John Patterson Sampson, D. D. (1837–1928) also known as "J. P. Sampson", was an American abolitionist, newspaper publisher, writer, lawyer, judge, and minister.
Biography
John Patterson Sampson was born free on August 13, 1837 (or 1838)
in
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States.
With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...
, to parents James Drawhorn Sampson and Fanny (Kellogg) Sampson.
His grandparents were Drawhorn and Susan Sampson and Manerva (Green) Kellogg,
and he had two brothers, Benjamin and Joseph.
James, who had both Scottish and African ancestry, was born a slave, and became a successful carpenter after being freed, establishing his family's prominence in the state.
He graduated from
Comer's College in Boston, Massachusetts in 1856 after which he taught in New York, and soon launched a newspaper, ''The Colored Citizen'', in Cincinnati, Ohio. ''The Colored Citizen'' was oriented toward black soldiers in 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 ...
, and enjoyed strong Christian support.
In 1867, Sampson was nominated by the Republicans to run for the United States Congress but after several unsuccessful bids, he stopped trying.
He earned a law degree from the
National University School of Law National University School of Law was an American law school founded in Washington, D.C. in 1869. Originally intended as part of a larger design for a national university in the United States, the school was the principal component of National Unive ...
in 1873. Followed by a D.D. degree from
Wilberforce University
Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...
in 1888.
He served in several local government offices, and then served for 40 years as a Methodist minister.
He published the book ''Mixed Races: Their Environment, Temperament, Heredity, and Phrenology'' in 1881.
See also
* ''
The Afro-American Press and Its Editors
''Afro-American Press and Its Editors'' is a book published in 1891 written by Irvine Garland Penn. Penn covers African-American newspapers and magazines published between 1827 and 1891. The book covers many aspects of journalism, and devotes a ch ...
'' (1891)
References
1837 births
1928 deaths
American abolitionists
African-American journalists
African-American Christian clergy
American judges
People from Wilmington, North Carolina
African-American writers
National University School of Law alumni
Wilberforce University alumni
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