George Fayerweather III (c. 1802– 13 November 1869) was an American blacksmith and activist for abolitionism. He was of mixed Narragansett and

African descent Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ...

from

South Kingstown South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, United States.

Early life and education

Fayerweather was born to George Fayerweather, a blacksmith who built the 1820 Fayerweather homestead, and a Narragansett woman who was the descendant of a

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Alg ...

. His father was descended from slaves freed after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Work

Like their father, Fayerweather and his brother Solomon took up blacksmithing as a skilled trade, as did several of their descendants. It was a key position in a 19th-century village. Fayerweather moved to

Canterbury, Connecticut Canterbury is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 5,045 at the 2020 census. History The area was settled by English colonists in the 1680s as ...

, where in 1833 he married Sarah Harris (1812–1878), a free black woman born in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

, to free parents. She was the first African-American girl admitted to Prudence Crandall's school in Canterbury. Several parents took their daughters out of the school, and it was closed under the notorious Connecticut Black Law of 1833. Fayerweather and his family moved to Kingston in 1855 to the Fayerweather homestead; he followed his father and brother Solomon as the village blacksmith.. Their residence became a center of anti-slavery activity in the community, and they entertained numerous famous abolitionists in their home. Fayerwether died on 13 November 1869 in Kingston, and was buried at Old Fernwood Cemetery.

External links

Guide to the Fayerweather Family Papers
University of Rhode Island

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fayerweather, George People from South Kingstown, Rhode Island 1800s births Year of birth uncertain 1869 deaths People from Washington County, Rhode Island Abolitionists from Rhode Island African-American abolitionists