Jacob Stroyer (1849 - February 7, 1908) was an American former
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
who became a preacher in
. He is best known for his
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...
, ''My Life in the South''.
Biography
Stroyer was born on the
Kensington Plantation in
Eastover, South Carolina
Eastover is a town in Richland County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 813 at the 2010 census, down from 830 in 2000. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The J.A. Byrd Mercantile St ...
in 1849. In the first edition of ''My Life in the South'' (1879), Stroyer said he was born in 1846. But in the fourth edition (1898), he corrected his date of birth to 1849, and he also specified that he was thirteen years old in the summer of 1863 when he was assigned to a Confederate work detail on Sullivan's Island and fourteen years old when he was wounded at Ft. Sumter in the summer of 1864.
Stroyer's father, William, was born in
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
and was captured and brought to America as a youth. The younger Stroyer knew little about his father's family background, other than the names of his paternal grandparents. Stroyer's mother, Chloe, was born in South Carolina where her family had been enslaved for several generations. As a youth, he worked as a
hostler
A hostler or ostler is a groom or stableman, who is employed in a stable to take care of horses, usually at an inn. In the twentieth century the word came to be used in railroad industry for a type of train driver.
Etymology
The word is spelled ...
.
As a child, Stroyer taught himself to read. After the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...
, he attended schools in
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
and
Charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoun ...
. Stroyer moved to
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...
in 1870. He attended
Worcester Academy
Worcester Academy is a private school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the oldest educational institution founded in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, and one of the oldest day-boarding schools in the United States. A coeducational prepara ...
for two years. He was licensed as an
African Methodist Episcopal
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...
minister. In
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New ...
, he was ordained a deacon. He moved to
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
to preach.
He first published his autobiography, ''My Life in the South'', in 1879. This was revised three times, with the fourth edition published in 1898.
Jacob Stroyer died in
Salem Hospital in Salem on February 7, 1908, of
heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...
. His death certificate states that the information used to fill out the "statistical remarks" on the certificate was derived from "Book written by himself." He is buried in
Greenlawn Cemetery in Salem.
["Return of a Death, City of Salem, No. 93 for 1908; Massachusetts Deaths for 1908 83:286. Massachusetts Archives, Columbia Point, Boston, Massachusetts.]
References
Bibliography
* Doughton, Thomas L.; McCarthy, B. Eugene; ''From bondage to belonging: The Worcester slave narratives''. Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2007,
External links
*
*
*
Sketches of My Life in the South. Part I.Salem: Salem Press, 1879.
Salem: Salem Observer Book and Job Print, 1885.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroyer, Jacob
1849 births
1908 deaths
African-American writers
American male non-fiction writers
American biographers
Methodists from Massachusetts
American people of Sierra Leonean descent
19th-century American slaves
People from Eastover, South Carolina
Writers from South Carolina
Worcester Academy alumni