James L. Smith, born into slavery in Northern Neck, VA, wrote a vivid and poignant autobiography in 1881. In it, Smith detailed life on the plantation, a debilitating injury he received as a child, the brutality of slavery, and the heartbreak suffered by separated black families. “We were treated like cattle, subject to the slave-holders’ brutal treatment and law.” He recounts how he was sold to a ship’s captain as a cook, a man who beat him so cruelly that “if I ever got away, I would throw myself overboard and put an end to my life.”
James was trained as a shoemaker at the age of 18, a trade in which he excelled and worked for several owners. Eventually, he saved some money from bits he kept back from the sale of shoes in a less supervised shop. He ran away, pursued by his owner as far as Philadelphia. With the help of David Ruggles, a free black and ardent abolitionist active in the Underground Railroad, James Smith made his way to Springfield, MA. Smith attended a school in Wilbraham for several years, working as a shoemaker to earn room and board; simultaneously, he earned a license to preach. He traveled with Dr. Hudson throughout Connecticut and parts of Massachusetts, including Boston, where he spoke at anti-slavery lectures. It was at one such program that he met Emeline Minerva, and they married in 1841.
James Smith relocated his wife to Norwich, where he established a shoemaking business. They lived in a tenement on Franklin Street. In two and a half years, he saved enough money to make a 50% down payment on a house; the mortgage was retired in three years. He and his wife had three daughters and a son. The son carried on the shoemaking trade; two of the daughters graduated from Norwich Free Academy, and the eldest from the “Normal Grammar School.”
His autobiography includes his recollections of the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, his concerns about the Fugitive Slave Law, and insights into race, religion, and politics. He concludes, “With these thoughts I leave, asking you to give your hearts to wisdom, restraining yourself from selfishness and living for the good of others.”
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