Vaughan brought an action of trespass against Eaton. Vaughan owned a slave named Charles who escaped on 22 August 1844. A suspicion arose that Charles had escaped hidden on board the steamboat Wapello of which Eaton was captain. The boat was searched and the slave was not found. Later the same day Charles, who had stolen a horse and taken the papers of a freeman called Pompey Spence, approached Eaton at St Louis to obtain passage on the boat. Good detail on steamboats and runaways.
