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Five Black Lives
The Autobiographies of Venture Smith, James Mars, William Grimes, The Rev. G. W. Offley, and James L. Smith
Edited Arna Bontemps
Sales Date: 1987-06-01
248 Pages, 5.50 x 8.50 in
Five ex-slave narratives spanning 150 years in time, from 1729 to 1870, and a geographical area from Africa to Connecticut
"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
Introduction – Arna Bontemps
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! cpmpiled by H. M. Selden
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
"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. By limiting the collection to fugitive slaves who settled in Connecticut, the anthology has a unity not usually found in collections of fugitive slave narratives."
~Victor B. Howard, The New England Quarterly
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