{"id":29253,"date":"2018-02-16T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T16:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=29253"},"modified":"2019-03-06T09:52:28","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T14:52:28","slug":"slaves-lives-biographical-sketches-from-americas-newspapers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/slaves-lives-biographical-sketches-from-americas-newspapers.html","title":{"rendered":"Slaves\u2019 Lives: Biographical Sketches from America\u2019s Newspapers"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are fortunate that the pages of America\u2019s newspapers have recorded over 2 billion stories of Americans from the last three centuries. GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> contain these records from 1690 to today.<\/p>\n

Every day I sift through the stories of your ancestors and mine \u2013 preserving and passing down these stories so they are easily findable by the rising generation.<\/p>\n

For example, I have found hundreds and hundreds of contemporary biographical sketches of former slaves. Some give details of their lives and others give simply the facts of their lives in their obituaries.<\/p>\n

I want these stories to be told and retold \u2013 remembered by all of us and easily discoverable by descendants and kindred.<\/p>\n

Take a minute and read their stories.<\/p>\n

Cole, Henry (1810-1895)<\/strong>
\nOhio<\/p>\n

He was tossed into a fireplace and severely burned and disfigured.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Repository (Canton, Ohio), 23 July 1895, page 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to his obituary:<\/p>\n

\u201cNotwithstanding being so terribly crippled he, by his shrewdness and intelligence, succeeded in securing a comfortable fortune.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read his story in the Repository (Canton, Ohio), 23 July 1895, page 7.<\/p>\n

Garnett, Henry Highland, Rev., D.D. (1816-1882)<\/strong><\/a>
\nMaryland, New York<\/p>\n

He:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026was an African-American\u00a0abolitionist,\u00a0minister, educator and\u00a0orator. Having escaped with his family as a child from slavery in Maryland, he grew up in New York City. He was educated at the\u00a0African Free School\u00a0and other institutions, and became an advocate of militant abolitionism. He became a minister and based his drive for abolitionism in religion.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

–Wikipedia<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Henry Highland Garnet, Albumen silver print, c. 1881. Credit: James U. Stead; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Read his story in the Patriot (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 11 March 1882, page 1.<\/p>\n

Hayden, Harriet, Mrs. (1819-1893)<\/strong>
\nKentucky, Massachusetts<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrican-American abolitionists who had escaped from slavery in Kentucky; it is located in\u00a0Beacon Hill,\u00a0Boston. They maintained the home as a stop on the\u00a0Underground Railroad, and the Hayden\u2019s were visited by\u00a0Harriet Beecher Stowe\u00a0as research for her book,\u00a0Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin (1852). Lewis Hayden was an important leader in the African-American community of Boston; in addition, he lectured as an abolitionist and was a member of the\u00a0Boston Vigilance Committee, which resisted the\u00a0Fugitive Slave Act\u00a0of 1850.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

–National Park Service<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Lewis and Harriet Hayden House, former home of African American abolitionists in Boston, Massachusetts. Credit: National Park Service; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is said that John Brown (John Brown\u2019s raid of Harper Ferry) held a meeting at her home, which is listed on the Black Heritage Trail.<\/p>\n

Read her story in the Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 28 December 1893, page 3.<\/p>\n

Langston, John Mercer (1829-1897)<\/strong>
\nMissouri, Ohio, Virginia<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most prominent African Americans in the United States before and during the Civil War, John Mercer Langston was\u2026 one of the first African Americans to hold elective office in the United States (he became Brownhelm, Ohio, township clerk in 1855), Langston topped off his long political career by becoming the first black man to represent Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

–U.S. House of Representatives<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: John Mercer Langston, member of the United States House of Representatives. Credit: U.S. House of Representatives, courtesy of the Library of Congress.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Read his story in the New York Tribune (New York City, New York), 16 November 1897, page 8.<\/p>\n

Mathis, Nathan \u201cUncle\u201d (about 1822-1937)<\/strong>
\nMississippi<\/p>\n

Read his story in the State Times (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), 14 January 1937, page 17.<\/p>\n

\u201cUncle Jolly,\u201d \u201cOld Pirate\u201d (about 1797-1897)<\/strong>
\nLouisiana, Texas, West Indies<\/p>\n

He witnessed pirates trying to overthrow his master\u2019s ship.<\/p>\n

Read his story in the Bay City Daily Tribune (Bay City, Michigan), 3 April 1897, page 8.<\/p>\n

Parks, James \u201cUncle Jim\u201d (about 1843-1929)<\/strong><\/a>
\nVirginia, Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

According to his obituary, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026out of recognition of his service to the Government.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026was the slave of George Washington Parke Custis\u2026 He watched over Arlington\u2026 before the Civil War. [He] knew Gen. Robert E. Lee\u2026 [and] following the war, settled there\u2026 the remainder of his life. Five of his sons served with the American Forces during the World War.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: James Parks. Credit: National Park Service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Read his story in the Evening Star (Washington D.C.), 23 August 1929, page 9.<\/p>\n

Barr, Caroline \u201cMammy Callie\u201d (1840-1940)<\/strong>
\nMississippi<\/p>\n

According to the Wikipedia article about William Faulkner:<\/p>\n

\u201cHis family, particularly his mother Maud, his maternal grandmother Lelia Butler, and Caroline \u2018Callie\u2019 Barr (the black nanny who raised him from infancy) crucially influenced the development of [William] Faulkner\u2019s artistic imagination.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

–Wikipedia<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read her story from the State (Columbia, South Carolina), 5 February 1940, page 8.<\/p>\n

Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841-1898)<\/strong>
\nMississippi, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

He was a U.S. Senator from Mississippi, serving from 1875 to 1881. Very active in politics, he was elected to multiple positions:<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Bruce became the first African American to win any votes for national office at a major party\u2019s nominating convention, with eight votes for vice president.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

–Wikipedia<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Hon. Blanche Kelso Bruce of Mississippi, c. 1865-1880. Credit: Mathew Brady, Levin Corbin Handy; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Read his story in the New York Herald Tribune (New York City, New York), 18 March 1898, page 7.<\/p>\n

Carter, Fannie \u201cAunty\u201d (1830-1932)<\/strong>
\nTennessee, Texas<\/p>\n

\u201cFormer Slave, 102, Passes.\u201d Born in slavery in Murry County, Tennessee, and moved to Dallas, Texas, in 1845. After the dress she wanted to be buried in was stolen, Mrs. John Field, the daughter of her previous owner, Obadiah Knight, gave her a shroud which she \u201ctreasured above all other remaining possessions and which she kept constantly with her until death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read her story in the Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 16 October 1932, page 7.<\/p>\n

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