Slavery existed in the United States since European colonizers brought Africans to English North America in Jamestown in 1619 (still at the time of the British rule]), until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 5, 1865, under which it was abolished nationally. The last known survivors who were born into legalized slavery or enslaved prior to the passage of the amendment are listed below. The list also contains the last known survivors in various states which abolished legal slavery prior to 1865. Some birth dates are difficult to verify due to lack of birth documentation for most enslaved individuals.

List of last survivors of American slavery

Name Image Birth Death Notes and References
Peter Mills October 26, 1861 September 22, 1972 Born in Prince George's County, Maryland, and died after a pedestrian accident in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.[1]
Sylvester Magee May 29, 1841 October 15, 1971 Unverified and purportedly died at 130 years old in Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi.[2][3] Age is unverified, and such a claim would have made him the oldest person in the world, so his birthdate is likely after 1841.
William Casby January 19, 1857[4] August 17, 1970[5] Photographed on March 24, 1963, by Richard Avedon in Algiers, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, with multiple generations of his family.[6][7][8]
Mary Hardway Walker May 6, 1848? December 1, 1969 Purportedly lived to 121 years old; she had a child who died in his 90s, according to the family Bible on Ancestry.com. She moved from Union Springs, Bullock County, Alabama, to Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, where a newspaper article was published about her learning to read in 1966 at age 116.[9]
Anna J. Cooper August 10, 1858 February 27, 1964 Anna Cooper was a notable academic and activist who was born in slavery Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina.[10][11]
Josephus pre-1865 after August 28, 1963 Listed in a bulletin for Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington as supposedly the last surviving American slave.[12]
Jeff Doby February 6, 1858 March 26, 1963 Believed to be the oldest living person in South Carolina at the time of 1961 and one of the last living former slaves in South Carolina. Jeff was born in Camden, Kershaw County, and died at the age of 105 in 1963. He was featured in the local newspaper after his 103rd birthday and photographed. Two of his sons would also live to be nearly 100 years old.[13]
Fountain Hughes 1859 July 4, 1957 Former slave freed in 1865 after the American Civil War. Descendant of Betty Hemings, slave matriarch at Thomas Jefferson's plantation Monticello. Hughes was interviewed in June 1949 about his life by the Library of Congress as part of the Federal Writers' Project of oral histories of former slaves persons. The recorded interview is available online through the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library.
Alfred "Teen" Blackburn April 26, 1842 March 8, 1951 Received a Confederate pension in 1929 for accompanying his owner during the Civil War; resided in North Carolina.[14]
John Wesley Washington c. 1843 May 15, 1951[15] Possibly last surviving former slave living in Washington, D.C.
Eliza Moore 1843 January 21, 1948 One of the last verified surviving American slaves; resided in North Carolina.[16]
William Andrew Johnson February 8, 1858 May 16, 1943 Believed to be the last surviving person enslaved by a U.S. President (Andrew Johnson); visited FDR at the White House in 1937.[17][18]
Adeline Dade 1853 December 1941 Possibly one of the last living former slaves in New York.[19]
Harriet Wilson Whitely March 15, 1855 April 26, 1941 The last living former slave in Fairmont, Fairmont County, West Virginia.[20]
Matilda McCrear 1857 January 1940 The last known survivor of the Clotilda in 1859–1860, the last trans-Atlantic slave ship to arrive in America from Africa.[21]
Redoshi 1848 1937 The next to last known survivor of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive in America.[22]
Delia Garlic 1837 1937 at the earliest Born in Virginia; was purportedly 100 years old during an interview with Margaret Fowler in the late 1930s.[23][24] Date of death is unclear.
Cudjoe Lewis 1841 July 17, 1935 One of the last survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive in America.[25]
Perry Lockwood ca. 1844 1929 Allegedly one of the last living former slaves in lower Delaware; died aged 87.[26]
Reuben Freeman c. 1835 c. 1915 One of the last slaves in Somerset County, New Jersey; lived in Somerville; was enslaved to William Annin of Liberty Corner.[27] Likely other later survivors because final slaves were not emancipated until 1865 in New Jersey.
Julius Lemons c. 1850 after 1915 Possibly last survivor of the Wanderer[28]
David Hendrickson 1799 1900 Allegedly the last living former slave sold "on the block" in New Jersey.[29] Likely other later survivors because final slaves were not emancipated until 1865 in New Jersey.
Louise Tritton ca. 1780 1891 One of the last living former slaves in Connecticut, and oldest person in New Haven, New Haven County.[30]
Adjua D'Wolf 1794 1868 Possibly the last surviving slave in Rhode Island. Adjua was enslaved in Africa, brought to Bristol, Bristol County, Rhode Island, in 1803 and sold to the D'Wolf family, a family of slave traders,[31] after new enslavement was made illegal in Rhode Island.[32] Her death in 1868 was noted in several newspapers around the country, including in the South.[33] James Howland (1758-1859) was also one of Rhode Island's last legal former slaves, and was enslaved until 1842.[34][35] D'Wolf and Howland are likely not the last slaves, due to RI's gradual emancipation with several legally slaves still listed in the 1840 census, and likely enslaved until the 1843 RI Constitution banned all slavery.
Hannah Kelley ca. 1760 January 15, 1864 Died at 103 years old in Cross Creek, Cross Creek Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, as possibly the last living former slave in Pennsylvania, formerly owned by John Gardner of Jefferson, Jefferson County.[36]
Margaret Pint 1778 1857 Purportedly the last living former slave in New York; she was born into slavery in Westchester County.[37] Likely not the last living former slave, because final emancipation in New York did not occur until July 5, 1827.
Venus Rowe ca. 1754 1844 Purportedly one of the last living former slaves in Massachusetts, resided in Burlington, Middlesex County.[38]

Discredited

Name Image Birth Death Notes and References
Charlie Smith 1842 (claimed) or 1874 or 1879 October 5, 1979 Allegedly born in Liberia or United States of America, claimed to be the last Civil War veteran and slave, among other false claims. Discredited and died in Florida in 1979.[39]
Mary Duckworth 1861 (claimed), likely between 1874 and 1880 April 20, 1983 Allegedly born into slavery, but discredited due to census and social security records reporting other later birth dates.[40][41]

See also

  • List of slaves
  • Peter Fossett – American slave, minister, caterer, conductor on Underground Railroad, abolitionist, said to be the last survivor of enslavement by Thomas Jefferson[42]

References

  1. ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 23 Sep 1972, Sat., p. 5
  2. ↑ "Gerontology Research Group: Oldest American Claimants". Archived from the original on 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  3. ↑ "Professor Seeks to Solve the Mystery of the Man Who Claimed to Be the Last Surviving Slave". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 2016-10-18. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  4. ↑ The Monroe News-Star (Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana), 21 Jan 1963, p. 13, accessed on newspapers.com
  5. ↑ Jackson, Monisha S. (2017). A River Separates Them, A Culture Connects Them: The Mohawk Hunters of Algiers and the Mardi Gras Indian Tradition in New Orleans (MA thesis). University of New Orleans. p. 11. Citing: Allyson Neal, Algiers: The Untold Story, the African American Experience, 451.
  6. ↑ Phillip Gefter, "Why Richard Avedon's Work Has Never Been More Relevant" The New York Times, Nov. 13, 2017
  7. ↑ Hilton Als, "Richard Avedon and James Baldwin’s Joint Examination of American Identity," November 6, 2017 www.newyorker.com
  8. ↑ 0bituary information accessed on familysearch.com
  9. ↑ "Thinkerum Gatherum: America's Oldest Surviving Slave". 28 July 2009. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Anna Julia Cooper, 1858-1964". The Church Awakens: African Americans and the Struggle for Justice. The Archives of the Episcopal Church DFMS/PECUSA. 2008. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  11. ↑ North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. "Anna J. Cooper 1858-1964". Archived from the original on December 29, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  12. ↑ We Shall Overcome: A Collection of Graphic Collages Created As a Memento for Those Who Participated in the Historic March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs (1963) Loose Leaf – Special Limited Edition, January 1, 1963 https://arcade.nyarc.org/record=b1379398~S2 Archived 2020-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "103 Years Old" The Camden Chronicle, Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina, December 13, 1961
  14. ↑ W.E. Rutledge Jr., An Illustrated History of Yadkin County, 1850-1980, 1981, pp. 21-22
  15. ↑ "Richmond Times-Dispatch 18 May 1951, page 37". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  16. ↑ USGenWeb Archives Obituary], The Advertiser (Montgomery ALA), archived from the original on 2020-11-12, retrieved 2020-06-23
  17. ↑ "A president's gift: Rare cane given to former slave by FDR is rediscovered" http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/a-presidents-gift-rare-cane-given-to-former-slave-by-fdr-is-rediscovered-ep-360278450-356781121.html/ Archived 2020-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ Jesse Holland, The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House, p. 188
  19. ↑ "Woman, Born Slave, Laid to Rest." Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. 29 Dec. 1941. p. 2-A.
  20. ↑ column by Ned Smith in a 1941 Fairmont Times http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/Spring16/LastLivingSlave.html Archived 2020-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ↑ Coughlan, Sean (2020-03-25). "Last survivor of transatlantic slave trade discovered". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  22. ↑ Coughlan, Sean (2020-03-25). "Last survivor of transatlantic slave trade discovered". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  23. ↑ "Delia Garlic, Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  24. ↑ "Delia Garlic". Enslaved: People of the Historic Slave Trade. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  25. ↑ Diouf, Sylviane A. (October 20, 2009). "Cudjo Lewis Archived 2020-06-09 at the Wayback Machine". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  26. ↑ The Evening Journal (Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware), 25 Sep 1929, Wed., Page 19, accessible on newspapers.com
  27. ↑ "Whites and Indians Were Among Slaves,"Echoes-Sentinel (Warren Township, New Jersey) 1 Jul 1976, Thu., pg. 56
  28. ↑ "Last Slave Ship to Land Her Human Cargo in the United States". The Sun. 1914-03-22. p. 41. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  29. ↑ "Centenarian Buried," The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania), 5 May 1900, Sat., Page 4
  30. ↑ "New Haven's Last Slave," Reading Times (Reading, Pennsylvania) 20 May 1891, Wed., Page 2 i
  31. ↑ African American Historic Burial Grounds and Gravesites of New England, By Glenn A. Knoblock, p. 189
  32. ↑ "Slavery in Rhode Island". Archived from the original on 2020-06-29. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  33. ↑ Yorkville Enquirer (York, York County, South Carolina), 21 May 1868, Thu., Page 2, accessible on newspapers.com
  34. ↑ "Death certificate for James Howland, died January 3, 1859 (age 100), son of Great Peter and Sylvia; parentage listed as Africans... There is a note on the front of the document which reads: "The last slave of Rhode Island freed under the act of 1792." https://jamestown.pastperfectonline.com/archive/58A257FC-BD0D-4F39-B699-459941943140 Archived 2020-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ↑ Christy Mikel Clark-Pujara, Slavery, Emancipation and Black Freedom in Rhode Island, 1652-1842 (University of Iowa 2009), p. 93 https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.sj5oa7gh Archived 2020-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
  36. ↑ "The Last Pennsylvania Slave", Brookville Republican, Brookville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, 24 Feb 1864, Wed. • Page 1 accessible on newspapers.com
  37. ↑ "New York’s Last Slave" By Jeff Richman on June 22nd, 2015 in Green-Wood Historian Blog https://www.green-wood.com/2015/new-yorks-last-slave/ Archived 2020-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
  38. ↑ "Slavery Did Exist in Early Burlington". 28 June 2018. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  39. ↑ Young, Robert (2003-02-17). "Reply from Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia". Gerontology Research Group. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
  40. ↑ "Mary Duckworth, whose family said she was born into". Archived from the original on 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  41. ↑ Paul Cartledge, Spartan Reflections (2003), p. 132
  42. ↑ "Thomas Jefferson's last surviving slave". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1901-01-13. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
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