John Brown Russwurm (October 1, 1799 – June 9, 1851) was an
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 ...
, newspaper publisher, and colonizer of
Liberia, where he moved from the United States. He was born in
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
to an English father and enslaved mother. As a child he traveled to the United States with his father and received a formal education, becoming the first African American to graduate from
Hebron Academy
Hebron Academy, founded in 1804, is a small, independent, college preparatory boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades six through postgraduate in Hebron, Maine.
History
Hebron Academy is one of the nation's oldest endowed preparatory ...
and
Bowdoin College.
As a young man, Russwurm moved from
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
, to New York City, where he was a founder with
Samuel Cornish
Samuel Eli Cornish (1795 – 6 November 1858) was an American Presbyterian minister, abolitionist, publisher, and journalist. He was a leader in New York City's small free black community, where he organized the first congregation of black Pr ...
of the abolitionist newspaper ''
Freedom's Journal
''Freedom's Journal'' was the first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States. Founded by Rev. John Wilk and other free Black men in New York City, it was published weekly starting with the 16 March 1827 issue. ...
'', the first paper owned and operated by African Americans.
Russwurm became supportive of 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 ...
's efforts to develop a colony for African Americans in Africa, and he moved in 1829 to what became Liberia. In 1836 Russwurm was selected as governor of
Maryland in Africa, a small colony set up nearby by the
Maryland State Colonization Society
The Maryland State Colonization Society was the Maryland branch of the American Colonization Society, an organization founded in 1816 with the purpose of returning free African Americans to what many Southerners considered greater freedom in Af ...
. He served there until his death. The colony was annexed to Liberia in 1857.
Early years
Russwurm was born in
Port Antonio
Port Antonio is the capital of the parish of Portland on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, about from Kingston. It had a population of 12,285 in 1982 and 13,246 in 1991. It is the island's third largest port, famous as a shipping point for b ...
, Jamaica, in 1799, the
mixed-race
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...
son of an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
merchant father, John R. Russwurm,
[''Old Times in North Yarmouth, Maine'']
p. 841 and an unknown Black
slave mother.
The family stayed in Jamaica until 1807, when Russwurm was sent to
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.
In 1812, father and son moved to
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
(then part of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
), where the elder Russwurm married widow Susan Blanchard in 1813. (Before the marriage, Russwurm's guardian was Calvin Stockbridge.)
Blanchard (now Russwurm) insisted her husband acknowledge "John Brown", as the boy was then known, and grant him his surname. He did so. "John Brown Russwurm" lived with his father, stepmother, and her children from a previous marriage, accepted as part of the family. The elder Russwurm died in 1815, but his son stayed close to his stepmother, even after she remarried (becoming Susan Hawes). The
John B. Russwurm House["John B. Russwurm House."]
From the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Retrieved March 4, 2013. in Portland was owned by the family. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
Education
Russwurm attended
Hebron Academy
Hebron Academy, founded in 1804, is a small, independent, college preparatory boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades six through postgraduate in Hebron, Maine.
History
Hebron Academy is one of the nation's oldest endowed preparatory ...
in Maine, focusing on his studies to finish his education. He earned the nickname "Honest John". Graduating in his early twenties, he taught at an African-American school in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Several years later he relocated to Maine to live with his stepmother and her new husband. They helped Russwurm pay for further education when he enrolled in
Bowdoin College in 1824. Upon graduation in 1826,
Russwurm became the first African American to graduate from Bowdoin College and the third African American to graduate from an American college.
Career
Editor of ''Freedom's Journal''
Russwurm moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1827. The New York City of their day boasted the largest population of Blacks in any Northern city—an estimated 15,000, which was 10 percent of the 150,000 free "colored" people living in the North. By the early 1800s, these free Blacks and escaped slaves, who lived in a segregated world, had developed their own churches, schools and clubs. In a country that kept 90 percent of Black people in bondage, these institutions provided more than social outlets, they meant survival. On March 16 of that year, 27-year-old Russwurm, along with his co-editor
Samuel Cornish
Samuel Eli Cornish (1795 – 6 November 1858) was an American Presbyterian minister, abolitionist, publisher, and journalist. He was a leader in New York City's small free black community, where he organized the first congregation of black Pr ...
, published the first edition of ''
Freedom's Journal
''Freedom's Journal'' was the first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States. Founded by Rev. John Wilk and other free Black men in New York City, it was published weekly starting with the 16 March 1827 issue. ...
'', an abolitionist newspaper dedicated to opposition of slavery. ''Freedom's Journal'' was the first newspaper in the United States to be owned, operated, published and edited by African Americans.
During his tenure as editor, Russwurm regularly included material about ancient and modern African history, providing readers on both sides of the Atlantic with a curated source of information about the continent. The literary education Russwurm provided in the ''Herald'' also included canonical texts of English literary education. In the poetry column of this first issue, for example, he reprinted "Prediction of the Origin of Rome", an excerpt from John Ring.
When Cornish resigned from the paper in September 1827, Russwurm used his position to advocate for voluntary emigration of Black people from the United States to Africa. Although such ideas were unpopular with many in the Black leadership, and despite Russwurm's reservations about 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 ...
's racist tendencies, Russwurm believed that Black people were more likely to prosper in Africa than in the United States. As a result, he resigned as editor in March 1829 and emigrated to Liberia.
[ Cornish, who rejected emigration, started a new paper, '']The Rights of All
''The Rights of All'' (May 1829 to 1830) was an African-American abolitionist newspaper, founded in New York City by Samuel Cornish, a black Presbyterian minister and antislavery activist. ''The Rights of All'' replaced ''Freedom's Journal,'' the n ...
''. ''Freedom's Journal'' may have only lasted two years, but it quickly opened the door for a wave of Black newspapers. By the time the Civil War started, there were more than 40 Black-owned and -operated newspapers in the United States.
Emigration to Liberia
Upon emigrating to Liberia, Russwurm started work as the colonial secretary for the American Colonization Society, serving from 1830 to 1834. He worked as the editor of the '' Liberia Herald'' He resigned from this post in 1835 to protest America's colonization policies. Russwurm wanted to exercise power in the political arena, and felt that Liberia offered him that opportunity while the United States did not. Furthermore, because the United States was not the land of his birth, he did not feel any strong allegiance to it. Russwurm also served as the superintendent of education in Liberia's capital, 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 ...
.
In 1836 he became the first Black governor of Maryland in Africa, a colony that later became part of Liberia in 1857. He held this post until his death in Cape Palmas
Cape Palmas is a headland on the extreme southeast end of the coast of Liberia, Africa, at the extreme southwest corner of the northern half of the continent. The Cape itself consists of a small, rocky peninsula connected to the mainland by a s ...
on June 9, 1851. He continued to encourage the immigration of African Americans to the Republic of Maryland, and supported its development of agriculture and trade. During his time in Liberia, Russwurm learned several of the native languages. He encouraged trade and diplomatic relations with neighboring countries as well as with European nations.
Personal life
In 1833, Russwurm married Sarah McGill, daughter of the Lieutenant-Governor of Monrovia and member of the influential McGill family. The couple had a daughter and four sons.
In 1850, shortly before his death, Russwurm returned to 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 ...
for a visit, bringing two of his sons with him. They were enrolled at North Yarmouth Academy
North Yarmouth Academy (also known as "NYA") is an independent, co-ed, college preparatory day school serving students from early childhood education to postgraduate. NYA was founded in 1814, in what was then North Yarmouth, Maine, prior to the 184 ...
between 1850 and 1852, and lived with his stepmother, Susan Russwurm Hawes. He had stayed close with her after his father's death years before.[
]
Legacy
A statue of John Russwurm was erected at his burial site at Harper, Cape Palmas, Liberia.[ In 2002, scholar ]Molefi Kete Asante
Molefi Kete Asante ( ; born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an American professor and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies, and communication studies. He is currently professo ...
named John Brown Russwurm on his list of ''100 Greatest African Americans
''100 Greatest African Americans'' is a biographical dictionary of one hundred historically great Black Americans (in alphabetical order; that is, they are not ranked), as assessed by Temple University professor Molefi Kete Asante in 2002. A ...
''.
See also
*Maryland State Colonization Society
The Maryland State Colonization Society was the Maryland branch of the American Colonization Society, an organization founded in 1816 with the purpose of returning free African Americans to what many Southerners considered greater freedom in Af ...
References
Bibliography
* Alexander, Leslie M. ''African or American? Black Identity and Political Activism in New York City, 1784–1861'' (University of Illinois: 2008).
*
* Sagarin, Mary, ''John Brown Russwurm: The story of Freedom's journal, freedom's journey'', Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1970.
External links
Guide to the John Brown Russwurm Collection, 1819–2000
George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collection & Archives, Bowdoin College Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russwurm, John Brown
1799 births
1851 deaths
Burials in Liberia
British emigrants to the United States
Americo-Liberian people
African-American abolitionists
Bowdoin College alumni
Writers from Portland, Maine
African-American journalists
American male journalists
African-American publishers (people)
American publishers (people)
People from Port Antonio
Liberian politicians
American colonization movement
Hebron Academy alumni
African-American college graduates before 1865
African-American history of Maine
Governors of the Republic of Maryland
19th-century American businesspeople