For Frederick Douglass' Paper.

DEAR DOUGLASS:—It has been some time since I took the liberty to ask a place in your journal; I think that you will give this a corner in your paper. The people of color have seen, before this, that the convention at Cleveland has been held, and the friends of emigration have laid the plan by which they may act. Must we, at this juncture, let this great body that met at Cleveland, go by, or must the people hold a great national gathering and say, once for all, that they intend to make this the battle-ground of their liberties? Something must be done in this matter; THE PEOPLE, THE WHOLE PEOPLE, ought to have one great gathering on this important subject. Let us have a convention of free discussion. Let all be admitted on one common ground. Let the friends, and those that oppose, meet in mass or otherwise, and give a general expression in relation to this motto. We have but one organ to let our will be known; and that is the Frederick Douglass' Paper. Then let us make one grand rally. The people of Ohio are ready to act in this matter. Let us act in union, and we can get out a national gathering. Experience has shown us that our success depends entirely on our own action. Let the slaveholder and his colored allies plan our removal. Let us meet their plans with a stern resistance at the threshold of their commencement, and put our eternal seal on what they have said. Look, if you please, at the late acts of the conference, when alluding to the Convention at Cleveland. They say that we have given up all hopes in this country, and now is the time for them to offer us homes on the coast of Africa. A new plan is on foot to effect that end. Under these considerations, I am in favor of calling a National Convention of our people, for free discussion. Let ample time be given for this meeting, and we shall, I think, have a great gathering of the people. Now, I hope, in conclusion, that this last proposition may meet the approval of our people; and that they, with your aid, may get up a meeting that will tell, for ages, the fixed purpose of our people.

Yours, to remain in the United States and Territories,

D. JENKINSJenkins, David

David Jenkins (c. 1816–76) was a Black abolitionist from Columbus, Ohio. Born in Virginia and educated at Oberlin College, Jenkins was described by Martin R. Delany as a highly skilled craftsman: “[He] received by contract, the painting, glazing, and papering of some of the public buildings of the State, in autumn 1847. He is much respected in the capital city of his state, being extensively patronized, having on contract, the great ‘Neill House,’ and many of the largest gentlemen’s residences in the city and neighborhood, to keep in finish. Mr. Jenkins is a very useful man and member of society.” Interested in the elevation of Black people in Ohio, Jenkins organized a debating society in Columbus and was active in the Masonic Lodge and in the temperance and abolition movements. He organized the first state convention for Blacks in Ohio in 1844 and was elected vice president and appointed to the central committee during Ohio’s State Colored Convention held in Cleveland on 11 September 1852. Jenkins was a delegate from Ohio at the Colored National Convention held in Rochester in July 1853 and was appointed to its finance committee. During the Civil War, he served as a recruiting agent at Camp Delaware. Jenkins was elected vice president of the Equal Rights League Convention held on 21 September 1865 in Cleveland and was appointed sergeant at arms for the 1867 State Convention of Colored People in Columbus. Jenkins removed to Mississippi in 1872 and became a member of that state’s legislature. He died suddenly in Canton, Mississippi in 1876 and foul play was immediately suspected. Frederick Douglass' Paper, 15 September 1843, 1 October 1852, 20 May, 15 July 1853; Liberator, 21 July 1865; Daily Cleveland Herald, 25 July 1863, 21 September 1865; Ripley (Ohio) Bee, 10 July 1867; Ohio State Journal, 25 February 1870; Cincinnati Commercial, 17 April 1872; Cincinnati Daily Gazette, 27 September 1876; Cincinnati Daily Times, 13 September 1876; New York Age, 16 January 1892; 1870 U.S. Census, Ohio, Franklin County, 55; Delany, Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People, 118; Ripley, Black Abolitionist Papers, 4:73. .

October 18, 1854.