Sandy Cornish (1793–1869) was an
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
farmer, businessperson, and civic leader in
Key West, Florida
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...
. As a formerly enslaved man who purchased his freedom, he publicly maimed himself to prevent being returned to slavery.
Slavery and freedom
Cornish was born into
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in 1793.
In 1839, his enslaver hired him out to a railroad-building project in
Port Leon, Florida
Port Leon, Florida was a river port town located in what is now Wakulla County, Florida (at the time Leon County, Florida), which existed for only about six years in the first half of the 19th century. Port Leon is classified as an "extinct city ...
. The position allowed Cornish to earn money for himself, and after nine years of work at $600 a year, he was able to purchase his freedom and that of his wife Lillah.
However, the papers showing him to be free were destroyed in a fire. Lacking proof of his emancipation, he was seized by slave traders but managed to break free. The next day, he gathered a crowd of onlookers in Port Leon. He loudly proclaimed that having purchased his freedom once, he would not return to slavery under any circumstances. He then deliberately maimed himself, stabbing himself in the leg, slashing the muscles of one ankle, and cutting off a finger of his left hand, which he proceeded to sew back on with a needle and thread.
These injuries made him worthless to enslave and thus immune to recapture. Friends took him home in a wheelbarrow, and he eventually recovered his health.
Key West
Around 1850, Cornish and Lillah bought a Key West farm in the now Truman Avenue area near Simonton Street. Selling vegetables and fruits to residents, he became one of the wealthiest people in Key West.
He was a leader of the local black community and the founder of the Cornish Chapel of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, now the Cornish Memorial
AME Zion #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
church and chapel, which still stands at 702 Whitehead Street.
He died in 1869 at the age of 76.
, but the location of his grave was lost to history. In 2014, the cemetery and the Historic Florida Keys Foundation installed a plaque to his memory. Speakers described his life as an inspiring testament to human freedom. City Commissioner Clayton Lopez, presiding over the ceremony, said, "His actions in life show that he was not going to accept the fate developed for him by lesser men. He is a legend that continues to point the way to human dignity to this day."
Sculpture Garden, which honors people who had a significant impact on Key West.