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THE RISING SON;
THE RISING SON;
OR, THE ANTECEDENTS AND ADVANCEMENT OF THE COLORED RACE. BY WM. WELLS BROWN, M. D. AUTHOR OF “SKETCHES OF PLACES AND PEOPLE ABROAD,” “THE BLACK MAN,” “THE NEGRO IN THE REBELLION,” “CLOTELLE,” ETC. Thirteenth Thousand. BOSTON: A. G. BROWN & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1882. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, By A. G. BROWN In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
After availing himself of all the reliable information obtainable, the author is compelled to acknowledge the scantiness of materials for a history of the African race. He has throughout endeavored to give a faithful account of the people and their customs, without concealing their faults. Several of the biographical sketches are necessarily brief, owing to the difficulty in getting correct information in regard to the subjects treated upon. Some have been omitted on account of the same cause. W
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Publishers’ Note to the 13th Edition.
Publishers’ Note to the 13th Edition.
Few works written upon the colored race have equaled in circulation “The Rising Son.” In the past two years the sales have more than doubled in the Southern States, and the demand for the book is greatly on the increase. Twelve thousand copies have already been sold; and if this can be taken as an index to the future, we may look forward with hope that the colored citizens are beginning to appreciate their own authors....
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MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.
MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.
BY ALONZO D. MOORE. Thirty years ago, a young colored man came to my father’s house at Aurora, Erie County, New York, to deliver a lecture on the subject of American Slavery, and the following morning I sat upon his knee while he told me the story of his life and escape from the South. Although a boy of eight years, I still remember the main features of the narrative, and the impression it made upon my mind, and the talk the lecture of the previous night created in our little quiet town. That ma
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CHAPTER III. EASTERN AFRICA.
CHAPTER III. EASTERN AFRICA.
In the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea, and among that range of mountains running parallel with the coast, are Hadharebe, the Ababdeh, and the Bishari, three very ancient tribes, the modern representatives of the Ethiopians of Meroe. The language of these people, their features, so different from the Arabs, and the Guinea Negro, together with their architecture, prove conclusively that they descended from Ethiopia; the most numerous and powerful of these tribes being the Bishari. Leaving
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CHAPTER VII. THE ABYSSINIANS.
CHAPTER VII. THE ABYSSINIANS.
According to Bruce, who travelled extensively in Africa, the Abyssinians have among them a tradition, handed down from time immemorial, that Cush was their father. Theodore, late king of Abyssinia, maintained that he descended in a direct line from Moses. As this monarch has given wider fame to his country than any of his predecessors, it will not be amiss to give a short sketch of him and his government. Theodore was born at Quarel, on the borders of the western Amhara, and was educated in a co
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CHAPTER X. THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.
CHAPTER X. THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.
The Republic of Liberia lies on the west coast of Africa, and was settled by emigrants from the United States in 1822. The founders of this government met with many obstacles: First, disease; then opposition from the natives; all of which, however, they heroically overcame. The territory owned by the Liberian government extends some six hundred miles along the West African coast, and reaches back indefinitely towards the interior, the native title to which has been fairly purchased. It has broug
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CHAPTER XII. HAYTI.
CHAPTER XII. HAYTI.
In sketching an account of the people of Hayti, and the struggles through which they were called to pass, we confess it to be a difficult task. Although the writer visited the Island thirty years ago, and has read everything of importance given by the historians, it is still no easy matter to give a true statement of the revolution which placed the colored people in possession of the Island, so conflicting are the accounts. The beautiful island of St. Domingo, of which Hayti is a part, was prono
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CHAPTER XV. TOUSSAINT A PRISONER IN FRANCE.
CHAPTER XV. TOUSSAINT A PRISONER IN FRANCE.
While the cause of independence, forced at length on the aspirations of the natives of Hayti, was advancing with rapid strides, amid all the tumult of armies, and all the confusion of despotic cruelties, Toussaint L’Ouverture pined away in the dark, damp, cold prison of Joux. This castle stands on the brink of the river Daubs; on the land side, the road of Besancon, leading into Switzerland, gives the stronghold the command of the communications between that country and France. This dungeon buil
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CHAPTER XIX. PEACE IN HAYTI, AND DEATH OF PÉTION.
CHAPTER XIX. PEACE IN HAYTI, AND DEATH OF PÉTION.
Christophe had now discovered the too palpable truth, that so far from his possessing the means to drive his rival from the government of the South, all his cares and precautions were requisite to maintain the sovereignty over his own subjects of the North. A train of perpetual suspicions kept his jealousy ever alive, and vexed by the tortures of eternal solicitude, his despotic temper grew by the cruelty which had become its aliment. Together with this perpetual inquietude for the safety of his
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CHAPTER XX. BOYER THE SUCCESSOR OF PÉTION IN HAYTI.
CHAPTER XX. BOYER THE SUCCESSOR OF PÉTION IN HAYTI.
Boyer, the new president, was peaceably acknowledged by the people of the republic as their lawful chief, and no other general of the army manifested any disposition to establish an adverse claim to the vacant dignity. Boyer, finding himself tranquilly seated in power, and placed beyond any danger from the hostile enterprises of the rival dynasty, devoted himself to the encouragement of agriculture and commerce within his territory. He made a tour of inspection through all the different district
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CHAPTER XXII. UNION OF HAYTI AND SANTO DOMINGO.
CHAPTER XXII. UNION OF HAYTI AND SANTO DOMINGO.
The death of Christophe was hailed with enthusiasm and applause, in his own part of the Island, as well as in the republic; and on the 15th of October, 1821, General Paul Romaine put himself at the head of affairs, and proclaimed a republic. A deputation was at once dispatched to President Boyer, with an offer to unite the two governments under him, as their head. This was accepted, and in a short time the union took place. From the time of the evacuation of the Island by the French under Rocham
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CHAPTER XXIII. SOULOUQUE AS EMPEROR OF HAYTI.
CHAPTER XXIII. SOULOUQUE AS EMPEROR OF HAYTI.
General Riche, a griffe , or dark mulatto, was selected to fill the place left vacant by the flight of Boyer; and his ability, together with the universal confidence reposed in him by all classes, seemed to shadow forth a prosperous era for the republic. He had, however, done little more than enter upon his arduous duties, when he was carried off by a sudden malady, universally regretted by the entire population. The Senate, whose duty it was to elect the president, gave a majority of their vote
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CHAPTER XXIV. GEFFRARD AS PRESIDENT OF HAYTI.
CHAPTER XXIV. GEFFRARD AS PRESIDENT OF HAYTI.
Fabre Geffrard was born at Cayes September 19, 1806. His father was General Nicholas Geffrard, one of the founders of Haytian independence. He became a soldier at the early age of fifteen, and after serving in the ranks, passed rapidly through several grades of promotion, until he obtained a captaincy. In 1843, when General Herard took up arms against President Boyer, he choose Geffrard for his lieutenant, who, by his skill and bravery, contributed largely to the success of the revolutionary arm
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CHAPTER XXV. SALNAVE AS PRESIDENT OF HAYTI.
CHAPTER XXV. SALNAVE AS PRESIDENT OF HAYTI.
President Salnave was a native of Cape Haytian, and was forty-one years of age when elevated to power. He was the son of French and Negro parents. He entered the army of Hayti in early youth, and was a major under Geffrard when the empire was overthrown. While holding the same commission under the Republic, Salnave projected the rebellion of 1865, and seized Cape Haytian, from which he was driven, as we have described. He was said to be a man of unusual intelligence, of progressive and liberal i
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CHAPTER XXVII. SOUTH AMERICA.
CHAPTER XXVII. SOUTH AMERICA.
The Portuguese introduced slavery into Brazil about the year 1558, and the increase of that class of the population was as rapid as in any part of the newly discovered country. The treatment of the slaves did not differ from Jamaica, St. Domingo, and Cuba. Brazil has given the death-blow to the wicked system which has been so long both her grievous burden and her foul disgrace. Henceforth, every child born in the empire is free, and in twenty years the chains will fall from the limbs of her last
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CHAPTER XXVIII. CUBA AND PORTO RICO.
CHAPTER XXVIII. CUBA AND PORTO RICO.
Cuba, the stronghold of Spain, in the western world, has labored under the disadvantages of slavery for more than three hundred years. The Lisbon merchants cared more for the great profits made from the slave-trade, than for the development of the rich resources of this, one of the most beautiful of the West India Islands, and therefore, they invested largely in that nefarious traffic. The increase of slaves, the demand for sugar and the products of the tropics, and the inducement which a race f
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CHAPTER XXIX. SANTO DOMINGO.
CHAPTER XXIX. SANTO DOMINGO.
Although not strictly a Spanish possession, Santo Domingo may be counted in, with the people already enumerated in the West Indies. Its history is identical with that of Hayti. Forming a part of the same Island, and inhabited by blacks, mulattoes, and whites; and being part of the battle-ground upon which the negroes fought the French, in the revolution which freed the Island from its former masters. Santo Domingo has passed through all the scenes of blood and desolation, only in a milder form,
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CHAPTER XXX. INTRODUCTION OF BLACKS INTO THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
CHAPTER XXX. INTRODUCTION OF BLACKS INTO THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
Simultaneously with the landing of the Pilgrims from the Mayflower, on Plymouth Rock, December 22d, 1620, a clumsy-looking brig, old and dirty, with paint nearly obliterated from every part, slowly sailed up the James River, and landed at Jamestown. The short, stout, fleshy appearance of the men in charge of the vessel, and the five empty sour-crout barrels which lay on deck, told plainly in what country the navigators belonged. Even at that early day they had with them their “native beverage,”
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CHAPTER XXXII. COLORED INSURRECTIONS IN THE COLONIES.
CHAPTER XXXII. COLORED INSURRECTIONS IN THE COLONIES.
The first serious effort at rebellion by the slaves in the colonies, occurred in New York, in 1712; where, if it had not been for the timely aid from the garrison, the city would have been reduced to ashes. The next insurrection took place in South Carolina, in 1720, where the blacks in considerable numbers attacked the whites in their houses and in the streets. Forces were immediately raised and sent after them, twenty-three of whom were taken, six convicted, three executed, and three escaped.
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CHAPTER XXXV. THE CURSE OF SLAVERY.
CHAPTER XXXV. THE CURSE OF SLAVERY.
The demoralization which the institution entailed upon all classes in the community in which it existed, was indeed fearful to contemplate; and we may well say that slavery is the curse of curses. While it made the victim a mere chattel, taking from him every characteristic of manhood, it degraded the mind of the master, brutalized his feelings, seared his conscience, and destroyed his moral sense. Immorality to a great extent, pervaded every slaveholding city, town, village, and dwelling in the
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CHAPTER XXXVII. GROWING OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY.
CHAPTER XXXVII. GROWING OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY.
The vast increase of the slave population in the Southern States, and their frequent insurrectionary efforts, together with the fact that the whole system was in direct contradiction to the sentiments expressed in the declaration of American independence, was fast creating a hatred to slavery. The society of Friends, the first to raise a warning voice against the sin of human bondage, had nobly done its duty; and as early as 1789 had petitioned Congress in favor of the abolition of slavery. Prev
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CHAPTER XXXVIII. MOB LAW TRIUMPHANT.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. MOB LAW TRIUMPHANT.
In the year 1834, mob law was inaugurated in the free states, which extended into the years 1835-6 and 7. The mobbing of the friends of freedom commenced in Boston, in October, 1835, with an attack upon William Lloyd Garrison, and the ladies’ Anti-slavery Society. This mob, made up as it was by “Gentlemen of property and standing,” and from whom Mr. Garrison had to be taken to prison to save his life, has become disgracefully historical. The Boston mob was followed by one at Utica, New York, hea
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CHAPTER XXXIX. HEROISM AT SEA.
CHAPTER XXXIX. HEROISM AT SEA.
In the month of August, 1839, there appeared in the newspapers a shocking story:—that a schooner, going coastwise from Havana to Neuvitas, in the Island of Cuba, early in July, with about twenty white passengers, and a large number of slaves, had been seized by the slaves in the night time, and the passengers and crew all murdered except two, who made their escape to land in an open boat. About the 20th of the same month, a strange craft was seen repeatedly on our coast, which was believed to be
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CHAPTER XLI. RELIGIOUS STRUGGLES.
CHAPTER XLI. RELIGIOUS STRUGGLES.
Caste, the natural product of slavery, did not stop at the door of the sanctuary, as might be presumed that it would, but entered all, or nearly all, of the Christian denominations of our country, and in some instances even pursued the negro to the sacramental altar. All churches had their “Negro-pew,” where there were any blacks to put into them. This was the custom at the South, and it was the same at the North. As the religion of the country was fashioned to suit the public sentiment, which w
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CHAPTER XLIII. LOYALTY AND BRAVERY OF THE BLACKS.
CHAPTER XLIII. LOYALTY AND BRAVERY OF THE BLACKS.
The assault on Fort Sumter on the 12th of April, 1861, was the dawn of a new era for the Negro. The proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for the first seventy-five thousand men to put down the Rebellion, was responded to by the colored people throughout the country. In Boston, at a public meeting of the blacks a large number came forward, put their names to an agreement to form a brigade, and march at once to the seat of war. A committee waited on the Governor three days later, and offered
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CHAPTER XLIV. THE CAPITAL FREE.—PROCLAMATION OF FREEDOM.
CHAPTER XLIV. THE CAPITAL FREE.—PROCLAMATION OF FREEDOM.
In 1862 slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia, the honor of which in the main belongs to Henry Wilson, Senator from Massachusetts. With the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, commenced a new era at our country’s capital. The representatives of the governments of Hayti and Liberia had both long knocked in vain to be admitted with the representatives of other nations. The slave power had always succeeded in keeping them out. But a change had now come over the dreams of t
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CHAPTER XLV. BLACKS ENLISTED, AND IN BATTLE.
CHAPTER XLV. BLACKS ENLISTED, AND IN BATTLE.
Attorney-General Bates had already given his opinion with regard to the citizenship of the negro, and that opinion was in the black man’s favor. The Emancipation Proclamation was only a prelude to calling on the colored men to take up arms, and the one soon followed the other; for the word “Emancipation” had scarcely gone over the wires, ere Adjutant-General Thomas made his appearance in the valley of the Mississippi. At Lake Providence, Louisiana, he met a large wing of the army, composed of vo
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CHAPTER XLVI. NEGRO HATRED AT THE NORTH.
CHAPTER XLVI. NEGRO HATRED AT THE NORTH.
The prompt manner in which colored men in the North had enlisted in the army to aid in putting down the Rebellion, and the heroism and loyalty of the slaves of the South in helping to save the Union, so exasperated the disloyal people in the Northern States, that they early began a system of cowardly warfare against the blacks wherever they found them. The mob spirit first manifested itself at a meeting held in Boston, December 3, 1860, to observe the anniversary of the death of John Brown. A co
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CHAPTER XLVII. CASTE AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER XLVII. CASTE AND PROGRESS.
Caste is usually found to exist in communities or countries among majorities, and against minorities. The basis of it is owing to some supposed inferiority or degradation attached to the hated ones. However, nothing is more foolish than this prejudice. But the silliest of all caste is that which is founded on color; for those who entertain it have not a single logical reason to offer in its defence. The fact is, slavery has been the cause of all the prejudice against the negro. Wherever the blac
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CHAPTER XLVIII. THE ABOLITIONISTS.
CHAPTER XLVIII. THE ABOLITIONISTS.
A little more than forty years ago, William Lloyd Garrison hoisted the banner of immediate and unconditional emancipation, as the right of the slave, and the duty of the master. The men and women who gradually rallied around him, fully comprehended the solemn responsibility they were then taking, and seemed prepared to consecrate the best years of their lives to the cause of human freedom. Amid the moral and political darkness which then overshadowed the land, the voice of humanity was at length
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CHAPTER XLIX. THE NEW ERA.
CHAPTER XLIX. THE NEW ERA.
The close of the Rebellion opened to the negro a new era in his history. The chains of slavery had been severed; and although he had not been clothed with all the powers of the citizen, the black man was, nevertheless, sure of all his rights being granted, for revolutions seldom go backward. With the beginning of the work of reconstruction, the right of the negro to the ballot came legitimately before the country, and brought with it all the virus of negro hate that could be thought of. Presiden
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CRISPUS ATTUCKS.
CRISPUS ATTUCKS.
The principle that taxation and representation were inseparable was in accordance with the theory, the genius, and the precedents of British legislation; and this principle was now, for the first time, intentionally invaded. The American colonies were not represented in Parliament; yet an act was passed by that body, the tendency of which was to invalidate all right and title to their property. This was the “Stamp Act,” of March 23, 1765, which ordained that no sale, bond, note of hand, nor othe
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PHILLIS WHEATLEY.
PHILLIS WHEATLEY.
In the year 1761, when Boston had her slave market, and the descendants of the Pilgrims appeared to be the most pious and God-fearing people in the world, Mrs. John Wheatley went into the market one day, for the purpose of selecting and purchasing a girl for her own use. Among the group of children just imported from the African coast was a delicately-built, rather good-looking child of seven or eight years, apparently suffering from the recent sea-voyage and change of climate. Mrs. Wheatley’s h
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BENJAMIN BANNEKER.
BENJAMIN BANNEKER.
The services rendered to science, to liberty, and to the intellectual character of the negro by Banneker, are too great for us to allow his name to sleep, and his genius and merits to remain hidden from the world. Benjamin Banneker was born in the State of Maryland, in the year 1732, of pure African parentage; their blood never having been corrupted by the introduction of a drop of Anglo-Saxon. His father was a slave, and of course could do nothing towards the education of the child. The mother,
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WILLIAM P. QUINN.
WILLIAM P. QUINN.
The man who lays aside home comforts, and willingly becomes a missionary to the poorest of the poor, deserves the highest praise that his fellow-men can bestow upon him. After laboring faithfully for the upbuilding of the church in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, William P. Quinn, thirty-five years ago, went to the West, a most undesirable place for a colored man at that time. But he did not count the cost; it was enough for him to know that his services were needed, and he left the conse
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DAVID RUGGLES.
DAVID RUGGLES.
Of those who took part in the anti-slavery work thirty-five years ago, none was more true to his race than David Ruggles. Residing in the city of New York, where slaveholders often brought their body servants, and kept them for weeks, Mr. Ruggles became a thorn in the sides of these Southern sinners. He was ready at all times, in dangers and perils, to wrest his brethren from these hyenas, and so successful was he in getting slaves from their masters, and sending them to Canada, that he became t
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FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
The career of this distinguished individual whose name heads this sketch, is more widely known than that of any other living colored man. Born and brought up under the institution of slavery, which denied its victims the right of developing those natural powers that adorn the children of men, and distinguish them from the beasts of the forest,—an institution that gave a premium to ignorance, and made intelligence a crime, when the possessor was a negro,—Frederick Douglass is, indeed, the most wo
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ALEXANDER W. WAYMAN.
ALEXANDER W. WAYMAN.
Bishop Wayman was born in Maryland, in 1821, and consequently, is fifty-two years of age. He showed an early love of books, and used his time to the best advantage. He began as a preacher in the A. M. E. Church in 1842, being stationed on the Princeton circuit, in New Jersey. From that time forward his labors were herculean. In 1864, he was, by an almost unanimous vote, elected a bishop. Tanner, in his “Apology,” said of him:— “As a preacher, the bishop appears to advantage. Of dignified mien, e
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CHARLES L. REASON.
CHARLES L. REASON.
Professor Reason has for a number of years been connected with the educational institutions of New York. In 1849, he was called to the professorship of Mathematics and Belles-Lettres in New York Central College. This position he held during his own pleasure, with honor to himself and benefit to the students. A man of fine education, superior intelligence, gentlemanly in every sense of the term, of excellent discrimination, one of the best of students, Professor Reason holds a power over those un
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WILLIAM J. WILSON.
WILLIAM J. WILSON.
At the head of our representative men,—especially our men of letters,—stands Professor Wilson. He has, at times, contributed some very able papers to the current literature of the day. In the columns of “Frederick Douglass’s Paper,” the “Anglo-African Magazine,” and the “Weekly Anglo-African,” appeared at times, over the signature of “Ethiop,” some of the raciest and most amusing essays to be found in the public journals of this country. As a sketch writer of historical scenes and historical cha
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JABEZ P. CAMPBELL.
JABEZ P. CAMPBELL.
One of the best of men was born in one of the meanest States in the Union. Jabez P. Campbell is a native of the insignificant and negro-hating State of Delaware, and is in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, and when he laid aside the knapsack and the musket, he put on the armor of the Lord, and became a preacher of the A. M. E. Church. Like all colored boys in those days, the subject of this sketch found many difficulties in obtaining an education in a part
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JOHN M. LANGSTON.
JOHN M. LANGSTON.
John M. Langston is a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, and a graduate of Oberlin College. He studied theology and law, and preferring the latter, was admitted to the bar, practised successfully in the courts of his native state till the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he removed to Washington, where he now resides. During the war, and some time after its close, Mr. Langston was engaged in superintending the Freedmen’s Schools at the South. He now occupies a professorship in Howard University. Th
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JOHN M. BROWN.
JOHN M. BROWN.
Among the fine-looking men that have been sent out by the A. M. E. Church, to preach the gospel, none has a more manly frame, intellectual countenance, gentlemanly demeanor, Christian spirit, and love of his race, than John M. Brown. When the Committee on Boundary in the A. M. E. Church recommended in the General Conference of 1864, “that there be set apart a Conference in the State of Louisiana, to be known as the Louisiana Conference, embracing the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, A
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JOHN I. GAINES.
JOHN I. GAINES.
Mr. Gaines was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, November 6th, 1821. His early education was limited, as was generally the case with colored youth in that section, in those days. Forced into active life at an early age, he yet found time to make himself a fair English scholar, and laid the foundation of that power to be useful, which he afterwards exercised for the benefit of his people. At the age of sixteen, he was found in attendance upon a convention, held in one of the interior towns of his native
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JAMES M’CUNE SMITH, M. D.
JAMES M’CUNE SMITH, M. D.
Unable to get justice done him in the educational institutions of his native country, James M’Cune Smith turned his face towards a foreign land. He graduated with distinguished honors at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, where he received his diploma of M. D. For the last twenty-five years he has been a practitioner in the city of New York, where he stands at the head of his profession. On his return from Europe, the doctor was warmly welcomed by his fellow-citizens, who were anxious to pay d
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DANIEL A. PAYNE, D. D.
DANIEL A. PAYNE, D. D.
Teacher of a small school at Charleston, South Carolina, in the year 1834, Daniel A. Payne felt the oppressive hand of slavery too severely upon him, and he quitted the Southern Sodom, and came North. After going through a regular course of theological studies, at Gettysburg Seminary, he took up his residence at Baltimore, where he soon distinguished himself as a preacher in the African Methodist denomination. He was several years since elected bishop, and is now located in the State of Ohio. Bi
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ALEXANDER CRUMMELL, D. D.
ALEXANDER CRUMMELL, D. D.
Among the many bright examples of the black man which we present, one of the foremost is Alexander Crummell. Blood unadulterated, a tall and manly figure, commanding in appearance, a full and musical voice, fluent in speech, a graduate of Cambridge University, England, a mind stored with the richness of English literature, competently acquainted with the classical authors of Greece and Rome, from the grave Thucydides to the rhapsodical Lycophron, gentlemanly in all his movements, language chaste
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HENRY HIGHLAND GARNETT, D. D.
HENRY HIGHLAND GARNETT, D. D.
Though born a slave in the State of Maryland, Henry Highland Garnett is the son of an African chief, stolen from the coast of his native land. His father’s family were all held as slaves till 1822, when they escaped to the north. In 1835, he became a member of Canaan Academy, New Hampshire. Three months after entering the school, it was broken up by a mob, who destroyed the building. Dr. Garnett afterwards entered Oneida Institute, New York, under the charge of that noble-hearted friend of man,
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CHARLES L. REMOND.
CHARLES L. REMOND.
Born and brought up in Salem, Massachusetts, Mr. Remond had the advantage of early training in the best of schools. In 1838, he took the field as a lecturer, under the auspices of the American Anti-slavery Society, and, in company with the Rev. Ichabod Codding, canvassed the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine. In 1840, he visited England as a delegate to the first “World’s Anti-slavery Convention,” held in London. He remained abroad two years, lecturing in the various towns in the
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MARTIN R. DELANY, M. D.
MARTIN R. DELANY, M. D.
Dr. Delany has long been before the public. His first appearance, we believe, was in connection with “The Mystery,” a weekly newspaper published at Pittsburg, and of which he was editor. His journal was faithful in its advocacy of the rights of man, and had the reputation of being a well-conducted sheet. The doctor afterwards was associated with Frederick Douglass in the editorial management of his paper at Rochester, New York. From the latter place, he removed to Canada, and resided in Chatham,
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JAMES W. C. PENNINGTON, D. D.
JAMES W. C. PENNINGTON, D. D.
Dr. Pennington was born a slave on the farm of Colonel Gordon, in the State of Maryland. His early life was not unlike the common lot of the bondmen of the Middle States. He was by trade a blacksmith, which increased his value to his owner. He had no opportunities for learning, and was ignorant of letters when he made his escape to the north. Through intense application to books, he gained, as far as it was possible, what slavery had deprived him of in his younger days. But he always felt the ea
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FRANCIS L. CARDOZO.
FRANCIS L. CARDOZO.
The boiling cauldron of the rebellion threw upon its surface in the Southern States a large number of colored men, who are now playing a conspicuous part in the political affairs of their section of the country. Some of these, like their white brethren, are mere adventurers, without ability, native or acquired, and owe their elevated position more to circumstances than to any gifts or virtues of their own. There are, however, another class, some of whom, although uneducated, are men of genius, o
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EDMONIA LEWIS.
EDMONIA LEWIS.
Miss Lewis, the colored American artist, is of mingled Indian and African descent. Her mother was one of the Chippewa tribe, and her father a full-blooded African. Both her parents died young, leaving the orphan girl and her only brother to be brought up by the Indians. Here, as may well be imagined, her opportunities for education were meagre enough. Edmonia Lewis is below the medium height; her complexion and features betray her African origin; her hair is more of the Indian type, black, strai
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ROBERT PURVIS.
ROBERT PURVIS.
Robert Purvis was born in Charleston, South Carolina, but had the advantages of a New England collegiate education. He early embraced the principles of freedom as advocated by William Lloyd Garrison, and during the whole course of the agitation of the question of slavery, remained true to his early convictions. Possessed of a large fortune at the very commencement of life, Mr. Purvis took an active part in aiding slaves to obtain their freedom, by furnishing means to secure for them something li
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JAMES M. WHITFIELD.
JAMES M. WHITFIELD.
James M. Whitfield was a native of Massachusetts, and removed in early life to Buffalo, New York, where he followed the humble occupation of a barber. However, even in this position, he became noted for his scholarly attainments and gentlemanly deportment. Men of polish and refinement were attracted to his saloon, and while being shaved, would take pleasure in conversing with him; and all who knew him felt that he was intended by Nature for a more elevated station in life. He wrote some fine ver
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PHILLIP A. BELL.
PHILLIP A. BELL.
Although we have but a meagre historical record, as producers of books, magazines, and newspapers, it must still be admitted that some noble efforts have been made, and not a little time and money spent by colored men in literary enterprises during the last forty years. The oldest, and one of the ablest of American journalists, is Phillip A. Bell. This gentleman started the “Colored American” in the year 1837, as co-editor with the late Rev. Samuel E. Cornish, and subsequently, with the late Dr.
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CHARLES B. RAY, D. D.
CHARLES B. RAY, D. D.
Dr. Ray is a clergyman of the Presbyterian order, and has resided in the city of New York for the last half century. In the year 1840, he became the editor of the “Colored American,” a journal which he conducted with signal ability, always true to the cause of the Southern slave, and the elevation of the black man everywhere. Dr. Ray is well educated, a man of liberal and reformatory views, a terse and vigorous writer, an able and eloquent speaker, well informed upon all subjects of the day. He
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JOHN J. ZUILLE.
JOHN J. ZUILLE.
Thirty-five years ago, it was not an easy thing to convince an American community that a colored man was fit for any position save that of a servant. A few men, however, one after another, came upon the surface, and demonstrated beyond a doubt that genius was not confined to race or color. Standing foremost amongst these, was John J. Zuille of New York, who, by his industry, sobriety, and fair dealing, did much to create for the black man a character for business tact in the great metropolis. Mr
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GEORGE T. DOWNING.
GEORGE T. DOWNING.
The tall, fine figure, manly walk, striking profile, and piercing eye of George T. Downing would attract attention in any community, even where he is unknown. Possessing remarkable talents, finely educated, a keen observer, and devoted to the freedom and elevation of his race, he has long been looked upon as a representative man. A good debater, quick to take advantage of the weak points of an opponent, forcible in speech, and a natural orator, Mr. Downing is always acceptable as a speaker. He i
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CHARLOTTE L. FORTEN.
CHARLOTTE L. FORTEN.
Miss Forten is a native of Philadelphia; came to Massachusetts in 1854, entered the Higginson Grammar School at Salem, where she soon earned the reputation of an attentive and progressive student. She graduated from that institution with high honor, having received a premium for “A Parting Hymn,” sung at the last examination. In this composition Miss Forten gave unmistakable evidence of genius of a high order. She became a correspondent of the “National Anti-slavery Standard,” and wrote some ver
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GEORGE B. VASHON.
GEORGE B. VASHON.
The subject of this sketch was born in Pittsburg, through the schools of which he passed, then studied at Oberlin College, graduating with the degree of Master of Arts. After reading law with Hon. Walter Forward, he was admitted to the bar in 1847. Mr. Vashon soon after visited Hayti, where he remained three years, returning home in 1850. Called to a professorship in New York Central College, Mr. Vashon discharged the duties of the office with signal ability. A gentleman—a graduate of that insti
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WILLIAM H. SIMPSON.
WILLIAM H. SIMPSON.
It is a compliment to a picture to say that it produces the impression of the actual scene. Taste has, frequently, for its object, works of art. Nature, many suppose, may be studied with propriety; but art, they reject as entirely superficial. But what is the fact? In the highest sense, art is the child of Nature; and is most admired when it preserves the likeness of its parent. In Venice, the paintings of Titian, and of the Venetian artists generally, exact from the traveller a yet higher tribu
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SIR EDWARD JORDAN.
SIR EDWARD JORDAN.
Edward Jordan was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in the year 1798. After quitting school, he entered a clothing store, as a clerk; but his deep hatred to slavery, and the political and social outrages committed upon the free colored men, preyed upon his mind to such an extent that, in 1826, he associated himself with Robert Osborn, in the publication of “The Watchman,” a weekly newspaper devoted to the freedom and enfranchisement of the people of color. His journal was conducted with marked ability,
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EDWIN M. BANNISTER.
EDWIN M. BANNISTER.
Edwin M. Bannister was born in the town of St. Andrew, New Brunswick, and lost his father when only six years old. He attended the Grammar School in his native place, and received a better education than persons generally in his position. From early childhood he seems to have had a fancy for painting, which showed itself in the school-room and at home. He often drew portraits of his school-fellows, and the master not unfrequently found himself upon the slate, where Edwin’s success was so manifes
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WILLIAM C. NELL.
WILLIAM C. NELL.
Mr. Nell is a native of Boston, and from the beginning of the anti-slavery agitation was identified with the movement. He labored long and arduously for equal school-rights for the colored children of his native city, where he performed a good work. Mr. Nell is the author of the “Colored Patriots of the American Revolution,” a book filled with interesting incidents connected with the history of the blacks of this country, past and present. He has also written several smaller works, all of which
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IRA ALDRIDGE.
IRA ALDRIDGE.
On looking over the columns of “The Times,” one morning, I saw it announced under the head of “Amusements,” that “Ira Aldridge, the African Roscius,” was to appear in the character of Othello, in Shakspeare’s celebrated tragedy of that name, and having long wished to see my sable countryman, I resolved at once to attend. Though the doors had been open but a short time when I reached the Royal Haymarket, the theatre where the performance was to take place, the house was well filled, and among the
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OSCAR JAMES DUNN.
OSCAR JAMES DUNN.
Oscar J. Dunn was a native of Louisiana, and by trade a plasterer, at which he worked during his early life. His education was limited, but what he lacked in book learning was made up in good common sense. In color, he was a brown skin, of commanding appearance, dignified in manners, and calculated to make a favorable impression upon all who had the good fortune to make his acquaintance. Although born a slave, he was, nevertheless, one of Nature’s noblest men. Called into public life at a time w
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JOHN R. LYNCH.
JOHN R. LYNCH.
The late rebellion has not produced a more remarkable instance of a self-made man than is seen in the career of John R. Lynch, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Mississippi. He was born in Louisiana, just opposite Natchez, in the year 1847, of a slave mother, then the property of a Mr. Lapiche, and is now in his twenty-fifth year. His father, being a man of wealth and character, made the necessary arrangements when Mr. Lynch was yet a child, to have him and his mother set free, but by h
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WILLIAM WHIPPER.
WILLIAM WHIPPER.
The subject of this sketch is one of the deepest thinkers of which the black man can boast in our broad land. In early life, he was engaged in the lumber trade in Columbia, Pennsylvania, in which he secured a competency. Even while battling with the world for filthy lucre, Mr. Whipper gave much of his time to the advocacy of the freedom of the slave, and the elevation of the colored men of the North. In his business relations with the whites he always left a good impression of the negro’s capabi
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T. W. CARDOZO.
T. W. CARDOZO.
Mr. Cardozo is a native of Charleston, South Carolina; is a mulatto, with a slight preponderance of Anglo-Saxon blood. He is thirty-five years old, and therefore, is in the prime of life. He was born free, and had advantages of northern schools, and finished his education at the Newburg Collegiate Institute. From 1861 to 1866, he was a school-teacher. In 1868, he went to North Carolina as a pioneer in the cause of education among the freedmen, and to establish a normal school in the eighteenth c
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LOUISE DE MORTIE.
LOUISE DE MORTIE.
Although born free, in Norfolk, Virginia, Mrs. De Mortie’s education was limited. This, however, she strove to improve by studying when the time for her school days had passed. She came to Boston in 1853, we believe, and made it her home. In the autumn of 1862, Mrs. De Mortie began as a public reader in Boston, and her rare ability, eloquent rendering of the poets, pleasing manner, and good sense, gained for her a host of admiring friends, among whom were some of the leading men and women of the
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EBENEZER D. BASSETT.
EBENEZER D. BASSETT.
Mr. Bassett is a self-made man, and may safely be put forward as one of the best representatives of his race. Born at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1833, Mr. Bassett graduated, the foremost scholar of his class, at the Birmingham Academy, when quite young, and afterwards graduated at the Connecticut State Normal School, with high honor, in 1853. He immediately thereafter removed to New Haven, took charge of a public grammar school in that city, and eagerly availed himself of the facilities afforde
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WILLIAM HOWARD DAY.
WILLIAM HOWARD DAY.
As a student at Oberlin College, William Howard Day stood well, and graduated with honors. He resided some years at Cleveland, Ohio, where, for a time, he published a weekly newspaper, which rendered timely and efficient service to the cause of freedom, and the elevation of the colored people of that State. In 1856 or 1857, he visited England, where he was much admired for his scholarly attainments, and truly genuine eloquence. On his return home, Mr. Day became associate editor of the “Zion’s S
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HIRAM R. REVELS, D. D.
HIRAM R. REVELS, D. D.
Dr. Revels is a native of North Carolina, where, at Fayetteville, Cumberland County, he was born, a freeman, on the first of September, A. D., 1822. Passing his boyhood and youth, until about twenty-one years of age, in North Carolina, he went to northern Indiana, the laws of his native state forbidding colored schools. The parents of the lad had been permitted to prepare him somewhat for an education, and he had been studying, off and on, some years previous to leaving for the North. He passed
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ROBERT B. ELLIOTT.
ROBERT B. ELLIOTT.
Mr. Elliott has the honor of representing in Congress the South Carolina District, once filled by John C. Calhoun, the most distinguished man of the olden time from the Palmetto State. We have not been able to inform ourselves as to Mr. Elliott’s birth-place and educational advantages; but we understand, however, that he studied and adopted the law as a profession, in which he stands high. He commenced his political career at the South, and was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of
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J. MADISON BELL.
J. MADISON BELL.
The negro’s ability to master language, his vivid imagination, his great delight in rhetorical exercise, his inward enthusiasm, his seeming power to transport himself into the scene which he describes, or the emotion he has summoned, has long puzzled the brain of our deepest and most acute thinkers. The best test of true eloquence is the effect it produces upon the listener. The finest illustration of the self-made orator may be found in J. Madison Bell, whose poetic genius, classic mind, and hi
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J. MILTON TURNER.
J. MILTON TURNER.
The subject of this sketch was born a slave, and resided in Missouri. He received his education at Oberlin College, where he gained the reputation of possessing remarkable oratorical ability. Whether he graduated at that institution or not, we have been unable to learn. It is said, however, that he has a classical education, and is refined in his manners. In the last presidential election, Mr. Turner was the leader of the colored citizens in St. Louis, where it is asserted that he was the most e
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HENRY M. TURNER, D. D., LL. D.
HENRY M. TURNER, D. D., LL. D.
Of our many gifted, enthusiastic, and eloquent men, few have been more favored by nature than Henry M. Turner. A native of South Carolina, he seems to have the genius and fire of the Calhouns and McDuffies, without possessing a drop of their blood. Mr. Turner is a good-sized, fine-looking, brown-skinned man, of forty years of age, with a splendid voice, fluent in speech, pleasing in gestures, and powerful in his delivery. It is said that at the tender age of twelve, he had a dream in which he sa
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JOSEPH H. RAINEY.
JOSEPH H. RAINEY.
Mr. Rainey is a native of South Carolina, and was born at Georgetown. His parents purchased their freedom, and gave the son a good education, although it was against the law to do such an act. His father was a barber, and he followed that occupation at Charleston till 1862, when, having been forced to work on the fortifications of the Confederates, he escaped to the West Indies, where he remained until the close of the war, when he returned to his native town. He was elected a delegate to the St
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FANNY M. JACKSON.
FANNY M. JACKSON.
Miss Jackson was born, we believe, in the District of Columbia, about the year 1837, and was left an orphan while yet a child. She was brought up by her aunt, Mrs. Sarah Clark. She had but limited opportunities for education in Washington, in those days. In charge of Mrs. Orr, she removed to New Bedford when in her sixteenth year. After remaining here a while, she took up her residence in the family of Mayor Caldwell, at Newport, Rhode Island. It was at this time that Miss Jackson evinced those
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ALONZO J. RANSIER.
ALONZO J. RANSIER.
Mr. Ransier is, in every respect, a self-made man. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, and, although his parents were free, they had to contend with poverty on the one hand and slavery on the other, and the son’s opportunities for education were poor. It is said that he never had any regular schooling. Yet he so far advanced in a common business education that at the age of sixteen years he was engaged in shipping cotton, rice, and other produce for some of the leading commercial houses in Charl
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ISAIAH C. WEARS.
ISAIAH C. WEARS.
To be a good debater is one of the noblest gifts of God to a public speaker. There are thousands of men in and out of the pulpit, who can deliver sermons and addresses, original or selected, and do it in the most approved style of oratory, and yet cannot debate a simple question with a child. This may seem extravagant to those who have not been behind the curtain with public men. A proficient and reliable debater must have brains, a well-stored mind, with ability to draw upon the resources at wi
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JOSIAH T. WALLS.
JOSIAH T. WALLS.
Josiah T. Walls was born at Winchester, Virginia, December 30, 1842; received a common-school education; is a planter; was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1868; was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the State Legislature in 1868; after serving one year, was elected to the State Senate for four years in 1869, and was elected to the Forty-second Congress as a Republican, from the State of Florida. In stature, Mr. Walls is slim and thin; in complexion, a
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JOHN PATTERSON SAMPSON.
JOHN PATTERSON SAMPSON.
James D. Sampson, of North Carolina, the father of the subject of this notice, by his wealth and enterprise as a house carpenter, gave the Sampson family distinction in that State many years ago. They were free people, of Scottish and African lineage, who valued education highly, and boasted somewhat of their revolutionary ancestry. He educated his children at Northern schools, and (by special legislation) before the war, was allowed certain privileges for his family. It was a question, however,
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BENJAMIN S. TURNER.
BENJAMIN S. TURNER.
Mr. Turner is a man of large size, full chest, and broad shoulders, flat nose, curly hair, and has the appearance of having experienced plantation life. He was born in Halifax County, North Carolina, March 17, 1825; was raised as a slave, and received no early education, because the laws of that State made it criminal to educate slaves; removed to Alabama in 1830, and, by clandestine study, obtained a fair education; is now a dealer in general merchandise; was elected tax collector of Dallas Cou
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P. B. S. PINCHBACK.
P. B. S. PINCHBACK.
Struggling upward from the colored man’s starting-point in the South, and at last reaching a seat in the United States Senate, Mr. Pinchback has placed himself in the front rank of the race which his color represents. His position as Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Louisiana, at a time when true courage, manly vigor, great prudence, and good judgment were needed, showed him to be in possession of some of the best qualities of a statesman. The wily Warmoth found more than his match in his att
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JAMES LYNCH.
JAMES LYNCH.
Mr. Lynch was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, about the year 1840. His father, who followed a mercantile pursuit, was a freedman, and his mother had been a slave, but had her liberty purchased by her husband. While quite young, James was employed in caring for his father’s interests, and there are those living who remember him as a remarkably smart and fine appearing lad, driving the delivery team which hauled goods to his father’s patrons in the city. As soon as old enough, he was sent
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WILLIAM STILL.
WILLIAM STILL.
The subject of this sketch is a native of the State of New Jersey, and was born in Burlington County, on the 7th of October, 1821. He was brought up on a farm owned by his father and mother, Levin and Charity Still. The immediate neighborhood of his birth-place afforded but little advantage for the education of the poorer class of whites, much less for colored children, who had to meet the negro-hating prejudice of those times; yet William’s thirst for knowledge and love of books created in his
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PETER H. CLARK.
PETER H. CLARK.
As an acute thinker, an eloquent and splendid speaker, possessing rare intellectual gifts, fine education with large culture, a moral nature full of sympathy and benevolence for all mankind, Peter H. Clark justly stands in the foremost rank of the noted men of his race. Although not an old man, Mr. Clark has, for the past quarter of a century, taken a prominent part in all of the great conventions called to consider the condition, and the best means for the moral, social, and political elevation
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FRANCES ELLEN HARPER.
FRANCES ELLEN HARPER.
Mrs. Harper is a native of Maryland, and was born in Baltimore, in 1825, of free parents. What she was deprived of in her younger days in an educational point of view, she made up in after years, and is now considered one of the most scholarly and well-read women of the day. Her poetic genius was early developed, and some of her poems, together with a few prose articles, with the title of “Forest Leaves,” were published, and attracted considerable attention, even before she became known to the p
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WILLIAM F. BUTLER.
WILLIAM F. BUTLER.
Mr. Butler is a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and came to the States in 1853. Three years later, he was ordained by Rev. William H. Bishop, and began as a preacher of the Zion M. E. Church. He is now pastor of St. Mark’s Church, New York. For the past three or four years, Mr. Butler has taken an active part in the politics of the Empire State, and was sent as a delegate to the National Republican Convention that nominated General Grant for his second term, and in which assembly he exercised co
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T. MORRIS CHESTER.
T. MORRIS CHESTER.
Mr. Chester is a native of Pennsylvania, and is by profession, a lawyer. He spent some years in Liberia, returned home, and took an honorable part in the war of the Rebellion. He has travelled extensively in Europe, making a good impression wherever he appeared. In 1867, Hon. C. M. Clay, Minister to Russia, in a correspondence with the State Department at Washington, said of Mr. Chester’s visit to St. Petersburg:— “ Sir :—Captain T. Morris Chester, late of the United States Volunteer Army, being
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JOSEPH J. CLINTON, D. D.
JOSEPH J. CLINTON, D. D.
Joseph J. Clinton is a native of Philadelphia, born October 3, 1823, possesses a good, common-school education, studied at the Alleghany Institute, but did not graduate. He was apprenticed to Francis Chew, a hair-worker, and learned that trade. At the age of fifteen, he experienced religion, joined the Zion Methodist denomination, and became an ardent advocate of the cause of Christ. He began as a lay preacher, at the early age of seventeen. At eighteen, he went into business for himself in the
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BENJAMIN T. TANNER, D. D.
BENJAMIN T. TANNER, D. D.
Dr. Tanner is the editor of the “Christian Recorder,” the organ of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (Bethel). He is a mulatto of medium size, modest and genteel, social and pleasant in conversation, and has a classical education. Tanner’s “Apology for African Methodism,” is the ablest written work yet produced upon that subject. In it, he employs facts and statistics, but they have the varied beauty of the rainbow, and the golden glow of the sunlight, when viewed through the prism of his r
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SINGLETON T. JONES, D. D.
SINGLETON T. JONES, D. D.
Singleton T. Jones is a native of Pennsylvania, and is about fifty years of age. He is tall, and of a fine figure, pleasing countenance, bright eye, and unadulterated in race and color. He commenced travelling as a preacher of the Zion Methodist denomination in the year 1847, and was ordained a bishop in 1868. He is a man of surpassing power and eloquence. His sermons are brilliant with unmeasured poetry, and abound in wit, invective, glowing rhetoric, and logic. The bishop often surprises his a
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JERMIN W. LOGUEN.
JERMIN W. LOGUEN.
Born a slave at the South, and escaping to the free states some thirty years ago, Jermin W. Loguen passed through the fiery ordeal that awaited every fugitive lecturer or preacher in those days. He was among the earliest of those to take stock in the underground railroad, and most nobly did he do his work. For more than twenty years Bishop Loguen labored in season and out of season, in western New York, as an efficient conductor on the road, helping the fugitive on his way to Canada. As a lectur
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RUFUS L. PERRY.
RUFUS L. PERRY.
“The National Monitor” is a wide-awake journal, edited by Rufus L. Perry, a live man, in every sense of the term. As corresponding secretary of “The Consolidated American Educational Association,” Mr. Perry has been of great benefit to the cause of education at the South amongst the freedmen who so much need such efforts. His society is mainly engaged in sending into the field approved missionary preachers and teachers; organizing schools and missions on a self-sustaining basis, in the more inte
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LEONARD A. GRIMES.
LEONARD A. GRIMES.
A native of Loudon County, Virginia, born in Leesburg, in 1815, of free parents, Leonard A. Grimes was subjected to all the disabilities that his race had to endure in the South, except being a bound slave. While yet a boy, young Grimes went to Washington, where he was employed in a butcher’s shop, and afterwards in an apothecary’s establishment. He subsequently hired himself out to a slaveholder, whose confidence he soon gained. Accompanying his employer in some of his travels in the remote Sou
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JOHN SELLA MARTIN.
JOHN SELLA MARTIN.
John Sella Martin is a native of the State of North Carolina, and was born at Charlotte, in 1832. He was the slave of his master, who sold him while he was yet a child. Part of his life was passed in Georgia and Louisiana, from the latter of which States he escaped in 1856. Mr. Martin resided some time at Chicago, studied for the ministry at Detroit, and was first settled over a church at Buffalo. He came to Boston in 1859, and was introduced to the public at Tremont Temple, by Rev. Mr. Kalloch,
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“MOSES.”
“MOSES.”
For eight or ten years previous to the breaking out of the Rebellion, all who frequented anti-slavery conventions, lectures, picnics, and fairs, could not fail to have seen a black woman of medium size, upper front teeth gone, smiling countenance, attired in coarse, but neat apparel, with an old-fashioned reticule, or bag, suspended by her side, and who, on taking her seat, would at once drop off into a sound sleep. This woman was Harriet Tubman, better known as “Moses.” She first came to Boston
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MARY SHADD CAREY.
MARY SHADD CAREY.
Mary Ann Shadd Carey is a native of Delaware, and has resided for several years in Canada. She is tall and slim, with a fine head, which she carries in a peculiar manner. She has good features, intellectual countenance, bright, sharp eyes, that look right through you. She holds a legitimate place with the strong-minded women of the country. Mrs. Carey received a far better education than usually fell to the lot of the free colored people of her native State, and which she greatly improved. She e
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GEORGE L. RUFFIN.
GEORGE L. RUFFIN.
One of the most damaging influences that the institution of slavery had on the colored population of the country, was to instill in the mind of its victim the belief that he could never rise above the position of a servant. The highest aspiration of most colored men, thirty years ago, was to be a gentleman’s body servant, a steward of a steam-boat, head-waiter at a first-class hotel, a boss barber, or a boot-black with good patronage, and four or five boys under him to do the work. Even at this
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RICHARD T. GREENER.
RICHARD T. GREENER.
Richard T. Greener is a graduate of Harvard University, which, under ordinary circumstances, is considered a passport to future usefulness and preferment. Soon after leaving college, he was invited to become a teacher in the institute for colored youth, at Philadelphia. Here his labors were highly appreciated, and many regrets were manifested on his leaving to take charge of another institution of learning at Washington, where he now resides. Mr. Greener takes a deep interest in everything tendi
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LEWIS H. DOUGLASS.
LEWIS H. DOUGLASS.
The senior editor of the “New National Era” is the eldest son of Frederick Douglass, and inherits a large share of the father’s abilities. He was born in Massachusetts, has a liberal education, is a practical printer, received excellent training in the office of “The North Star,” at Rochester, New York, and is well calculated to conduct a newspaper. Mr. Douglass distinguished himself at the attack on Fort Wagner, where the lamented Colonel Robert G. Shaw fell. His being the first to ascend the d
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RICHARD H. CAIN.
RICHARD H. CAIN.
Mr. Cain is well known as a Methodist preacher of some note, having been a leading man in that denomination for many years. During the Rebellion he took up his residence in South Carolina, where his good judgment, industry, and executive ability gave him considerable influence with his race. In the Constitutional and Reconstruction Conventions Mr. Cain took an active part, and in the State Legislature, gave unmistakable evidence of a knowledge of state affairs. He has been called to fill several
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STEPHEN SMITH.
STEPHEN SMITH.
In no state in the Union have the colored people had greater obstacles thrown in the way of their moral, social, and political elevation, than in Pennsylvania. Surrounded by a population made up of the odd ends of all countries, the German element predominating, with a large sprinkling of poor whites from the Southern States, holding prejudice against the race, the blacks of Pennsylvania have had a hard struggle. Fortunately, however, for them, there were scattered over the State a few represent
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LEWIS HAYDEN.
LEWIS HAYDEN.
Thirty years ago, the underground railroad was in full operation, and many daring attempts were made by Northern men to aid slaves in their escape to a land of freedom. In some instances, both the fugitives and their friends were captured, taken back, tortured, and imprisoned. The death of the Rev. Charles T. Torrey, in the Maryland Penitentiary, for helping away a family of slaves; the branding of Jonathan Walker for the same offence; the capture of Captain Daniel Drayton for bringing off a num
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HENRY GARLAND MURRAY.
HENRY GARLAND MURRAY.
To be able to tell a story, and tell it well, is a gift, and not an acquirement; a gift that one may well be proud of. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch, left his sunny home in the Island of Jamaica, last autumn, and paid a flying visit to our country. We had heard of Mr. Murray as the able editor of the leading newspaper in Kingston, and, therefore, he was not an entire stranger to us. But his great powers as a lecturer, we were ignorant of. With a number of friends, we went one evenin
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SAMPSON DUNBAR TALBOT.
SAMPSON DUNBAR TALBOT.
Bishop Talbot is a native of Massachusetts, and was born in the town of Stoughton. He received a good, common-school education at West Bridgewater, went to the West, and studied theology, and began to preach, at the age of twenty-five years. Returning East, he preached in Boston for two years, where he made many friends. He was ordained a bishop of the A. M. E. Zion Church, about nine years ago, and now resides in Washington, D. C. Bishop Talbot is about fifty-five years of age, of common size a
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CHARLES BURLEIGH PURVIS, M. D.
CHARLES BURLEIGH PURVIS, M. D.
Dr. Purvis is a son of Robert Purvis, the well-known philanthropist, and co-worker with William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Lucretia Mott. When a boy, “Burleigh” often met us at the steamer or the cars, a number of miles away, took us to the homestead at Bybery, listened to our lecture in the “old hall,” and then returned us to the train or boat the next morning, and always did it cheerfully, and with a smile. The subject of our sketch was born in Philadelphia, in 1841, received a coll
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JOHN J. FREEMAN.
JOHN J. FREEMAN.
That spicy and spirited weekly, “The Progressive American,” is edited by the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. By his native genius, untiring industry, and scholarly attainments, he has created and kept alive a newspaper that is a welcome guest in New York, and the country around. As an editor, Mr. Freeman has been eminently successful, and his journal now ranks amongst the very best of our papers. His editorials exhibit more than ordinary tact and talent, and are always on the side of rig
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ELIJAH W. SMITH.
ELIJAH W. SMITH.
The subject of this sketch is a grandson of the late Rev. Thomas Paul, whose eloquence as a preacher is vividly remembered by Bostonians of forty years ago, as one of the most entertaining of divines. Born in Boston, Elijah W. Smith is well known as one of her most respected citizens. He is by trade a printer, which he learned in the office of “The Liberator,” with Wm. Lloyd Garrison, who always speaks of “Elijah” with the utmost respect. No one can read Mr. Smith’s poems without a regret that h
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