Jehudi Ashmun (April 21, 1794 – August 25, 1828) was an American religious leader and social reformer from New England who became involved in the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

. It founded the colony of

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

in West Africa as a place to resettle free people of color from the United States. Ashmun emigrated to

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...

, Liberia in 1822, where he served as the United States government's agent (de facto governor) for two different terms: one from August 1822 until April 1824, and another from August 1824 until March 1828. Suffering ill health, he returned to the United States and died later that year.

Early life and education

Born in Champlain, New York, in 1794, Ashmun first studied at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

in Vermont. During his senior year, he studied at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

. After graduation, he was ordained in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

as a minister.

Marriage and family

Ashmun married in 1818 and his wife accompanied him to Bangor,

, where he took his first position.

Career

Ashmun was appointed as the first principal, and one of the first two professors, of the Bangor Theological Seminary in Bangor,

. He retained this professorship until 1827, despite leaving the country for a few years while living and working in the new colony of

.Frederick Freeman, ''A Plea for Africa'' (1837), p. 226''American Quarterly Register'' (1842), pp. 29–30 Drawn by other opportunities, Ashmun returned to the United States, settling in Washington, DC, where he worked as the editor of an Episcopalian monthly. Interested in the work of the

(ACS), he founded the newspaper ''The African Intelligencer'' and wrote about their mission. His articles about the ACS, which was committed to "repatriating" free blacks to a newly founded colony in West Africa, led to Ashmun's political appointment as representative of the U.S. government to the colony. While the project was privately funded, it was chartered by Congress. At the age of 26, Ashmun was the leader in 1822 of a group of settlers and missionaries to Liberia on the ship ''Elizabeth''. His wife went with him but was among the many settlers who died of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and other tropical diseases in the new settlement. As United States representative to Liberia as well as agent of the ACS, Ashmun effectively served as governor of the colony for two periods of time, from 1822 to 1828, from ages 28 to 34. He took a leadership role in what he found to be a demoralized colony. He helped build the defenses of

against attacks by indigenous tribes, as well as against slave raiders. He also worked to develop the colony's trade with the US, Great Britain, and Europe. During his tenure in Liberia, Ashmun increased agricultural production, annexed more lands from neighboring tribes, and exploited commercial opportunities in the interior. He helped create a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

for Liberia that enabled African Americans to hold positions in the government. African Americans and their descendants, known as

Americo-Liberians Americo-Liberian people or Congo people or Congau people in Liberian English,Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of Afr ...

, dominated the government into the late 20th century. By contrast, in the early decades of the neighboring British colony of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, the government was dominated by whites. Freetown was originally founded for the resettlement of free blacks from Britain and Upper Canada (many of them were

Black Loyalist Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with the Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term refers to men who escaped enslavement by Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because of the C ...

s and their descendants: freed African-American slaves who had joined the British for freedom during the American Revolutionary War). Ashmun wrote numerous letters to ACS officials, family and friends in the United States. These and his book, ''History of the American Colony in Liberia, 1821–1823'' (1826) constitute the earliest written history of the Liberia colony.

Death

Suffering ill health in Liberia, Ashmun returned to the United States in 1828. He died in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, soon after. He was interred there in Grove Street Cemetery.

Legacy and honors

* Lincoln University, a

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...

in Pennsylvania, was originally chartered in 1854 as Ashmun Institute in his honor.

Early life and education

Marriage and family

Career

Death

Legacy and honors

Notes

Further reading