William Wells Brown
c. 1814 -1884
Name: William Wells Brown
Birthplace: Lexington Kentucky
Status: Slave of John Young
Residence: Lexinton KY, St. Louis Missouri, Boston, Chelsea Mass.
Occupation/Training: Author, Reformer, Doctor
Abolitionist Involvement: While working as steamboat hand, he escaped from bondage, and headed to Canada. Was befriended by a Quaker, Wells Brown, from whom he took a new name. Settled in Ohio instead of Canada where he became a leader in the free community, and an active conductor on the Underground Railroad. In the year 1842, he assisted 69 slaves in gaining their freedom. He joined the American Anti-Slavery Society, and participated in the New York Anti-Slavery Society. He separated from his wife in 1847, and took custody of his two children. After speaking in front of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, he made New England his home till he died. He had the occasion to travel after moving to New England, attending the Peace Conference in Paris in 1849. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 he could not return to American till his freedom was purchased for him by friends in England. After returning to America and after the beginning of the Civil War, Brown worked closely with Frederick Douglass urging blacks to join the efforts of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry. After the war, Brown studied medicine, and practiced medicine in Boston. He died in Chelsea Massachusetts and was buried in Cambridge in 1884.
Family: Mother--Elizabeth a slave. Father-- George Higgins-first cousin of the slave owner John Young.
Place of Death: Chelsea, Massachusetts
Publications/References: Narrative of William W. Born, A Fugitive Slave, Written by Himself (1847) Three Years in Europe; Or Places I have Seen and People I have Met. (1852) The American Fugutive in Europe: Sketches of Places, and People Abroad (1855) Clotel; Or, the The preisdnet's Daugher: Anarrative of Slave Life in the United States (1853) Miralda; or, The Beautiful Quadroon: A Romance of American Salvery, Founded on Fact 1860-61; Clotelle: A Tale of the Southern States. 1864 The Esccape; Or, A leap for Freedom. 1858
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