of Christ Cemetery in Normandy, Missouri. In recognition of his contributions, the cemetery was added to the National Park Service's Underground Railroad Network to Freedom in 2024.