Authentic Narrative Of James Williams An American Slave
- New York:: American Anti- Slavery Society,, 1838.
12 mo, publishers cloth back lettered boards, 108 pp. Lacking frontispiece and endpapers, and somewhat worn at extremities. Hinges starting, and a couple of chips to paper on back cover. Normal aging, very good overall. This narrative was preceded by another version dictated by Williams in 1837. This edition was written by John Greenleaf Whittier from conversations he had with Williams, whom he met through John W. Hill, a noted abolitionist, whose home was a haven for runaway slaves. Williams, a cotton driver on a plantation in Alabama, was born in 1805 on the plantation of George Larrimore in Virginia. He appears to be a grandson of a slave that was taken from Africa. A good portion of the narrative gives details of his spur of the moment escape to avoid a whipping. He arrived in New York on January 1, 1838, but because two white men were hunting him, he ended up on a ship to England.