Letter from H. O. Wagoner

Friend Douglass:—Dear Sir:—Notwithstanding we live in the darkness of "Egpyt" or rather in the "Egyptian State," Illinois, as it is, with some propriety called; yet, I am proud to be able to inform you that the colored people of the northern section of the State are awaking from their long sleep of death, and are being "restored to lite and vitality, because restored to activity."

We had a glorious and enthusiastic Mass Meeting in the City Hall, on last evening, pursuant to previous notice. In the call for this meeting, it was stated that John Jones and William Johnson would address said meeting. After the meeting was called to order, on motion of J. D Bonner, Byrd Parker was called to the chair, and J. H. Bargnet and M. S. Lewis appointed Secretaries. On motion of H. O. Wagoner, the chairman explained the object of the meeting to be for the purpose of bringing about a union of sentiment and concert of action, on the part of the colored people, and friends, urging all to move in the matter of petitioning the Legislature to repeal that part of the statu[t]es of Illinois which deprives colored persons from testifying in her courts of justice like the rest of her fellow-citizens—There are several other odious features in the statu[t]es of our States; but we have concluded—not like Mr. Clay with his "Omnibus Bill," to bundle them all together, and to present them at once; but, to ask first for the repeal of one. And of all the disabilities under which we labor, in this respect, we regard the oath as being the most important, and therefore, claim first our consideration and attention.

Friend Jones, who is an active reformer, and man of progress, came promptly forward, agreeable to previous arrangement, with statu[t]es of Illinois in hand, [from] which he read the nefarious and disgraceful enactments, commonly called the "[Black Laws]." And in a masterly and happy manner did he decant upon, and expose, to the common-sense view of all present, the immoral, wicked, and evil tendency of such enactments.—And most feelingly, as well as touchingly and effectively did he urge the repeal of the one which deprives the colored people of the State from testifying in her courts of justice against, or in favor of a white person.—Friend Jones is one of our strong men. He states his matter powerfully and skillfully, and seldom fails to produce the desired effect. Friend Johnson, too, is not less remarkable than Jones. His statements are perspicuous, clear, and illucidating; and they are so transparent and convincing, that they shine forth with radient lustre, and are arguments in themselves. But if his statements are grand, his eloquence is towering and transcendant, and seldom, if ever, fail to enrapture the soul, and carry conviction to the understandings of his bearers.

Nor is friend Bargnet to be forgotten in this connection, for he was called forward to reddress the people in the northern portion of the State—to obtain signatures to a petition and to report progress to this meeting. He is a representative of the "Palmetto State," and is an excentric genious. He is sarcastic, witty, vehement, literary, instructive, and, at times, truly sublime; and, therefore, well calculated to interest an audience.

But I have extended this letter beyond what I had intended, when I began; and especially so, as you will receive the proceedings of the meeting as reported by the Secretaries. I fell, however, that you will pardon this intrusion.

Yours for the highest happiness of man,

H. O. WagonerWagoner, Henry O.

One of Douglass’s most enduring friendships was with Henry O. Wagoner, Sr. (1816–1901). Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, to a formerly enslaved mother and a German father, Wagoner learned to read and write despite a lack of formal education. He spent most of his youth working on western Maryland farms, but fled to Ohio in 1838 out of fear that his Underground Railroad activities had roused suspicion. The following year he moved to Galena, Illinois, where he found employment as a newspaper typesetter and bill collector. He next worked for a newspaper and taught school in Chatham, Canada West, from 1843 until he relocated to Chicago in 1846 to run a profitable milling business. Wagoner met Douglass during one of the latter’s lecture tours in Illinois in the late 1840s and became an occasional correspondent for Douglass’s newspaper. Wagoner participated in abolitionist activities and aided John Brown in March 1858 by offering his mill as a hiding place for escaping Missouri slaves en route to Canada. During the Civil War, Wagoner recruited black troops for regiments in Illinois and Massachusetts. In 1865 he settled in Denver, Colorado, where he established a barbering business and quickly became a leader in the African American community. An active Republican, Wagoner campaigned for equal male suffrage as Colorado applied for statehood in the 18605, served as deputy sheriff of Arapaho County, Colorado, between 1865 and 1875, and received an appointment as clerk of the Colorado state legislature in 1876. With years of friendship between them, Wagoner and Douglass aided each other’s adult sons. In 1866 Wagoner hosted Frederick, Jr., and Lewis in Denver, teaching them typography. Eight years later Douglass returned the favor by helping to secure Henry O. Wagoner, Jr., a position as consular clerk in Paris, France. The younger Wagoner died while in Lyons, France, and upon the elder Wagoner’s request, Douglass looked for the grave during his 1886 European tour. NS, 18 February 1848, 24 August 1849; FDP, 11 December 1851; Denver Rocky Mountain News, 28 December 1901; Henry O. Wagoner to Douglass, 27 August 1866, 10 December 1873, 23 March 1878, 13 July, 13 October 1885, 19 August 1886, 1 September 1890, 17 August 1893, Henry O. Wagoner, Jr., to Douglass, 2 April 1874, 12 May 1877, Douglass to Lewis Douglass, 24 January 1887, all in General Correspondence File, reel 2, frames 197–98, 700–703, 733–36, reel 3, frames 122–26, 241–43, reel 4, frames 193, 217–19, 380–81, reel 5, frames 783–84, reel 32, frames 250–51, FD Papers, DLC; William Simmons, Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising (Alexandria, Va., 1887), 679–84; Benjamin Quarles, Allies for Freedom: Blacks and John Brown (New York, 1974), 39, 59; Quintard Taylor, In Search of the Racial Frontier: African Americans in the American West, 1528–1990 (New York, 1998), 123. .

Chicago, Dec. 28th, 1852.