James Newby (c. 1843 – after 1884) was an

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 ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

who served in the first regiment of volunteer

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 ...

s in the United States and a 19th-century African-American

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

to present-day

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, and

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

Biography

Early life

Newby was born about 1843 in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. His father Aaron was a

slave 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 ...

born in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

who was freed because he was on a visit to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

with his mistress after the Act of Emancipation for the Middle States had passed. Newby grew up in New London, Connecticut and went to Wilberforce School/Wilberforce Institution and a boarding-school at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in Oberlin, Ohio. He was sent to the navy to be a naval apprentice (first black naval apprentice) for fire-raising at the age of 11 and returned home to New London three years later and was involved in slave-running to Canada. He joined the infamous Mazeppa Club.

Family

James was married on 30 September 1880, in Manhattan, to Annie, the eldest daughter of Sir Robert Tainsh (A. Tainsh, author of ''An Improved Manual of Universal History, from the Creation of the World to the end of the 18th century'' published 1875), and worked as a missionary in

, where his wife died. He returned to Britain through ill health.

Mariner and adventurer

He went to sea in the 1850s and was involved in the attempted rescue of

Anthony Burns Anthony Burns (May 31, 1834 – July 17, 1862) was an African-American man who escaped from slavery in Virginia in 1854. His capture and trial in Boston, and transport back to Virginia, generated wide-scale public outrage in the North and ...

(1854). He sailed in the Marret attempt at circumnavigating the world in the smallest ship ever. He then went wild horse hunting in Mexico and joined Colonel

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

crossing the Rocky Mountains to California. He became a jig-dancer/sand-dancer and joined the original Christy's Minstrels (later Moore and Burgess of London). He sailed on the USS Niagara when she laid the first

transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...

(1858) and then again on the Niagara to Japan.

United States Civil War

In the

he fought in the

54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry ...

from 1863 to 1865.

United States Navy

He was on the

USS Wateree USS ''Wateree'' may refer to the following ships of the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is ...

, a US naval gunboat, which was carried onshore by a tsunami following the

1868 Arica earthquake The 1868 Arica earthquake occurred on 13 August 1868, near Arica, then part of Peru, now part of Chile, at 21:30 UTC. It had an estimated magnitude between 8.5 and 9.3. A tsunami (or multiple tsunamis) in the Pacific Ocean was produced by t ...

– he states this to have been at

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...

but it appears that this incident actually happened more than 600 miles further south at Arica after the ship had left

Africa, Asia and Europe travels

He went to India at the time of the

Indian rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

(Indian Mutiny). He decided to tour Europe, and after visiting Greece (

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

) and Germany (gambling at Baden-Baden), arrived in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, where he was converted through street evangelism of "

Revivalists Revivalist may refer to: * A person involved in language revitalization * Revivalist (person) involved in a movement of Christian revival * Islamic revivalist * Revivalism (architecture) * Revivalist artist, a performer dedicated to reviving a ...

" Meek and Mitchell. He preached in the open air and churches in Edinburgh, studied at

Henry Grattan Guinness Henry Grattan Guinness (11 August 1835 – 21 June 1910) was an Irish Protestant Christian preacher, evangelist and author. He was the great evangelist of the Third Evangelical awakening and preached during the Ulster Revival of 1859 which dre ...

' Harley House missionary training college in London and went to

and

as a missionary with the Anglicans, sailing with Bishop

Samuel Ajayi Crowther Samuel Ajayi Crowther ( – 31 December 1891), was a Yoruba linguist, clergyman, and the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. Born in Osogun (in what is now Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, Nigeria), he and his family were captured by slave raide ...

on 20 July 1876. There he worked among

Igbo people The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and formerly also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', * * * ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. A ...

and visited mission stations at Fernando Po, Old Calabar, and Victoria (Limbe, Cameroon). After working in the

s he arrived back in England 1879 after illness. He is referred to as the "late Rev James Newby", and as having been in Africa in 1879, in Thomas Lewis Johnson'
''Twenty-Eight Years a Slave, or the Story of My Life in Three Continents''
published in 1909, and as still living in 1884 – speaker at the Christian Institute, Bothwell Street, Glasgow

Most of what is known about Newby's life comes fro
''The Prodigal Continent and Her Prodigal Son and Missionary: Or the Adventures, Conversion, and African Labours of the Rev James R Newby''
which is cited in Judith Becker and Brian Stanley (historian), Brian Stanley (eds), ''Europe as the Other: External Perspectives on European Christianity'', with the caveat "''a questionable account which invites'' ''closer scholarly enquiry''".

Sources

* Autobiography: Newby, James R; McHardie, Elizabeth; Allan, Andrew: ''The Prodigal Continent and Her Prodigal Son and Missionary: Or the Adventures, Conversion, and African Labours of the Rev James R Newby; with Special Chapters on Africa and Its Condition''. London: Morgan and Scott, 1885 * Autobiography of a fellow-missionary: Thomas Lewis Johnson
''Twenty-Eight Years a Slave, or the Story of My Life in Three Continents''
Bournemouth: W. Math and Sons Limited, Printers and Publishers, 1909.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newby, James R. 1840s births Year of death unknown 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States African-American abolitionists African-American missionaries American expatriates in Cameroon American expatriates in Liberia American expatriates in Nigeria American expatriates in the United Kingdom Baptist abolitionists Baptist missionaries from the United States Baptist missionaries in Cameroon Baptist missionaries in Liberia Baptist missionaries in Nigeria Underground Railroad people