William P. Newman

William P. Newman (1810/15–1866) was a fugitive slave who escaped from Virginia, moved north and obtained an education at Oberlin College. Becoming an ordained Baptist minister, he pastored for a few years at the Union Baptist Church of Cincinnati, Ohio. He made numerous mission trips to Canada, founding schools and preaching. He was known for writing on abolitionist themes. After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 passed, he settled his family in Ontario, where they remained until 1859. Leaving Canada, he first immigrated with his family to Haiti, but came into conflict with the Catholicism he found there. After trying to immigrate again to Jamaica, he returned to the United States after the outbreak of the Civil War and re-established his pastorate at the Union Baptist Church. He died in a cholera epidemic in 1866.

William P. Newman
Born1810/15
Richmond, Virginia
Died1866
Cincinnati, Ohio
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBaptist minister, abolitionist

Early life

William P. Newman was born as a slave in Williamsburg.[1][2][3] Virginia in the period between 1810 and 1815. He escaped and made his way north,[3] arriving at Oberlin College in 1839. From the beginning of his studies, Newman was active in the school, working on behalf of emancipation. He was one of the chosen speakers for the black students at Oberlin and published fiery essays in the black press in favor of the abolition of slavery. He was one of six delegates selected from Lorain County to attend the 1843 State Convention in Columbus and was elected chair of the business committee. He was also said to be one of the first black voters in the county.[4] In 1843, Newman left Oberlin[5] and the following year he married Nancy D. Brown, with whom he would have at least four children, the youngest of whom was Lucretia.[6][7][8]

Career

When he left school in 1843, without money to his name, he intended to establish schools in Canada West. By 1844, with the support of the Ladies Education Society of Ohio, he was lecturing in Canada raising funds for the society and scouting for teachers.[9] By 1848, he returned to Cincinnati to become pastor of the Union Baptist Church, succeeding Rev. Charles Satchell.[5][10] Newman remained in Cincinnati until the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, when he returned to Canada with his family.[3][11] The lived in Chatham, Kent County, Ontario and when Newman was not preaching and teaching, he operated a sawmill at Dawn.[12][11][1] Nancy may have died, as on August 15, 1859, Newman married Sarah Clegget, who became step-mother to his children.[2][13][Notes 1]

Later in 1859, Newman, with his wife and six children, left Canada went to Haiti in an attempt to find missionaries interested in working in Africa.[5][15] Clashing with the Catholic Church in Haiti, Newman moved on to Jamaica before returning to Cincinnati in 1863. In 1864 he served as a delegate to the National Black Convention in Syracuse, New York and by the end of the year, returned to his pastorate at Union Baptist.[12]

Death and legacy

Newman died in a cholera epidemic in 1866. The church erected a monument to his memory in their new cemetery and gave $1000 to his widow to establish a home near her relatives in Appleton, Wisconsin.[12][13]

Notes
  1. The records of the British American Institute Cemetery, of Dresden, in the Chatham-Kent Municipality, Ontario, Canada show a Nancy D. Newman, who died in 1859.[14]

References

Citations
  1. Canada Census & 1851-B.
  2. Kent County Marriage Register 1859.
  3. Jackson & Cooper 2014, p. 107.
  4. Cheek & Cheek 1996, p. 119.
  5. Taylor 1993, p. 63.
  6. Ohio Marriage Records 1844, p. 143.
  7. Penn 1891, p. 384.
  8. Iowa Marriage Records 1884.
  9. Cheek & Cheek 1996, pp. 119-120.
  10. Langston 1894, p. 62.
  11. Canada Census & 1851-A.
  12. Cheek & Cheek 1996, p. 120.
  13. Old Third Ward Neighborhood Association 2016, p. 2.
  14. Find A Grave 2009.
  15. Fisher 1933, p. 73.

Bibliography
  • Cheek, William F.; Cheek, Aimee Lee (1996). John Mercer Langston and the Fight for Black Freedom, 1829-65. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06591-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Fisher, Miles Mark (1933). A short history of the Baptist denomination. Nashville, Tennessee: Sunday School Publishing Board. OCLC 2002496.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Jackson, Eric R.; Cooper, Richard (2014). Cincinnati's Underground Railroad. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-4461-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Langston, John Mercer (1894). From the Virginia plantation to the national capitol; or, The first and only Negro representative in Congress from the Old Dominion. Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company. OCLC 252297072.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Penn, Irvine Garland (1891). The Afro-American press and its editors. Springfield, Massachusetts: Willey & Company. OCLC 503673564.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Taylor, Henry Louis (1993). Race and the City: Work, Community, and Protest in Cincinnati, 1820-1970. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-01986-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "1851 Canada Census, Chatham, Kent County, Canada West (Ontario)". FamilySearch. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada. 1851. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  • "1851 Canada Census, Chatham, Kent County, Canada West (Ontario)". FamilySearch. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada. 1851. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  • "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934". FamilySearch. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. July 3, 1884. GS Film #001014766. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  • "Kent County marriage register, 1858-1869". FamilySearch. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: The Archives of Ontario. 1859. Archives of Ontario film #MS 248, reel 8. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  • "Lucretia H. Newman Coleman" (PDF). Neighborhood News. Appleton, Wisconsin: Old Third Ward Neighborhood Association. Winter 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  • "Nancy D. Newman". Find A Grave. July 18, 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2017. Only photograph of tombstone being used as reference.
  • "Ohio, Hamilton County Marriages, 1789-2013". FamilySearch. Cincinnati, Ohio: Hamilton County Courthouse. August 7, 1844. FHL microfilm #344457. Retrieved 26 February 2017.

Additional Sources
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