People, Locations, Episodes

Johns Hopkins, Abolitionist, and Philanthropist born

*Johns Hopkins was born on this date in 1795. He was a white-American 19th-century entrepreneur, investor, abolitionist, and philanthropist.  Johns Hopkins was one of eleven children born to Samuel Hopkins (1759–1814) of Crofton, Maryland, and Hannah Janney (1774–1864) of Loudoun County, Virginia. His home was Whitehall, a 500-acre (200-ha) tobacco plantation in Anne Arundel County. His first name was inherited from his grandfather, Johns Hopkins, who received […]

Stephen Smith, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Stephen Smith is celebrated on this date, c 1795.  He was a Black businessman and abolitionist.    Stephen Smith was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, to a slave woman. At five, he became the indentured servant to the Pennsylvanian businessman Thomas Boude. At age 21, Smith had gathered enough money to purchase his […]

James Barbadoes, Abolitionist born

*The birth of James Barbadoes in 1796 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black barber, abolitionist, and free man of color.

Gerrit Smith, Abolitionist born

*Gerrit Smith was born on this date in 1797. He was a White American abolitionist. From Utica, New York, in 1806 he came with his parents to Peterboro, New York, in Madison County.

Thomas Peters; Canadian Soldier, and Abolitionist born

*This date in 1738 is celebrated as the birth date of Thomas Peters. He was a Black abolitionist and soldier fighting for the British in the American Revolutionary War. He was born in West Africa to the Yoruba tribe, the Egba clan. In 1760, at twenty-two years old, he was captured by slave traders, sold as a […]

Jonathan Walker, Reformer, and Abolitionist born

*Jonathan Walker’s birth is celebrated on this date, c. 1799. He was a white-American reformer and abolitionist.  Jonathan Walker was born in Harwich, Massachusetts. During his youth, he learned to sail and became captain of a fishing vessel. In early 1837, he went to Florida and became a railroad contractor. The condition of the Black […]

Dred Scott, American Slave, and Abolitionist born

The birth of Dred Scott in 1799 is celebrated on this date.

He was a Black abolitionist whose zeal for Black equality and humanity led him to sue America for his freedom. His unsuccessful legal recording was in the famous lawsuit Dred Scott v. Sandford which bears his name.

John Brown, Abolitionist born

This date marks the birth of John Brown in 1800. He was white American abolitionist whose attempt to end slavery by force greatly increased anxiety between North and South in the period before the American Civil War.

Joseph Goodrich, Abolitionist born

*Joseph Goodrich was born on this date in 1800. He was a white-American pioneer, abolitionist, businessman, and politician. Born in Hancock, Massachusetts, Goodrich moved to Stephentown, New York, in 1812 to live with an uncle. There, he was involved with farming and was a member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church. In 1819, Goodrich moved to […]

Stephen Myers, Abolitionist born

*Stephen Myers’s birth is celebrated on this date, c. 1800.  He was a Black abolitionist and journalist. Stephen Myers was born a slave in Hoosick, New York.  He was supposedly released in 1818 by his owner, General Warren. However, Warren’s identity remains ambiguous; there are no records of Myers’ manumission in the Albany County records. […]

Freedmen, and Freedwomen in America, an article

*The term Freedmen or Freedwomen from 1800 is briefly described on this date. By definition, they are formerly enslaved persons who have been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed either by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners) or emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group). A fugitive slave is a person who escaped slavery.   During the Middle Passage […]

Abraham Shadd, Abolitionist born

*Abraham Schadd was born on this date in 1801. He was a Black Abolitionist, Businessman, and Community Organizer He was one of Delaware’s most significant Black leaders of the 19th century. Abraham Doras Schadd was born in Mill Creek Hundred and the father of 13 children. He earned a successful living as a shoemaker, a trade he learned from his father. He acquired property in Wilmington.

Samuel Sharpe, Abolitionist born

*This date in 1801 is celebrated as the birth date of Samuel Sharpe. Also known as Sam Sharpe, he was a Jamaican enslaved Black preacher and abolitionist. Samuel Sharpe was born into slavery in the parish of St James, Jamaica. He was raised on a plantation owned by Samuel and Jane Sharpe. The 1817 slave records […]

Hezekiah Grice, Abolitionist born

*This date, 1801, is celebrated as the birth date of Hezekiah Grice, a Black abolitionist, machinist, and businessman. Grice was born in rural Calvert County, Maryland. Despite Maryland’s status as a slave state, Grice received some formal education and became a machinist. Grice migrated to Baltimore, where he became a mathematician and inventor through formal […]

Dr. Nathan Thomas, Abolitionist born

*Nathan M. Thomas was born on this date in 1803. He was a white-American doctor and abolitionist.  He was born in Mount Pleasant, Jefferson Co., Ohio, the son of Jesse and Avis (Stanton) Thomas, both devout Quakers. He studied medicine with local practitioners and at the Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati. In June 1830, […]