Austin Steward (1793 – February 15, 1869) was an African-American
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
and author. He was born a slave in Virginia then moved at age 7 with the Helm household to New York State in 1800. The household settled in the town of
Bath, New York
Bath is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States, with an area of 96.3 square miles (249 km2) and a population of 11,426 in 2020. Its largest settlement is the Village of Bath, which has an area of 2.9 sq mi (7.5 km2) and a population ...
in 1803. He escaped slavery at about age 21, settling in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
, and then Canada. His autobiography, ''Twenty-Two Years a Slave'', was published in 1857.
Life
Austin Steward was born in
Prince William County, Virginia
Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...
, in 1793 to Robert and Susan Steward. He had a sister, Mary. They were enslaved by planter Capt. William Helm. Steward was seven years old when he was assigned his first duties as a house servant to Helm.
["Steward, Austin (1793-1869)"]
BlackPast.org. Steward taught himself to read in secrecy, but he was discovered and severely beaten.
Helm moved his family and the Stewards to New York in 1800. Although it was a free state, it had a gradual abolition approach and slavery was still permitted.
Rochester, N.Y.: William Alling, 1857; at Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina After continued abuse when hired out to a brutal taskmaster, Steward determined to escape, which he did in 1814 at about age 21.
Steward made his way to
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
. Initially he worked for Darius Comstock, president of the Manumission Society, and took classes to increase his education.
Before his escape, he had consulted about pursuing legal manumission but was discouraged that it would take too long. In 1817 he started what became a successful business in Rochester,
"Austin Steward, From Servitude to Authorship"
, African American Registry. opening his own meat market and general store. He gradually acquired considerable property. According to his autobiography, he gave a speech on July 5, 1827, the celebration of final emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
of slaves in New York, and gained press coverage of the event.
In 1831, Steward went to Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, devoting himself to aiding fugitive slaves. He was interested in a new settlement, the Wilberforce Colony
Wilberforce Colony was a colony established in the year 1829 by free African American citizens, north of present-day London, Ontario, Canada. It was an effort by American Blacks to create a place where they could live in political freedom.
When Am ...
(named in honor of William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
), located north of present-day London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
. The Colony had been founded in 1829 by African-Americans fleeing the Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
Black Codes
The Black Codes, sometimes called the Black Laws, were laws which governed the conduct of African Americans (free and freed blacks). In 1832, James Kent (jurist), James Kent wrote that "in most of the United States, there is a distinction in re ...
, as well as rioting in Cincinnati. Almost immediately upon his arrival, Steward was named president of the Colony's board of managers. Wilberforce Colony struggled, however, with internal divisions and financial difficulties, and he eventually returned, nearly destitute, to Rochester in 1837.
His memoir, ''Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman'', was published by William Alling in 1857. It is considered a slave narrative
The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved Africans, particularly in the Americas. Over six thousand such narratives are estimated to exist; about 150 narratives were published as ...
, detailing his early life of enslavement and escape, as well as his years of freedom and work at Wilberforce Colony. In the years before the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, such books sometimes became bestsellers in the North, and abolitionists drew from them in their arguments against the cruelties of slavery.
Steward died of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
on February 15, 1869, and was buried in Canandaigua
Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex ...
, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
References
External links
*
*
''Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman; Embracing a Correspondence of Several Years''
Rochester, N.Y.: William Alling, 1857; full text available online at ''Documenting the American South'', University of North Carolina.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steward, Austin
1793 births
1869 deaths
African-American abolitionists
African-American writers
19th-century American writers
18th-century American slaves
People from Prince William County, Virginia
Writers from Rochester, New York
People from Canandaigua, New York
Deaths from typhoid fever
Infectious disease deaths in New York (state)
Activists from Rochester, New York
Burials in New York (state)
People who wrote slave narratives