People, Locations, Episodes

Charles Deslondes, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Charles Deslondes is celebrated on this date, c. 1789.  He was a Black abolitionist.  Charles Deslondes was born on the Louisiana plantation of Jacques Deslondes.  Plantation succession records have Charles described as being a “Creole Mulatto slave” by the name of Charles, “about 16 years old”, and listed as a “field laborer.” Contrary to […]

John Mason Peck, Missionary, and Abolitionist born

*John Mason Peck was born on this date in 1789. He was a white-American Baptist abolitionist, teacher, and missionary. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, to a farming family, Peck received little formal education but, in 1807, began to teach school. He was converted to Christianity at a revival at his Congregational Church. On May 8, 1809, […]

Pedro Camejo, Soldier born

*Pedro Camejo was born on this date in 1790. Also known as Negro Primero (“The First Black”), he was an Afro Venezuelan soldier and abolitionist. Pedro Camejo was born a slave of a Spanish royalist, Vincente Alonzo, in San Juan de Payara. He gained his freedom in 1816 after enlisting in the military to fight in […]

The International Day of “Remembrance of the Slave Trade” is Observed

On this date, the world recognizes International Day for the Remembrance and Abolition of the Slave Trade.

The International Day fis celebrated on August 23 every year.

The nights of August 22 and 23, 1791, in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) saw the beginning of an uprising that would play an essential role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

Thaddeus Stevens, Politician, and Abolitionist born

*Thaddeus Stevens was born on this date in 1792. He was a White American abolitionist. Stevens was born in Danville, Vermont.

John Bathan Vashon, Seaman, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of John Bathan Vashon in 1792 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black seaman, businessman and abolitionist.

Charles Grandison Finney, Minister born

*Charles Grandison Finney was born on this date in 1792. He was a white-American Presbyterian minister and abolitionist.   Born in Warren, Connecticut, Finney was the youngest of nine children. Finney, the son of farmers who moved to the upstate frontier of Jefferson County, New York, never attended college after the American Revolutionary War. His leadership abilities, musical skills, six-foot-three-inch […]

James N. Glover, Abolitionist and Soldier born.

*James Nettle Glover was born on this date in 1793.  He was a Black abolitionist and soldier. Born into slavery on a plantation in Port Tobacco, Maryland, he was one of three known War of 1812 veterans buried in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery. He was the grandson of John Glover, one of four Black siblings […]

Thomas Dalton, Abolitionist and Education Advocate, born

*Thomas Dalton was born on this date in 1794. He was a free Black abolitionist and education advocate. Thomas Dalton was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. His father was Thomas Dalton. Thomas Dalton married Patience Young in 1818. She died in 1832. In his second marriage, Dalton married Lucy Lew Francis in 1834. Dalton worked as […]

David Walker, Abolitionist born

One this date, the Registry remembers the birth of David Walker in 1785. He was a Black abolitionist and publisher.

Sojourner Truth, Abolitionist, and Women’s Rights Advocate born

On this date we recall the birth of Sojourner Truth in 1797. She was a Black abolitionist and advocate of women’s rights.

She was born into slavery in Hurley, Ulster County, New York, and was originally named Isabella. She arrived in New York City in 1829, a year after New York state emancipated slaves.

Levi Coffin, Underground Railroad Ambassador born

This date marks the birth of Levi Coffin in 1798. He was a White American abolitionist and unoffical president of the Underground Railroad.

Levi Coffin, from New Garden, N.C., was the only son among seven children. The young Levi received the bulk of his education at home, which proved to be good enough for Coffin to find work as a teacher for several years. In 1821, with his cousin Vestal, Levi Coffin ran a Sunday school for Blacks. Alarmed slave owners, however, soon forced the school to close.

Nathaniel Jackson, Abolitionist, and Rancher born

*Nathaniel Jackson’s birth is celebrated on this date, c. 1798. He was a white-American rancher and abolitionist. He was born in Georgia; his exact birth date is unknown. The date 1798 was used in two censuses, so it is the best guess based on the documentation.  He was the son of Joseph Jackson of Alabama […]

Nancy Prince, Abolitionist, and Writer born

*Nancy Prince was born on this date in 1799.  She was a Black abolitionist and writer.   Nancy Gardner Prince was born free in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  Her father, Thomas Gardner, was a wailer.  Little is known about Prince’s family life. Her father, a seaman, died when she was an infant, leaving her in the care of […]

John Russwurm, Pan-Africanist born

On this date in 1799, John Russwurm was born. He was an Black abolitionist and Liberian government official.

Born in Jamaica, John Brown Russwurm was the son of an unknown slave mother and a white merchant. At the age of eight, John Brown (as he was known) was sent to Quebec for formal schooling. In 1812, his father married Susan Blanchard who insisted John acknowledge his parentage name.
His father then brought young John to Portland, ME. He attended Hebron Academy and Bowdoin College, where he was one of the first Black university graduates in 1826.