About Celia
Morally Innocent, Legally Guilty
Celia Newsom was an enslaved woman believed to be of mixed race (African & European) descent born in ~ 1836. In 1850, when Celia was just 14 years old, Robert Newsom, a widowed 60-year-old Callaway County, Missouri Farmer from Greenbrier County, West Virginia, purchased Celia in Audrain County, Missouri, to be his concubine.
Celia endured an unwanted sexual relationship with Robert Newsom from 1850 through 1855. On June 23, 1855, despite Celia’s prior pleas to stop assaulting her, Newsom entered Celia’s cabin seeking sexual relations. A 19-year-old pregnant Celia asserted her God given rights of self-determination, human agency, and bodily autonomy and defended herself against Robert Newsom’s advances. Celia struck Newsom on the head with a stick and killed him. Throughout the night, she burned his body in her fireplace and disposed of his ashes the following morning. When questioned about the whereabouts of Robert Newsom, Celia eventually confessed to killing Newsom and explained the abuse she endured to Callaway County authorities.
In Missouri in 1855, it was a crime “to take any woman unlawfully against her will and by force, menace or duress, compel her to be defiled,” allowing women to argue self-defense in resisting such assaults. Despite this law, Callaway County Circuit Court Judge William Hall concluded enslaved women in Missouri were property of their masters, not citizens, did not have the rights of bodily autonomy and self-defense, and therefore could not be legally raped, meaning, the legal definition of rape did not apply to sexual assault of any slave by their owner, so the same allowance for self-defense did not apply. Celia was charged, tried, and found guilty of the murder of Robert Newsom by an all-white male jury. Sentenced to death by hanging by Judge Hall, Celia’s original execution date was set for Friday, November 16, 1855. However, Celia escaped from jail for nearly 2 weeks, delaying the execution. On December 14, 1855, the Missouri Supreme Court denied Celia’s appeal. On December 21, 1855, at the age of 19, Celia was unjustly executed by hanging at the Callaway County Courthouse in Fulton, Missouri, for the murder of Robert Newsom. Celia’s exact interment site is unknown.
The Fate of Celia’s Children
The Adult Children of Jennie Newsom Broadwater Lewis and George Lewis, circa 1915
Celia had two daughters, Vine (Vina) born in ~ 1851, and Jennie (Jane) born on October 2, 1854. Per court transcripts, Celia indicates that her second child, Jennie, was fathered by Robert Newsom (later confirmed through descendant DNA testing). Both children were listed as property in the estate of Robert Newsom. Per court records, Celia delivered her third child stillborn while awaiting execution. The burial site of the third stillborn child is unknown.
Nine months after Celia’s execution, daughters Vine (Vina) ~ age four, and Jennie (Jane) ~ age two, were sold at auction in Callaway County on September 1, 1856, for $496.50 according to Robert Newsom’s probate records. The fate of daughter Vine (Vina) and her direct descendants is currently unknown to Sister Jennie's (Jane’s) descendants; however, the research continues. The younger daughter, Jennie Newsom Broadwater, was purchased by Callaway County Farmer, Guy Broadwater. Jennie and George Lewis, Sr. of Boonville, Missouri, were married on August 23, 1870, in St. Louis, Missouri. George Sr. worked as a Laborer, and Jennie as a Washerwoman. While some historians indicate Jennie and George had up to 19 children (including still births) in the 1900 census, Jennie and George Sr. attested to bearing 13 total children between 1871 and 1894. Ten of the Lewis children (Celia & Robert Newsom’s grandchildren) were named as follows: Guy, Frank, Arthur, Woodruff Chester, Clara, Charles, Virginia (Jennie), Edgar P., Julia, and George Jr... Jennie died at the age of 48 on February 18, 1903, in St. Louis, Missouri, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, a historic African American burial site in St. Louis County, Missouri, currently undergoing restoration.
Six of Jennie and George Sr.’s children (Frank, Woodruff, Charles, Clara, Julia, Virginia, and Julia) would go on to marry and have children who would bring forth additional generations. Today, the second, third, fourth, and fifth great-grandchildren of Celia and Robert Newsom live happy and prosperous lives across the country in various private sector and public service roles. With the support of Celia Historians and Ancestry.com Pro Genealogists, Celia/Robert Newsom descendants are actively engaged in researching Celia’s life, finding additional descendant,s and strengthening family bonds.
The Arc of the Moral Universe Will Bend Towards Justice, But Only if We Pull It…
After months of hard-fought advocacy by Celia/Robert Newsom descendants, the City of Fulton, Fulton Community Leaders, the Callaway County Legal Community, and countless supporters, Missouri Governor, Michael L. Parson pardoned Celia on December 20, 2024.
On May 12, 2025, Senate Bill 348 passed both houses of the Missouri Legislature further to honor Celia through state-sponsored public justice-creating Celia Day, Human Trafficking Awareness Week, and the Celia Memorial Highway. Special heartfelt thanks to Senator Travis Fitzwater (R) and Representative Jim Schulte (R), Callaway County, and Senator Brian Williams (D), St. Louis County, for their legislative sponsorship and steadfast support.
Governor Michael L. Kehoe is expected to sign the bill into law in summer 2025. The effective date of this pending legislation is August 28, 2025.
Celia’s justice journey continues…. Click here to actively support these ongoing efforts.