author
Noah Davis
b. 1803
Born into slavery in Virginia, this Baptist minister wrote a powerful 1859 memoir to raise money to free his family. His life story is direct, moving, and deeply rooted in faith, perseverance, and self-liberation.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in March 1804 in Madison County, Virginia, Noah Davis was an African American Baptist minister and author best known for A Narrative of the Life of Rev. Noah Davis, a Colored Man. Library and catalog records list his birth year as 1803 or 1804, and Davis himself wrote that he was born in March 1804.
Enslaved in childhood, he learned trades including shoemaking, became active in the Baptist church, and eventually gained his freedom with help from supporters after raising part of the money himself. He later worked in Baltimore, where he founded and led the Second Colored Baptist Church.
Davis published his memoir in 1859 not only to tell his life story, but also to raise funds to free members of his family who were still enslaved. That purpose gives the book its special urgency: it is both a personal testimony and a record of determined action.