People, Locations, Episodes

Robert Morris, Lawyer, and Abolitionist born

*Robert Morris was born on this date in 1823. He was a Lawyer, abolitionist, and one of the first Black attorneys in the United States.   Morris was born in Salem, Massachusetts. At the age of 15, Morris went to work as a household servant for the abolitionist lawyer Ellis Gray Loring. When Loring’s white copyist neglected his duties.  Impressed with Morris’s legal […]

Sylvanus B. Lowry, Slave Owner and Politician born.

*Sylvanus B. Lowry was born on this date in 1824. He was a white-American 19th-century political boss, slave owner, newspaper publisher, and pioneer. Born in Princeton, Kentucky, Lowry’s father was David Lowry, a Scottish-American Cumberland Presbyterian minister and missionary to the Winnebago people in northeast Iowa. In 1847, the Lowry family followed the Winnebago as […]

George Boyer Vashon, Lawyer and Abolitionist born.

*George Boyer Vashon was born on this date in 1824.  He was a Black educator, lawyer and abolitionist.

From Carlile, Pennsylvania, he was the son of John Baton Vashon, a mulatto, and Anne Vashon. George’s father, John Bathan Vashon, was a well respected leader in Pittsburgh’s Black community, a businessman, and an abolitionist.  Vashon’s father was also instrumental in establishing the first school for Blacks in Pittsburgh.  He attended his father’s private school until 1837, then a public school where he displayed an aptitude for languages.

Rufus Saxton, Union Army Officer born

*Rufus Saxton was born on this date in 1824. He was a white-American Union Army brigadier general.   Saxton was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. His father, Jonathan Ashley Saxton, was a Unitarian and a Transcendentalist. His father attempted to secure Rufus Saxton a place at Brook Farm in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, a transcendentalist community started by George Ripley and attended by Nathaniel […]

James Skivring Smith, Doctor, and Politician born

*James Skivring Smith was born on this date in 1825. He was a Black doctor and politician.

Benjamin S. Turner, Businessman, and Politician born

*This date remembers Benjamin Sterling Turner born in 1825. He was a Black businessman, politician, and the first Black member of the House of Representatives from Alabama.

Richard Cain, Politician born

This date recalls the birth of Richard Harvey Cain born in 1825. He was a Black political and civic leader of the Charleston, South Carolina reconstruction era.

Joseph Godfrey, Slave, and Dakota Ally born

*The birth of Joseph Godfrey is celebrated on this date in 1835. He was an enslaved Black man and a Dakota fighter. Joseph Godfrey was born into slavery in Mendota, Minnesota. He was the son of a French-Canadian voyageur named Joseph Godefroi and Courtney, an enslaved Black person brought from St. Louis, Missouri, to Fort Snelling by […]

The Haitian Indemnity Ocurrs

*On this date in 1825, Haiti signed the Ordinance of King Charles X. Often called the Haiti Indemnity, this was a controversial agreement between Haiti and France where France demanded an indemnity of 150 million francs from Haiti in claims over property, including Haitian slaves. 1791, France lost colonial control of the island through the […]

Orindatus Wall, Union Army Officer born

*Orindatus Wall was born on this date in 1825. He was a black lawyer, businessman and Union Army officer.

Uruguay Gains Independence From Spain

*On this date, in 1825, Uruguay gained independence from Spain. Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. Like many South American countries, the middle passage, race, and class issues motivated Uruguay’s quest for self-rule and independence. In 1811, José Gervasio Artigas, who became Uruguay’s national hero, launched a successful revolt […]

John Rock, Lawyer, and Abolitionist born

*John Rock was born on this date in 1825.  He was a Black lawyer, teacher, and abolitionist.  From Salem County, New Jersey, at an early age, John Stewart Rock had an insatiable appetite for learning. Although his parents were poor, they committed to sending young Rock to school.  At eighteen, Rock began to teach at […]

Alexander G. Clark, Iowa Lawyer born

*Alexander G. Clark was born on this date in 1826. He was a Black laborer, barber, lawyer and activist.

He was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, to John Clark, a former slave, and Rebecca Darnes Clark. At 13, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to learn barbering from an uncle, who also made sure the boy was well-schooled in other areas. Clark left Cincinnati in October 1841, working for a few months as a bartender on the steamboat George Washington before arriving, at 16, in Muscatine (then called Bloomington, in Iowa Territory). It was May 22, 1842.

Benjamin Grierson, Teacher, and Officer born

*Benjamin Grierson was born on this date in 1826.  He was a white-American teacher and career military officer. Benjamin Henry Grierson was born in the borough of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a section of Pittsburgh today. He was the youngest of five siblings. As a child, he was afraid of horses. In 1851, he became a music […]

Ignacio Zaragoza, Politician, and Soldier born

*Ignacio Zaragoza was born on this date in 1829. He was a Mexican government administrator, soldier, and abolitionist. He was born in the Mexican province of Texas, in the village of Bahía del Espiritu Santo, in Coahuila y Texas (now Goliad, Texas). He was the son of Miguel G. Zaragoza and María de Jesús Seguín. […]