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The Rev. Noah Davis had a noble reason to sell his autobiography in 1859: he was trying to free two children from slavery.
In the previous 12 years, Davis had raised more than $4,000—enough to buy freedom for himself, his wife and five children.
His former owner, Fredericksburg merchant Robert Patten, allowed his slaves many privileges. Davis’ father owned livestock and could read, and his children were able to stay with their parents until they learned a trade.
That’s what brought Davis to Fredericksburg from his birthplace of Madison County in 1818. He was to be trained as a shoemaker.
Davis hated leaving his homeland but the “boy green from the country” was eager to see the big city, he wrote in his book. From everything he’d heard, he imagined Fredericksburg was “the greatest place in the world.”
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Sources: "A Different Story" by Ruth Coder Fitzgerald; HistoryPoint.org of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library; The Free Lance-Star archives; State of Michigan Web site; African Within; The Kennedy Center; We Were Always Free By T.O. Madden Jr.; The Richmond Times-Dispatch; Life Magazine; Westmoreland County, Virginia.
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by clicking on the names below. |
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• Gabriel Prosser, inspired by the Bible |
• John J. Wright devoted leader, reader |
• Urbane Bass, city doctor |
• Sadie Combs, first teacher at Snell
• Philip Wyatt,
• Palmer Hayden,
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• Venus Jones, First black graduate of MWC |
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petitioning for change |
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