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List of last survivors of American slavery

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This article attempts to list the last surviving slaves in the United States who were born into legalized slavery or enslaved prior to the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which abolished slavery on December 5, 1865. Some birth dates are difficult to verify due to lack of birth documentation of many enslaved individuals.

List of last surviving slaves

Name Image Birth Death Notes and References
Peter Mills October 26, 1861 September 22, 1972 Born in Prince George's County, Maryland, and died after a pedestrian accident in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1]
Sylvester Magee May 29, 1841 October 15, 1971 Unverified and purportedly died at 130 years old in Columbia, Mississippi.[2][3]
William Casby January 19, 1857[4] August 17, 1970[5] Photographed on March 24, 1963 by Richard Avedon in Algiers, Louisiana with multiple generations of his family.[6][7][8]
Mary Hardway Walker 1848 1969 Purportedly lived to at least 120 years old; she had a child who died in his 90s, according to the family Bible on ancestry.com. She moved from Union Springs, Alabama to Chattanooga, Tennessee where a newspaper article was published about her learning to read in 1966 at age 116.[9]
Josephus pre-1865 after August 28, 1963 listed in a bulletin for Martin Luther King's 1963 March on Washington as supposedly the last surviving American slave.[10]
Alfred "Teen" Blackburn April 26, 1842 March 8, 1951 One of the last surviving American slaves who remembered slavery, and one of the last Confederate pensioners; resided in North Carolina.[11]
Eliza Moore 1843 January 21, 1948 One of the last verified surviving American slaves; Resided in North Carolina.[12]
William Andrew Johnson 1859 1943 Last surviving slave of a U.S. President (Andrew Johnson); visited Franklin Roosevelt at the White House in 1937.[13][14]
Harriet Wilson Whitely March 15, 1855 April 26, 1941 The last living former slave in Fairmont, West Virginia[15]
Matilda McCrear 1857 January 1940 The last known survivor of the Clotilda in 1859–1860, the last trans-Atlantic slave ship to arrive in America from Africa[16]
Redoshi 1848 1937 The next to last known survivor of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive in America[17]
Cudjoe Lewis 1841 July 17, 1935 One of the last survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive in America[18]
Perry Lockwood ca. 1844 1929 allegedly one of the last living former slaves in lower Delaware, died at age 87[19]
Reuben Freeman c. 1835 c. 1915 One of the last slaves in Somerset County, New Jersey; lived in Somerville; was enslaved to William Annin of Liberty Corner[20] Likely other later survivors because final slaves were not emancipated until 1865 in New Jersey.
David Hendrickson 1799 1900 allegedly the last living former slave sold "on the block" in New Jersey[21] Likely other later survivors because final slaves were not emancipated until 1865 in New Jersey.
Louise Tritton ca. 1780 1891 one of the last living former slaves in Connecticut, and oldest person in New Haven[22]
Adjua D'Wolf 1794 1868 Possibly the last surviving enslaved person in Rhode Island. Adjua was brought from Africa to Bristol in 1803 and enslaved to the D'Wolf family, a family of slave traders,[23] after new enslavement was made illegal in Rhode Island.[24] and her death in 1868 was noted in several newspapers around the country, including in the South.[25] James Howland (1758-1859) was also one of Rhode Island's last legal former slaves, and was enslaved until 1842[26][27] D'Wolf and Howland are likely not the last slaves, due to RI's gradual emancipation with several legally enslaved people still listed in the 1840 census, and likely enslaved until the 1843 RI Constitution banned all slavery.
Hannah Kelley ca. 1760 January 15, 1864 died at 103 years old in Cross Creek, Pennsylvania as possibly the last living former slave in Pennsylvania, formerly owned by John Gardner of Jefferson.[28] (unlikely to be the last slave in the state since gradual emancipation for all didn't occur until 1847)
Margaret Pint 1778 1857 purportedly the last living former slave in New York; She was born into slavery in Westchester County.[29] Likely not the last living former slave, because final emancipation in New York did not occur until July 5, 1827.
Venus Rowe ca. 1754 1844 purportedly one of the last living former slaves in Massachusetts, resided in Burlington, Massachusetts[30]

Discredited

Name Image Birth Death Notes and References
Charlie Smith (centenarian) 1842 (claimed) or 1874 or 1879 October 5, 1979 allegedly born in Liberia or United States of America, claimed to be the last Civil War veteran and enslaved person, among other false claims. Discredited and died in Florida in 1979.[31]
Mary Duckworth 1861 (claimed), likely between 1874 and 1880 April 20, 1983 allegedly born into slavery, but discredited due to census and social security records reporting other later birth dates[32][33]

See also

References

  1. ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 23 Sep 1972, Sat., p. 5
  2. ^ Gerontology Research Group: Oldest American Claimants
  3. ^ "Professor Seeks to Solve the Mystery of the Man Who Claimed to Be the Last Surviving Slave". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2020-03-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ The Monroe News-Star (Monroe, Louisiana), 21 Jan 1963, p. 13, accessed on newspapers.com
  5. ^ https://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3554&context=td p. 11 citing: Allyson Neal, Algiers: The Untold Story, the African American Experience, 451.
  6. ^ Phillip Gefter, "Why Richard Avedon's Work Has Never Been More Relevant" New York Times Nov 13, 2017
  7. ^ Hilton Als, "Richard Avedon and James Baldwin’s Joint Examination of American Identity," November 6, 2017 www.newyorker.com
  8. ^ 0bituary information acccessed on familysearch.com
  9. ^ http://thinkerumgatherum.blogspot.com/2009/07/americas-oldest-surviving-slave.html
  10. ^ We Shall Overcome: A Collection of Graphic Collages Created As a Memento for Those Who Participated in the Historic March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs (1963) Loose Leaf – Special Limited Edition, January 1, 1963 https://arcade.nyarc.org/record=b1379398~S2
  11. ^ W.E. Rutledge Jr., An Illustrated History of Yadkin County, 1850-1980, 1981, pp. 21-22
  12. ^ USGenWeb Archives Obituary], The Advertiser (Montgomery ALA)
  13. ^ "A president's gift: Rare cane given to former slave by FDR is rediscovered" http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/a-presidents-gift-rare-cane-given-to-former-slave-by-fdr-is-rediscovered-ep-360278450-356781121.html/
  14. ^ Jesse Holland, The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House, p. 188
  15. ^ column by Ned Smith in a 1941 Fairmont Times http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/Spring16/LastLivingSlave.html
  16. ^ Coughlan, Sean (2020-03-25). "Last survivor of transatlantic slave trade discovered". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  17. ^ Coughlan, Sean (2020-03-25). "Last survivor of transatlantic slave trade discovered". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  18. ^ Diouf, Sylviane A. (October 20, 2009). "Cudjo Lewis". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  19. ^ The Evening Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), 25 Sep 1929, Wed, Page 19, accessible on newspapers.com
  20. ^ "Whites and Indians Were Among Slaves,"Echoes-Sentinel (Warren Township, New Jersey) 01 Jul 1976, Thu, pg. 56
  21. ^ "Centenarian Buried," The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 05 May 1900, Sat, Page 4
  22. ^ "New Haven's Last Slave," Reading Times (Reading, Pennsylvania) 20 May 1891, Wed Page 2 i
  23. ^ African American Historic Burial Grounds and Gravesites of New England, By Glenn A. Knoblock, p. 189
  24. ^ http://slavenorth.com/rhodeisland.htm
  25. ^ Yorkville Enquirer (York, South Carolina), 21 May 1868, Thu, Page 2, accessible on newspapers.com
  26. ^ "Death certificate for James Howland, died January 3, 1859, (age 100), son of Great Peter and Sylvia; parentage listed as Africans...There is a note on the front of the document which reads: "The last slave of Rhode Island freed under the act of 1792." https://jamestown.pastperfectonline.com/archive/58A257FC-BD0D-4F39-B699-459941943140
  27. ^ Christy Mikel Clark-Pujara, Slavery, Emancipation and Black Freedom in Rhode Island, 1652-1842(University of Iowa 2009) , p. 93 https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4956&context=etd
  28. ^ "The Last Pennsylvania Slave " Brookville Republican Brookville, Pennsylvania 24 Feb 1864, Wed • Page 1 accessible on newspapers.com
  29. ^ "New York’s Last Slave" By Jeff Richman on June 22nd, 2015 in Green-Wood Historian Blog https://www.green-wood.com/2015/new-yorks-last-slave/
  30. ^ https://burlingtonretro.com/slavery-did-exist-in-early-burlington/
  31. ^ Young, Robert (2003-02-17). "Reply from Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, Georgia". Gerontology Research Group. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
  32. ^ https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/04/20/Mary-Duckworth-whose-family-said-she-was-born-into/3269419662800/
  33. ^ Paul Cartledge, Spartan Reflections (2003), p. 132
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