Peter Still (February 22, 1801 – January 10, 1868
), was a former slave who achieved some renown by securing his own freedom in 1850 and subsequently collecting enough money to purchase the freedom of his wife and three children in 1854. His efforts were documented in the book: ''The kidnapped and the ransomed; being the personal recollections of Peter Still and his wife "Vina," after forty years of slavery'', which his biographer Kate E. R. Pickard published in 1856.
Biography
Still was born a slave to parents Sidney and Levin on a plantation owned by Saunders Griffin on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Peter and his eldest brother Levin Jr. were sold by their owner at ages eight and six respectively, shortly after their mother had fled for a second time. After many years in Kentucky, the brothers were eventually sold to various slave-owning families in Florence and Tuscumbia, Alabama.
It was there that Peter met and married Lavinia (Vina) Sisson, a household slave from a nearby plantation, on June 25, 1826.
Peter's brother Levin died in 1831, leaving Peter without a living tie to his family. Through a verbal arrangement with his last owners, Joseph and Isaac Friedman, Peter secured his manumission for $500 in April 1850.
Shortly thereafter, Peter arrived in Philadelphia, where he serendipitously met his youngest brother
William Still
William Still (October 7, 1821 – July 14, 1902) was an African-American abolitionist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, businessman, writer, historian and civil rights activist. Before the Ameri ...
, then serving as a clerk at the Anti-Slavery Office. Through his own efforts, and those of his family, friends, and supporters, Peter was eventually reunited with his wife Vina and children Peter, Levin, and Catharine, in 1854. They resided in
Burlington County, New Jersey
Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly. until Peter died of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
in 1868.
His brother
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
became a practicing doctor in southern New Jersey and was known as "The Black Doctor of the
Pines
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
." James also published a memoir, ''Early Recollections and Life of Dr. James Still'', printed by
J.B. Lippincott & Co. in 1877.
See also
*
Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup (born July 10, 1807-1808) was an American abolitionist and the primary author of the memoir ''Twelve Years a Slave''. A free-born African American from New York, he was the son of a freed slave and a free woman of color. A far ...
References
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American freedmen
19th-century American slaves
1801 births
1869 deaths
People from Maryland
People from Burlington County, New Jersey
Deaths from pneumonia in New Jersey
Black slave owners in the United States