Jean-Baptiste-Point DuSable, a frontier trader, trapper and farmer is generally regarded as the first resident of what is now Chicago, Illinois. There is very little definite information on DuSable’s past. It is believed by some historians that he was born free around 1745 in St. … Read MoreJean-Baptiste-Point DuSable (1745-1818)
Zilpha Elaw was born in 1790 to free black parents in Pennsylvania. One of twenty-two children, she was raised in a strong Christian home until age twelve, when her mother unexpectedly passed away and young Zilpha was sent to live with Pierson and Rebecca Mitchell, … Read MoreZilpha Elaw (1790-1873)
In 1797 Abraham Johnstone, a former slave born in Delaware was convicted in Glocester County, New Jersey of murdering Thomas Read, another free African American and sentenced to be hanged. When the court asked for a statement from Johnstone after it announced his conviction, he … Read More(1797) Abraham Johnstone, “Address To The People Of Color”
Five years after his presentation at Charles Town, Prince Hall again addresses his fellow Masons. In an address delivered to the African Lodge at West Cambridge, Massachusetts on June 24, 1797, Hall challenges those Masons to work for the elimination of slavery and the establishment … Read More(1797) Prince Hall Speaks To The African Lodge, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Barbadian-born Prince Hall spent the first thirty-five years of his life enslaved. Twenty-one of those years he was owned by William Hall who brought him to Boston in 1765. Prince Hall was finally manumitted in 1770. He quickly became a leader of the small African … Read More(1792) Prince Hall, “A Charge Delivered to the Brethren of the African Lodge”
Salem Poor was a Patriot of the American Revolutionary War, credited primarily for his participation at the Battle of Breed’s Hill now popularly known as The Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. This battle is considered the first major conflict between Patriot forces … Read MoreSalem Poor (1747-1802)
Peter Salem was a Patriot of the American Revolutionary War who participated in the first major engagement of that conflict, the Battle of Breed’s Hill, erroneously called the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. Salem was already a veteran soldier, having spent two … Read MorePeter Salem (ca.1750 -1816)
Minister Jarena Lee was the first authorized female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church. Lee, whose family or maiden name is unknown, was born to a poor but free black family on February 11, 1783, in Cape May, New Jersey. In 1790 at … Read MoreJarena Lee (1783–185?)
Edward Rose, also known by the names Five Scalps, Nez Coupe and “Cut Nose,” was the son of a white trader father and a Cherokee and African American mother. Little else is known about his early life including where he was born. He may have … Read MoreEdward Rose (c. 1780- c. 1833)
