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John B. Vashon

Name: John B. Vashon

Birthplace: Pittsburgh, PA

Occupation/Training: Barber, Protester, Writer of Petitions

Residence: PA



Abolitionist Involvement: Vashon was a veteran of the War of 1812, and owned his own barber shop in Pittsburgh. By 1832, He was one of a corps of Negro agents for several early antislavery journals. Part of his job was to solicit subscriptions. He drafted petitions and submitted them to the state legislature. During the early years of William Lloyd Garrison's paper, 'The Liberator,'Vashon was one of Garrison's biggest financial supporters and donated amounts of $50.00 ad $60.00 at a time. He also contributed to the New England Anti-Slavery Society to help sustain it.

He was a religious man. In 1850, Vashon was one of two thousand delegates at the Cincinnati Christian Anti-Slavery Convention, at which seventeen resolutions were adopted regarding the fact that slavery was opposed to the Gospels.





After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, many Pittsburgh Blacks left for Canada. When one fugitive was captured, Vashon purchased the man so that he could emancipate him.



Family: relative of George Vashon

References: Black Abolitionists, by Benjamin Quarles; Holy Warriors, by James Stewart; There is a River, by Vincent Harding.

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