John Brown (fugitive Slave)
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John Brown (c. 1810 – 1876), also known by his slave name, "Fed," was born into
slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
on a
plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
in Southampton County, Virginia. He is known for his memoir published in London, England in 1855, '' Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England''. This
slave narrative The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved persons, particularly African diaspora, Africans enslaved in the Americas, though many other examples exist. Over six thousand such narra ...
, dictated to a helper who wrote it, recounted his life and later escape from slavery in Georgia. He lived in London from 1850 to the end of his life, marrying an English woman.


Life

Born in Southampton County, Virginia, to slave parents Joe and Nancy (called Nanny), Fed grew up with his twin siblings, Silas and Lucy. They lived on the plantation of Betty Moore, his mother's mistress. He later recalled seeing their father Joe only once, when he was allowed to see the family. His father was held by a planter named Benford in Northampton County. Fed's paternal grandfather had been "stolen" from Africa, and he was of the Eboe ( Igbo) tribe. After his father's master moved with Joe from the area, Fed's mother was forced to take another husband. He was known as Lamb and was held by a nearby planter and miller known as Collier. Nancy had three more children with him: Curtis, Iraene, and Cain. Fed and his family all lived in a two-room cabin, with the other room occupied by his mother's niece Annike and her children. According to the will of Moore's husband, when the last of their three daughters married, the "slave property" was to be divided equally among her and the three daughters. There were more than 100 slaves to be divided among the four. Having to leave much family behind, Fed, his mother and brother Curtis were assigned to the lot of the second daughter and her husband, James Davis, and forced to walk to their plantation at Northampton. When Fed was about ten, Davis sold him to a slave trader eager for slaves to take to Georgia, which was rapidly developing. He was sold for about $310 and separated forever from his mother. In
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, Fed was sold to planter Thomas Stevens, a man of Welsh descent, who had a cotton plantation and whiskey still near Milledgeville. He was the maternal grandfather of Mary Ann Harris Gay. She published two works in the late 19th century, a memoir about Atlanta during the Civil War and a novel about antebellum plantation life, set first in Mississippi. Fed worked under Stevens for more than 15 years, and described the man as "savage" in his treatment. He detailed Stevens' cruel treatment and regular physical abuse of him and other slaves over the years. After several attempts, Fed escaped, taking the name of John Brown. Brown made his way North, working in various places. He sailed to England in 1850, as the new Fugitive Slave Law passed in the United States increased enforcement against fugitive slaves even in free states. He did not want to be taken back into slavery. In
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, Brown worked as a carpenter. There he contacted the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society to tell his story. In 1855 he dictated a memoir to the society's secretary, Louis Alexis Chamerovzow. It was published in London as ''Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England''. Brown's is one of numerous
slave narrative The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved persons, particularly African diaspora, Africans enslaved in the Americas, though many other examples exist. Over six thousand such narra ...
s published before and after the Civil War. Brown married a local Englishwoman. He remained in London until his death, earning a living as a
herbalist Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...
. He died in London in 1876. In 2024 Dorset Museum had a display about Brown based on research carried out by Jordan Cole, a student from Bath Spa University. Brown had lived in Dorchester where the museum is located, between 1865 and 1870, and lectured on his experiences of slavery at the Corn Exchange near the museum.


See also

*
List of slaves Slavery is a social-economic system under which people are enslaved: deprived of personal freedom and forced to perform labor or services without compensation. These people are referred to as slaves, or as enslaved people. The following is a ...


Citations


Books

* Brown, John (1855), and Chamerovzow, Louis (ed.). ''Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England'', London: W.M. Watts. * * Brown, John (1855), and Chamerovzow, Louis (ed.).''Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England.'' Narrated in 1855 by John Brown to I. A. Chamerovzow. Preface by I. A. Chamerovzow. Published in 1972 by Beehive Press. Reprinted in 1991 by Beehive Press with a revised introduction by F. N. Boney. https://beehivefoundation.org/product/slave-life-in-georgia/


External links


''Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England''.
London: . M. Watts 1855. Full text online at University of North Carolina's website, Documenting the American South. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John 1810s births 1876 deaths African-American non-fiction writers 19th-century American slaves Black British former slaves British former slaves People from Virginia People enslaved in Georgia (U.S. state) Writers of slave narratives 19th-century African-American writers Fugitive American slaves People enslaved in Virginia