thumb|John Brown

John Brown (c. 1810 – 1876), also known by his slave name, "Fed," was born into slavery on a plantation in Southampton County, Virginia. He is known for his memoir published in London, England in 1855, Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England. This slave narrative, dictated to a helper who wrote it, recounted his life and later escape from slavery in Georgia. He lived in London from 1850 to the end of his life, marrying an English woman.

Life

Born in Southampton County, Virginia, to slave parents Joe and Nancy (called Nanny), Fed grew up with his twin siblings, Silas and Lucy. They lived on the plantation of Betty Moore, his mother's mistress. He later recalled seeing their father Joe only once, when he was allowed to see the family. His father was held by a planter named Benford in Northampton County. Fed's paternal grandfather had been "stolen" from Africa, and he was of the Eboe (Igbo) tribe.

Fed worked under Stevens for more than 15 years, and described the man as "savage" in his treatment. He detailed Stevens' cruel treatment and regular physical abuse of him and other slaves over the years.

In 2024 Dorset Museum had a display about Brown based on research carried out by Jordan Cole, a student from Bath Spa University. Brown had lived in Dorchester where the museum is located, between 1865 and 1870, and lectured on his experiences of slavery at the Corn Exchange near the museum.

See also

  • List of slaves

Citations

Books

  • Brown, John (1855), and Chamerovzow, Louis (ed.). Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England, London: W.M. Watts.
  • Brown, John (1855), and Chamerovzow, Louis (ed.).Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England. Narrated in 1855 by John Brown to I. A. Chamerovzow. Preface by I. A. Chamerovzow. Published in 1972 by Beehive Press. Reprinted in 1991 by Beehive Press with a revised introduction by F. N. Boney. https://beehivefoundation.org/product/slave-life-in-georgia/
  • Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Now in England. London: [W. M. Watts], 1855. Full text online at University of North Carolina's website, Documenting the American South.