Jehiel Beman
Jehiel Beman (1791-1858) was a prominent 19th-century African-American minister and abolitionist. He was a leader for suffrage and temperance, and he was an agent for the Underground Railroad in Connecticut.
Jehiel was born in Colchester in 1791. His parents were Sarah Gerry and Caesar Beman, who, in exchange for serving in the US Army during the Revolutionary War, had been manumitted from slavery on 1781 Feb 18 by John Isham.[1]
Jehiel married Fannie Congdon (also spelled Condol), and they had seven children: Sarah Gerry Beman Jeffrey (1808–1854), Leverett Carter Beman (1810–1883), Amos Gerry Beman (1812–1874), Lydia Beman Williams (1815–1872), Harriet Beman Caples (1817–1880), Martha A Beman Strong (1818–1837), and Aaron C Beman (1824–1847).[2] Jehiel worked as a shoemaker, along with his son Leveret.
In the spring of 1830, the family moved to Middletown, Connecticut [3]His wife Fanny died 1830 Aug 11.[4] Three months later, on 1830 Oct 20, Jehiel married Nancy Scott in New Haven, CT.[5]
In Middleton, Jehiel served as minister for the African Church of Cross Street (now known as the AME Zion Church) from 1830 to 1832. In 1833, he founded a Home Temperance Society in Middletown, and in 1836, he founded the Connecticut State Temperance Society of Colored People. He also began collecting funds to found a Negro College in New Haven, CT, though public opposition to the plan meant no such college was built there. In 1834, he founded the northern Anti-Slavery Society,[6] and his wife Nancy and daughter-in-law Clarissa founded the Colored Female Anti-Slavery Society. He was also a proponent of voting rights.
He traveled throughout the northeastern states on behalf of these causes, giving speeches, raising funds, and organizing. His writing was frequently published in Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator. [7]
In 1838, Jehiel and his wife Nancy moved to Boston, where he became pastor of Zion's Church. [8]
Jehiel and Nancy moved back to Middletown in 1854, where they were agents on the Underground Railroad.
Nancy died on 15 October 1856 in Middletown[9]. Jehiel died at 133 W 17 in Manhattan, New York, on 26 December 1857, and was buried in Middletown CT.[10][11][12]
His grave has not been located; however, his first wife Fanny is buried in Washington Street Cemetery in Middletown,[13] and he may be buried near her.
Legacy[edit]
In 2021, the new Beman Middle School opened in Middletown, Connecticut. Cheryl Gonzales, Principal of Woodrow Wilson, said she was very pleased to be a part of the event honoring the legacy of a family “who stood at the forefront of abolition and the voting rights for African Americans.... We will honor the memory of Caesar, Jehiel and Leverett Beman, and Amos Beman by providing an equitable and future-driven education.”[14]
References[edit]
- ↑ Housley, Kathleen (1992). "Yours for the Oppressed': The Life of Jehiel C. Beman". The Journal of Negro History. 77 (1): 17–29. doi:10.2307/3031524. ISSN 0022-2992.
- ↑ Welch, Vicki S. (2006). And They Were Related, Too: A Study of Eleven Generations of One American Family!. Search this book on
- ↑ US Census: Year: 1830; Census Place: Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut; Series: M19; Roll: 8; Page: 17; Family History Library Film: 0002801
- ↑ Connecticut, U.S., Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934, Washington Street Cemetery, 711-12, page 594
- ↑ Rhode Island, U.S., Vital Extracts, 1636-1899
- ↑ James, Jennifer Lee (1997). "Jehiel C. Beman: A Leader of the Northern Free Black Community". The Journal of Negro History. 82 (1): 133–157. doi:10.2307/2717500. ISSN 0022-2992.
- ↑ Warner, Robert (1937). "Amos Gerry Beman-1812-1874, a Memoir on a Forgotten Leader". The Journal of Negro History. 22 (2): 200–221. doi:10.2307/2714429.
- ↑ US Census Year: 1840; Census Place: Boston Ward 5, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: 197; Page: 303; Family History Library Film: 0014681
- ↑ "Deaths". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. 24 October 1856. p. 2.
- ↑ "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F693-KZ2 : 3 June 2020), Jiheal C. Be..., 1858.
- ↑ Connecticut, U.S., Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934, filmstrip image #426 of 640
- ↑ "Died". The Liberator. 7 Jan 1859. p. 3.
- ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16562403/fanny-condol-beman
- ↑ Day, Cassandra (2021). "Middletown ceremony celebrates new Beman Middle School". The Middletown Press.
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