John William Dunjee (also John Dungy or John Dungee) (1833 – April 19, 1903) was an American missionary, educator,

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister, publisher, agent of

Storer College Storer College was a historically Black college in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, that operated from 1867 to 1955. A national icon for Black Americans, in the town where the 'end of American slavery began', as Frederick Douglass famously put i ...

and founder of Baptist churches across the United States.

Early life and education

John William Dungy was born into enslavement in

New Kent County New Kent County is a county in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 22,945. Its county seat is New Kent. New Kent County is located east of the Greater Richmond Region ...

Charles City County Charles City County is a county located in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond and west of Jamestown. It is bounded on the south by the James River and on the east by the Chickahominy River. The a ...

, Virginia, in 1833 to the Ferrell family. His family asserted that President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected ...

was his father and Dungy's mother was a slave. John William's absentee owners, the Ferrell family heirs, hired him out to former Virginia governor

John Munford Gregory John Munford Gregory (July 8, 1804April 9, 1884) was a US political figure and Acting Governor of Virginia from 1842 to 1843. Biography Gregory was born in Virginia on July 8, 1804, and was a member of the Virginia state House of Delegates fr ...

, and while working for Gregory in the winter of 1859 inside the family's house, Dungy learned that the Ferrells were going to take him to Alabama shortly. He then decided to make his escape to freedom in Canada through the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

with the help of

William Still William Still (October 7, 1819 – July 14, 1902) was an African-American abolitionist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a conductor of the Underground Railroad and was responsible for aiding and assisting at least 649 slaves to freedom ...

(who later published an account of Dunjee's escape) and others, landing in the port of Philadelphia in February. Dungy arrived on the 15th of that month in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, where he stayed for several years, worked as a

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...

, and studied at night. He returned to the United States at the conclusion of the Civil War, revisiting Richmond. He then studied at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in Ohio, where he changed his name to "Dunjee" when he was informed about the "correct" spelling. William Still's daughter, Dr.

Caroline Still Anderson Caroline Still Anderson (November 1, 1848 – June 1 or 2, 1919) was an American physician, educator, and activist. She was a pioneering physician in the Philadelphia African-American community and one of the first Black women to become a physici ...

, also studied at Oberlin during this period. Dunjee left Oberlin to seek cheaper tuition and better educational opportunities in Maine. From 1866 to 1868 John Dungy studied at

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

(also known as the Maine State Seminary) in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ) is the List of municipalities in Maine, second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, Augusta, the sta ...

, where he lived in Parker Hall with other former slaves, Alexander Sanders and Hamilton Keyes (later a student and incorporator of Storer College and member of the Storer Singers in 1873). Due to the connection of Bates and the Freewill Baptists with founding

in West Virginia, Dungy moved to West Virginia to pursue missionary work and recruitment efforts through Storer.

Career

John Dunjee Dungy former slave Storer College employee and student at Oberlin College and Bates College

Dunjee also played a particularly prominent role in supporting

as an agent for the school, a Freewill Baptist College for African Americans in

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac River, Potomac and Shenandoah River, Shenandoah Rivers in the ...

, the abolitionist, who helped facilitate Dunjee's escape from slavery, also served as a trustee of Storer. After his work at Storer, Dunjee next became a minister with the

Baptist Home Missionary Society The American Baptist Home Mission Society is a Christian missionary society. Its main predecessor the Home Mission Society was established in New York City in 1832 to operate in the American frontier, with the stated mission "to preach the Gospe ...

. He traveled throughout the country from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

the South The United Kingdom has a well developed and extensive network of roads totalling about . Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour (mph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) symbol ...

to the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

preaching and starting new Baptist churches for African Americans in mainly rural areas. Dunjee was also an involved supporter of many other African-American educational institutions, such as

Spelman College Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...

, Shaw College, Hampton College, and

Langston University Langston University (LU) is a public land-grant historically black university in Langston, Oklahoma. It is the only historically black college in the state and the westernmost four-year public HBCU in the United States. The main campus in Lan ...

. His friends included such well-known figures as

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

. Additionally, Dunjee founded the ''Harper's Ferry Messenger'' in 1882 and served as business manager. His children Drusilla Dunjee Houston, a historian, and

Roscoe Dunjee Roscoe Dunjee (1883–1965) was an American civil rights activist, journalist, and editor in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He founded '' The Black Dispatch'' in 1915, the first black newspaper in Oklahoma City, and used it as a platform to support civ ...

later contributed to the ''Messenger'' and were editors of the ''Black Dispatch'' in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Personal life

While in Canada, Dunjee married Lydia Ann Taylor. Together, they had 2 children. * Drusilla Dunjee Houston (February 20, 1876 – February 8, 1941), who became a writer. *

(June 21, 1883 – March 1, 1965), who became a civil rights activist and journalist.

References

*Timothy Larson
''Faith by Their Works''
Bates College Thesis, Chapter 2 (2005).

External links

*" ttps://www.sunjournal.com/2020/07/04/how-john-dunjee-escaped-slavery-and-came-to-bates-college-in-1866/ How John Dunjee escaped slavery and came to Bates College in 1866 - Steve Collins, Sun Journal
"Arrival from Richmond - John William Dungy"
"Still's Underground Rail Road Records. With a Life of the Author" by William Still, pp. 541–47 (published in 1886).
"Storer College Postcard(photos)"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunjee, John 1833 births 1903 deaths 19th-century American slaves Bates College alumni Oberlin College alumni African-American writers Barbers American hairdressers Activists for African-American civil rights Baptists from Virginia Writers from Virginia People from Charles City County, Virginia People from New Kent County, Virginia 19th-century American writers 19th-century Baptists People enslaved in Virginia

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links