Five Black Lives

by Bontemps, Arna (CON)

• ISBN13: 9780819561909
• ISBN10: 0819561908
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1987-06-01
• Publisher: Wesleyan College Press

Summary

"Five Black Lives is a collection of ex-slave narratives which spans 150 years in time, from 1729 to 1870, and some thousands of miles in geographical area from Africa to Connecticut. The autobiographies include the lives of Venture Smith, a native of Africa who ended his days as a resident of East Haddam, Connecticut; James Mars, born a slave near Norfolk, Connecticut in 1790, and freed at twenty-five by state law; William Grimes, a native of Virginia, who became Connecticut's first known runway when he arrived in New Haven about 1808; G.W. Offley, from Maryland, who was bought free by his father and later settled in Hartford; and James L. Smith, of Virginia birth, who escaped from slavery and settled in Norwich, Connecticut."--Victor B. Howard, The New England Quarterly

Table of Contents

Introduction

A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture . . . Related by Himself

Preface

Containing an Account of his Life, from his Birth to the Time of his Leaving his Native Country

Containing an Account of his Life from the Time of his Leaving Africa to That of his Becoming Free

Containing an Account of his Life from the Time of Purchasing his Freedom to the Present Day

Traditions of Venture!

Life of James Mars . . . Written by Himself

Introduction

A Slave Born and Sold in Connecticut

Appendix

Life of William Grimes . . . Written by Himself

To the Public

Life of William Grimes

Conclusion

A Narrative of the Life and Labors of the Rev. G. W. Offley

Autobiography of James L. Smith

Preface

Birth and Childhood

Youth and Early Manhood

Life in Heathsville

Escape from Slavery

Life in Freedom

Life in Norwich, Conn.

The War of the Rebellion

After the War

Conclusion

Colored Men During the War

Recollections of the War

The Exodus

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