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Contribution #221 of 365
Ann Davis Shatteo
Boarding-House Operator, Farmer and Kansas Entrepreneur
1849–late 1800s
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born free in Illinois, Ann Davis Shatteo was kidnapped as a child and illegally held in slavery before obtaining her freedom in Kansas. She later operated a Topeka boarding house that provided food and lodging connected with streams of settlers and built an agricultural estate that grew to 100 acres, demonstrating Black American entrepreneurship and landownership during western expansion.