People, Locations, Episodes

David Ruggles, Abolitionist, and Writer born

*The birth of David Ruggles in 1810 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black abolitionist, protest leader and writer.

From Norwich, Connecticut, Ruggles moved to New York City at age 17, where he began working in a series of small businesses. Reasonably successful his primary work in life, however, was abolition of slavery. One of the most radical men of his times, Ruggles advocated self reliance, and felt that those “who would be free, themselves must strike the first blow.” He dedicated himself to helping anyone who wished to do this.

Jane DeVeaux, Teacher, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Jane A. DeVeaux is celebrated on this date in 1810. She was a Black mulatto teacher and abolitionist.  From Savanah, GA, she was the daughter of John Benjamin Deveaux (born into slavery) and Catherine Deveaux (a free woman from Antigua). Her father pastored the Third African Baptist Church in Savannah. She and her mother secretly taught […]

Archer Alexander, Laborer, and Sculptor Model born

*The birth of Archer Alexander is celebrated on this date in c. 1810. He was a former slave and laborer who served as the model for the emancipated slaves in the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C. He was the subject of an 1885 biography, The Story of Archer Alexander, written by William Greenleaf Eliot.  Archer Alexander was born a […]

Thomy Lafon, Philanthropist, and Abolitionist born

Thomy Lafon was born on this date in 1810. He was a Black businessman, abolitionist, and philanthropist.

Lafon was born a free person of color in New Orleans. His mother was Modest Foucher Lafon, a free woman of color born in Louisiana of a slave mother. His father was Pierre Laralde Lafon, a Frenchman who deserted the family when his son was still a boy. Pierre Lafon remained a bachelor sharing his home with his widowed sister, Alice Bodin. Young Lafon was self-educated and frugal with money from necessity.

Charles Sumner, Abolitionist in Politician born

Charles Sumner was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American politician and abolitionist.

Owen Lovejoy, Minister and Abolitionist born.

*Owen Lovejoy was born on this date in 1811. He was a White-American lawyer, Congregational minister, abolitionist, and politician. Born in Albion, Maine, Owen Lovejoy was one of five brothers born to Elizabeth (Patee) and Daniel Lovejoy, a Congregational minister and farmer. He worked with his family on the farm until he was 18, and his parents […]

The German Coast Uprising (Slave Revolt), a story

On this date in 1811, Black slaves rebelled against their white masters in Louisiana. Charles Deslondes and other slaves began the revolt on the plantation of Manual Andry.

Abby Foster, Abolitionist born

*Abby Foster was born on this date in 1811. She was a white American abolitionist and advocate of women’s rights.

Horace Greeley, Journalist, and Abolitionist born

*Horace Greeley was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American journalist and abolitionist.

From in Amherst, New Hampshire, he trained as a printer moving to New York City where he became a journalist. Greeley worked for the New Yorker and in 1841 established the New York Tribune, a newspaper he edited for over thirty years. Greeley took a strong moral tone in his newspaper and campaigned against alcohol, tobacco, gambling, prostitution and capital punishment. However, Greeley’s main concern was the abolition of slavery.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Writer, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1811 is marked on this date.

From Cincinnati, she is probably the most famous of the Beecher daughters. She was given the approved religious education of the time, but was troubled her entire life with doubt and preoccupied with the problem of faith. It was not until the age of thirteen that Harriet was sent to Hartford, Connecticut, to attend a school for girls. Her closest confidant was her brother Henry, and throughout their lives they united in speaking out against the evils of slavery.

Wendell Phillips, Abolitionist born

*Wendell Phillips was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American businessman and abolitionist.

Henry Wilson, Politician, and Abolitionist born

*Henry Wilson was born on February 16, 1812. He was a White American political leader and abolitionist.

From Farmington, N.H., his birth name was Jeremiah Jones Colbath, and was legally changed in 1833. As a young man he operated a shoe factory at Natick, Mass., and attended the Strafford, Wolfsboro, and Concord Academies and taught school in Natick, Mass. He was elected to the lower house of the Massachusetts legislature in 1840. Wilson was an opponent of slavery, which caused him to leave the WHIG party.

Martin R. Delany, Abolitionist, and Nationalist born

This date marks the day Martin Robinson Delany was born in 1812. He was an Black abolitionist, Black Nationalist, author, and soldier.

John Jasper, Spiritual Abolitionist born

John Jasper, a Black preacher, philosopher, and orator, was born on this date in 1812.

Jasper was born in Fluvanna County, VA, the youngest of 24 children. He became a Christian on July 4, 1839, in Capital Square of Richmond. He was baptized in 1849, and on the same day, preached a funeral service, which immediately brought him fame. He taught himself to read and write, and although he delivered his sermons in the dialect of the southern slave, more educated ministers said that Jasper’s vivid and dramatic sermons transcended “mere grammar.”

John Fremont, Politician, and Abolitionist born

*John Fremont was born on this date in 1813. He was a White American soldier, politician and abolitionist.

From Savannah, Georgia, educated at Charleston College, he taught mathematics before joining the Army Topographical Engineers Corps in 1838. Among other field services, in 1842 Fremont mapped most of the Oregon Trail and climbed the second highest peak in the Wind River Mountains, afterwards known as Fremont Peak. Fremont made many expeditions; in 1845 he explored the Great Basin and the Pacific coast.