Nemo to Frederick Douglass, July 19, 1854
NEMO1This was the only letter from “Nemo” to Frederick Douglass’ Paper, and the correspondent’s identity has not been determined. “Nemo” is Latin for “no man.” TO FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Long Island, [N.Y.] 19 July 1854.
TO FREDERICK DOUGLASS, ESQ.:
In the days of our last great Convention,2Probably an allusion to the National Convention of Colored Men, held at Corinthian Hall on 6-8 July 1853 in Rochester. , 23 September 1853; , ser. 1, 2:xxxiii.
(Held in that hot month, July, ’fifty-three,—’tis hardly worth while for to mention—
You know as well as you know A, B, C,)
There arose, with “our” joint approbation
Another 3That newspaper was the Cleveland-based , edited by William H. Day. The newspaper was sympathetic to the plans for African American emigration advocated by Martin Delany and others. Miller, , 141-42; Levine, , 92. in this “Land of the Free’’4Nemo sarcastically alludes to the lyrics of the national anthem.
This sheet, for each aim and intention,
That had Equality—Freedom at stake,
“On its face’’5A literal translation of the Latin legal term . seemed, without contravention,
A good source from which to make
A bright light, to shine on our nation—
An original Light—not opaque.
This light having fixed to its —
(We mean the place where each ray meets a ray:
Ah! its focus—for mistakes, excuse us—)
A light in itself—a real DAY:6A reference to the editor of the Aliened American, William Howard Day (1825-1900). Day was born in New York City. He attended a high school in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he became interested in printing. Possessing considerable skill in Latin and Greek, he was accepted to Oberlin College, from which he graduated in 1847. Day then settled in Cleveland. Soon after, he began to work on repealing the Black Laws of Ohio, calling a convention of African Americans, which met in Cleveland in 1848. He served as chairman on the council that initiated plans for the National Convention of Colored Freemen, of which Frederick Douglass later served as president. This convention served as the forerunner of the more famous meeting of 1853 that took place in Rochester. Day worked as a compositor for the Cleveland Daily True Democrat in 1851-52 before launching his Aliened American, which served as a strong advocate of abolition and social justice for blacks. Moving to Canada to improve his health, Day printed John Brown’s revolutionary provisional constitution for the United States, which was to be implemented if Brown proved successful at Harpers Ferry. Day traveled extensively overseas and founded the African Aid Society with Martin R. Delany. While in Europe, he was welcomed by the lord mayor of Dublin and spoke to several women’s organizations. Returning home after five years, Day became an inspector of schools for freedmen in Maryland and Delaware and founded 140 schools. In 1867 Day was ordained a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. I. Garland Penn, (Springfield, Mass., 1891), 74-76; , 6: 275-76.
Seeming bright, clear, sunny, not nebulous—
“A perfect God-send,” as some folks would say.
But, to abandon this style of figurative,
The name of this sheet we’ve not given;
’Twas the , active
For the rights of all black men and women.
During the few months that we had a sight of it,
Its columns were graced now and then
With the “thoughts” of—now, pray, don’t make
light of it—
Some truly illustrious men.
At the head of the list stood our PENNINGTON,7Born a slave in Maryland, James William Charles Pennington (1809-71) was a blacksmith until he ran away to Pennsylvania in his early twenties. After spending several months studying under a Quaker teacher who sheltered him, he moved to New York City, where he continued his education. He studied theology and eventually became a pastor. Pennington kept his status as a runaway slave secret until the late 1840s, when he published his autobiography, The Fugitive Blacksmith. In 1850, he went to Europe, where Scottish friends purchased his freedom the following year. From 1847 to 1855, Pennington served as pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian Church, one of the most respected African American Presbyterian congregations in the United States. In addition to his involvement in the American Anti-Slavery Society, which he helped found in 1833, Pennington was an advocate of African American abolitionist and religious organizations. He founded the Union Missionary Society, which later became the American Missionary Association. Pennington performed the marriage ceremony of Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray after Douglass’s escape from slavery in 1838. R. J. M. Blackett, (Ithaca, N.Y., 1986), 52-53; Herman E. Thomas, (New York, 1995), 3-27, 137-38, 171; Martin, , 14-15; Freeman, “Free Negro in New York City,” 405; >, 14:307; , 7:441-42.
Who never did lag or grow weary,
In serving up in the ,
The facts of “Our Case with the” “Ferry.”8The Reverend J. W. C. Pennington worked to publicize the discrimination practiced in the mid-1850s against black passengers aboard New York City’s Fulton Street Ferry by publishing articles in , the New York , and the . , 3 December 1852; New York , 10, 11 August 1854.
Then there was that great man, DELANY,9Martin R. Delany.
Who wrote as if some foreign nation
Would soon see him; and some say—not many—
That he soon leaves for the .10Delany finally completed a long-contemplated trip to West Africa in 1859-60 to study the prospects for African American immigration there. Peter Hinks and John McKivigan, eds., , 2 vols. (Westport, Conn., 2007), 1:212-13.
And STILL,11James N. Still (1815-?) of Brooklyn, New York, combined reform activities with a career as a self-employed tailor and clothing retailer. Still won praise from Douglass for being a leading supporter of , and probably penned articles under the pseudonym “Observer.” Though not well educated, Still gained some reputation as an intellectual. An active proponent of black rights, Still argued that the way to achieve social equality with whites was through wealth, since he believed that wealth led to empowerment. Still aided fugitives to freedom through New York City via the Underground Railroad. In 1856, after he moved to Shrewsbury, New Jersey, the Commissioners of the National Emigration Convention, led by Martin R. Delany, named Still an editor of a projected scholarly journal, the . , 15 January, 11 March, 17 December 1852, 6 May, 10 June 1853, 11 January 1855; William H. Smith, (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1854), 461; Miller, , 166; Ullman, , 182. too, a great Emigrationist,
Who, ’tis said—but we would believe it,
As quick as we'd believe he’s a Deist—
hangs for “the flesh-pots of Egypt.”12Exod. 16:3.
STILL wrote, too, and the lecturing SPECTATOR,13No surviving issue of the Cleveland contains a letter from a correspondent nicknamed “SPECTATOR.”
And ladies—of whose names we’ll mention,
FANNY HOMEWOOD,14Fanny Homewood was the pseudonym of Mary Frances Vashon Colder (1817-54). She was married to Benjamin Colder, lived in Pittsburgh, and was the daughter of the black abolitionist and civic leader John B. Vashon. Upon her early death, her brother, the noted black abolitionist, lawyer, and educator George B. Vashon, took charge of her four children. Ripley, , 3:226n; Paul N. D. Thornell, “The Absent Ones and the Providers: A Biography of the Vashons,” , 83:284-301 (Autumn, 1998). MARIA,15Regrettably, no surviving issue of the Aliened American contains items from the following correspondents: “Maria,” “Ida,” “Viator,” “Occator,’ or “Veritas.” AND IDA—
Of whose sex there needs be no contention.
And a sensible man, styled VIATOR,
Who “went down ’pon” the Industrial School;16The “industrial school” was a reference to the proposed manual labor school advanced by the National Convention of Colored Citizens at Rochester in July 1853. Douglass supported the plan and the National Council created at that convention, both of which were opposed by most African Americans favoring emigration. Miller, , 134-39; Levine, , 87-89.
And a chap, self-entitled OCCATOR,
Who was not very bright, though no fool.
And VERITAS—a life-preserver—
Who, by means of a powder or pill,
Or e’en pistol—ha! foolish 17“Observer” was the usual pseudonym employed by James N. Still.—
Seems inclined more to cure than to kill.
And of other good writers a host,
Had this very “” to boast of;
But, for all that, it gave up the ghost,18A paraphrase of Acts 12:23.
And since last May has never been heard of.
But, for all that, we would not complain,
If it had died like a “person of honor,”
’Stead of hinting, “I'll be with you again,”
Said, “I’m going! I’m gone!! I’m a goner !!!"
Now can you, my noble Fred. Douglass,
Of this lost sheet give us information;
Do us good—yourself good—and justice
To its patrons all over the nation?
Yours,
NEMO.
PLSr: , 28 July 1854.