Jehiel C. Beman (1791–1858) was an African-American 19th-century minister and
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 ...
. He was a leader for suffrage and temperance, and he was an agent for the
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
in Connecticut. His son
Amos Beman
Amos Gerry Beman (1812-1872) was a 19th-century African American pastor and social activist from Connecticut. He was a prominent African American abolitionist.
Early life
Beman was born in Colchester, Connecticut, and later moved to Middletown, Co ...
was also a prominent abolitionist.
Biography
Jehiel C. Beman was born in
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
in 1791. His parents were Sarah Gerry and Caesar Beman, who, in exchange for serving in the United States Army during the American Revolutionary War, had been
manumitted
Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...
from slavery on 1781 Feb 18 by John Isham.
Jehiel Beman married Fannie Congdon (also spelled Condol) by 1808, and they had seven children. Beman worked as a shoemaker, along with his son Leverett.
In the spring of 1830, the family moved to
Middletown, Connecticut. His wife Fanny died on August 11, 1830. Three months later, on October 20, 1830, Beman married Nancy Scott in New Haven, Connecticut.
In Middleton, Beman served as minister for the African Church of Cross Street (now known as the
AME Zion #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME
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Church) from 1830 to 1832. In 1833, he founded a Home Temperance Society in Middletown, and in 1836, he founded the Connecticut State Temperance Society of Colored People. He also began collecting funds to found a Negro College in New Haven, though public opposition to the plan meant no such college was built there. In 1834, he founded the northern Anti-Slavery Society, and his wife Nancy and daughter-in-law Clarissa Campbell (married to Leverett) founded the Colored Female Anti-Slavery Society. Jehiel was also a proponent of voting rights.
He traveled throughout the northeastern states on behalf of these causes, giving speeches, raising funds, and organizing. His writing was frequently published in Lloyd Garrison's ''The Liberator''.His younger son, the
, often collaborated with him in these efforts.
In 1838, Jehiel and Nancy moved to Boston, where he became pastor of Zion's Church
Jehiel and Nancy moved back to Middletown in 1854, where they were agents on the Underground Railroad. His wife Nancy died in October 15, 1856 in Middletown.
Beman died in New York City on December 27, 1858, and he was buried in Middletown, Connecticut.
In 2021, the Beman Middle School opened in
, Connecticut, was named in honor of the Beman family.