Uncle Abraham
African-Americans
Elder Dr. J. Richards:
“The last remaining one of the original six who organized the first Eldership of the Church of God in North America.”
The hand written description on the back of this card says that: “This is the man that gave this work to mother. He was coachman at Inn Waters, where mother worked in 1870. His name was John."
Reverend Elymas P. Rogers was born in 1815 in Madison, Conn. Despite his early poverty, Rogers is admitted to the Oneida Institute, in upstate New York, where he studies for the ministry. After graduating in 1841, he becomes principal in a black school in Trenton, NJ, before being ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1845. He is pastor of the Plane St. Church for some 15 years, preaching, supporting the African Civilization Society and writing poetry. He travels to Liberia in 1860, and dies there at Cape Palmas in 1861.
Freed Slaves of New Orleans (Continued)
William Scott, army veteran of the Civil War, living in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Photography Book
Another image of Elder Richards.
Professor William G. Allen
Old Fannie and the Lott Family Household
While still a slave, Old Fanny marries Uncle Abraham, and together they have at least one child, a daughter named Fannie Lew, owned by another Lott relative.
Old Fanny and her mistress, Aunt Lizzie, who reside in the Lott house in Brooklyn, New York. The state is slow to abandon slavery, and it is not until 1827 that blacks secure their freedom. At that time, many ex-slaves become maids or servants to their former masters – as does Old Fanny.
Professor William G. Allen is born in Virginia in 1820 to a free mulatto mother and a Welsh father. The abolitionist and philanthropist Gerrit Smith recognizes his intellectual talents early on and enrolls him at his Oneida Institute. After graduating in 1844, Allen edits National Watchman, clerks in a Boston law firm, then joins the faculty of New York Central College, teaching Greek and belles lettres.
But when Allen courts (and later marries) the daughter of a white professor, a mob threatens to tar and feather him. The couple eventually are forced to escape to England, never to return to America.