Samuel Damian (also spelled Samuil Domien) was an 18th-century Romanian

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

priest from

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

who emigrated to North America. Damian's name first appears in 1748, when he placed an advertisement in the ''

South Carolina Gazette The ''South Carolina Gazette'' (1732–1775) was South Carolina's first successful newspaper. The paper began in 1732 under Thomas Whitmarsh in Charlestown (now Charleston), but within two years Whitmarsh died of yellow fever. In 1734 ano ...

'' announcing the

electrical demonstration Electrical demonstrations during the eighteenth century were performances by experimental philosophers before an audience to entertain with and teach about electricity. Such displays took place in British America as well across Europe. Their form v ...

s he planned to give, and inviting the public to attend. Letters written in 1753 and 1755 by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

attest to the fact that the two had met, and had carried on discussions in Latin concerning electricity. Before settling in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, Damian spent time in Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. After living for some years in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, he traveled to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, and after that his name disappears from historical records.Wertsman, Vladimir (1975). ''The Romanians in America, 1748–1974''. New York: Oceana Publications

References

People from Transylvania American people of Romanian descent Romanian Greek-Catholic priests {{EC-clergy-stub

See also

References