author
Solomon Bayley
Born into slavery in Delaware, he left behind one of the early autobiographical accounts of enslavement, escape, faith, and survival. His story traces a hard journey across Delaware, Virginia, Nova Scotia, and Liberia, giving modern listeners a direct voice from the early nineteenth century.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Solomon Bayley was a formerly enslaved African American writer, born around 1771 in Delaware and remembered chiefly for his 1825 autobiography, A Narrative of Some Remarkable Incidents in the Life of Solomon Bayley, Formerly a Slave in the State of Delaware, North America. The book is among the earlier published slave narratives and is especially valued for the way it combines personal history with religious reflection.
Bayley’s narrative recounts being separated from his family, taken into Virginia, and struggling to secure freedom for himself and his loved ones. His life appears to have carried him well beyond the United States: sources connect him with Nova Scotia and later with Liberia, and surviving letters show that he remained an active correspondent in the years after his book appeared.
Not much is known about him beyond what survives in his own writing and related records, which makes his autobiography all the more important. It stands as both a firsthand account of enslavement and a moving record of perseverance, family loyalty, and faith.