Emily Smith

William Wells Brown was an extraordinary man who survived years of slavery, managed to escape, to educate himself, to become a highly successful author, and to make a sincere impact on the world of his time. Due to his past experiences and the fervor he expressed regarding his causes his writing was respected and treasured by society.

In 1814 William Wells Brown was born to a slave mother and an unknown white male in Lexington Kentucky. William he and his seven siblings grew up as slaves owned by Dr. Young.

In 1827 Dr. Young presumably fell on hard times, and he sold away the Brown family except for William. William remained but was hired out to others to benefit Dr. Young. His worst owner was the vile tempered slave trader James Walters. William had to "care for" and look after the slaves that Mr. Walter’s possessed. This role he played in the system further opened William’s eyes to the atrocities of slavery that he had once witnessed and experienced in childhood (Levine 30).

In 1834, after an earlier failed attempt, William made a solo and successful escape from the shackles of slavery. He survived the ordeal due to the help of Wells Brown, a Quaker who assisted in William’s evasion of captors. As a mark of gratitude William adopted the name of Wells Brown and reclaimed William (his given name) as a symbol of his recently acquired freedom (Levine 31).

That same year he married a free black woman by the name of Elizabeth Schooner. Also in 1834 William began a job on a steamboat and for the next nine years helped transport fugitive slaves to their freedom in Canada. During these years William worked to self-educate himself in both reading and writing (Levine 31).

1843 was a pivotal and notable year for the career of William Wells Brown. At a public gathering he met Frederick Douglas for the first time. Douglas had a profound effect on William’s life. It was Douglas that inspired William to take part in the Anti-Slavery movement. Moreover in 1843 William achieved his first publication. He published a letter attacking Henry Highland Garnets (for advocating violence as a means to the end of slavery). William believed there were finer actions to achieve abolition. That same year William joined the lecture circuit for the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society. He was one of their most frequent and valuable speakers (Levine 33).

In 1847 after prior conflicts William and Elizabeth Schooner were separated. William gained custody of their two daughters. Additionally William published his first novel Narrative of the Life and Escape of William Wells Brown; it was very well received and admired in both the United States and Britain (Levine 34).

William continued his lecture circuit and published many more of his speeches. In 1849 he traveled to Europe to speak at the Peace Conference. It was upon arriving in Europe that William claimed to have first felt truly "free". He had been free of the literal constraints of slavery for fifteen years yet he stated that he never truly felt free until reaching Europe. In Europe there was not perfect harmony between the races but the balance of equality was much more predominant.

In 1850 in the United States the "Fugitive Slave Law" was passed, making it legal to hunt down a runaway slave in any state including "free states" and return them to their owner. Upon the passing of the law William’s owner (at the time of his escape in 1843) retracted his original offer of selling the deed for William. William had refused his prior offers of purchase based on his beliefs that he was already a free man and should be treated as so. However he was forced to remain in Europe or face possible seizure. He continued publishing while in London including works for the anti-slavery movement, travel books, and plays. He also published another novel, Clotel; or The Presidents Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the U.S. (Levine 35).

In 1854 despite his objection a friend purchased William’s freedom. For the next several years he lived in America and lectured and published works. In 1859 he published his memoirs, while continuing to work on the Anti-Slavery movement. The Emancipation Proclamation address in 1863 freed the remaining slaves, but William did not yet end his work (Levine 36).

William was an ardent advocate for the education of the newly emancipated slaves. He knew first hand the importance that an education. He strove to help other achieve this and worked tirelessly on this issue. In 1880 he published his final work a novel My Southern Home, Or the South and It’s People. He was then stricken with a bladder tumor and died in 1884 (Levine 40-43).

Informative links:

Works Consulted:

"William Wells Brown" Documenting the American South. University of North Carolina

"William Wells Brown c.1814-1884": 1999 Genealogy Forum African American Resource

Center. 21 Feb. 2002

"http://www.genealogy/forum.rootweb.com/gfaol/resource/AfricanAm/BrownW.htm"

Brown, William Wells. Clotel or the President’s Daughter & Narrative of the Life and

Escape of William Wells Brown. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2000

(Editor of Before Cultural Editions: Robert S. Levine).