People, Locations, Episodes

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 […]

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 […]

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.

Thomas Peters; Canadian Soldier, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Thomas Peters is celebrated on this date in 1738. 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 slave, […]

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 […]

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.

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.

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 and […]