1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. And when 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: I started researching today's topic, I was several days in 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 1: and I kept second guessing myself because it seemed absolutely 6 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: impossible that we had not already covered this person. I've 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: had the same phenomenon happened to me. Yeah, we're talking 8 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: about James Forton today. And he's one of those figures 9 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: that has really emerged as an icon in the abolitionist movement. 10 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: He's someone people love to write about. Um. As a 11 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: child and a young man, he was part of the 12 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 1: British colonies as they were rebelling against rule from the throne, 13 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: and he both saw and participated in the Revolutionary War 14 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 1: that led to the US gaining independence. And as an 15 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: adult he turned his influence to the causes of abolition 16 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: and civil rights. And it was one of those things 17 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:00,279 Speaker 1: where I kept going and I was working, and I 18 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,319 Speaker 1: was several thousand pages into writing, and I pink, Tracy went, 19 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: we didn't do this already, did we? Because how could 20 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: we not have? Yeah? Well, and uh, and his name 21 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: may sound familiar because of previous name drop, which will 22 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: get to you in the episode, But yeah, I did 23 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: the same thing where I was like, did did did we? No? 24 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: I fully expect to find some weird hidden thing that 25 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: for some reason we couldn't find in any of our 26 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: indexes or archive lists. So I'll be like, oh, yeah, 27 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: totally previous host did this, and I'll be like, how 28 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: did I never find it? When you've been writing podcasts 29 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: for seven years, it's easy to not remember anymore what 30 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: you've done. Yeah, I don't. I always feel bad when 31 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: we do a live show, which I missed desperately. That 32 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: is truly one of the things I am missing the 33 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: most during this pandemic. That people will ask a question 34 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: about something that one of us has researched like two 35 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: years prior, or sometimes even less than, and I'll be like, 36 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: I don't remember any of this. I'm so sorry. Sometimes 37 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: I don't even remember that we did that episode. Oh yeah. 38 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: There are times we've both experienced where we go through 39 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: the archives or we're talking about something and we don't 40 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: remember ever doing it, and like one of us will 41 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: be like, I don't remember ever doing this, and it'll 42 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: be like you wrote it, but it happens. It's a lot. Again, 43 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: if you're doing a research paper essentially every single week 44 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: for seven years, yeah, you can't retain all of it. No, 45 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: your brand gets a little crowded. So today's subject, who 46 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: we're pretty sure we haven't done an episode on previously 47 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: is James Morton. Uh. He was born on September two, 48 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty six and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And sometimes you'll find 49 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: his family's name listed as Fortune f O R t 50 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: U N E rather than Forton. And James was part 51 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: of the fourth generation of his family to live in 52 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,399 Speaker 1: North America. The Fortin's had been in Pennsylvania for three 53 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: of those generations. His grandfather had been from West Africa 54 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: and was taken to Philadelphia as an enslaved man in 55 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: the six teen eighties. Although we do not know a 56 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: whole lot more than that about him. We do not 57 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,959 Speaker 1: even know his name. That great grandfather had a child 58 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: with an enslaved woman that was James Morton's grandfather. And 59 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: although there's no clear information on exactly how it happened, 60 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: Forton's grandfather was able to secure his own freedom. Uh. 61 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: That is, according to James's accounts, Yeah, there's no record 62 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: of that. We don't know what kind of manumission or 63 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: freedom happened, just that it was something James told everybody. Yes, 64 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: my grandfather gained his own freedom. Uh. Forton's parents are 65 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: a little bit mysterious as well in terms of the 66 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: details of their life. His father, who is sometimes referred 67 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: to as Thomas Fortune, was, according to James, born a freeman. 68 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: Thomas was educated enough to read and write. He was 69 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: a sailmaker by trade that will come up again, and 70 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: he worked for a man named Robert Bridges. Bridges was 71 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: born to Irish parents in the Colonies, and over time 72 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: he became quite wealthy in his business, and so he 73 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: both employed free black craftsman at least we know of 74 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: Thomas and then later on we'll talk about his relationship 75 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: with James, but he also had enslaved black people working 76 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: in his sale offt as well. We also don't have 77 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:18,280 Speaker 1: a lot of information on James's mother, Margaret. It's believed 78 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: that she was in her mid forties when James was born, 79 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: and we don't know anything else about her. We don't 80 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: know whether she was ever enslaved. No biography there. Yeah, 81 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,119 Speaker 1: the background is not there. It's interesting because she lived 82 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: for quite a while and lived with James, but it 83 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: was all of her story is pretty much focused on 84 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: on James's story, and so we don't know what her 85 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: personal life was like before she became a wife and mother. 86 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,720 Speaker 1: But as a child, James sometimes accompanied his father when 87 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: he went to Bridges's shop to work in the sale loft, 88 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: and James would have been given assorted tasks. They're like 89 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 1: sweeping and sometimes sorting scraps for potential recycling, like to 90 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: see if they were big enough to use for a patch. 91 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: He also may have prepared be wax for the sailmakers 92 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: to run their sewing thread through. But eventually young James 93 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: did learn to sew sales, and the idea in all 94 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: of this was that James was going to be completely 95 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: prepared to support himself through a stable and lucrative trade. 96 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: This was all very deliberately done by his father, Thomas, 97 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: thinking about his family's financial stability. Also went way beyond 98 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: teaching James a trade. Thomas also took small commissions for himself, 99 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: and when we say small, we mean jobs that involved sales, 100 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: literally small enough that he could work on them at 101 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: home without the benefit of a large loft space to 102 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: lay out all of the cuts of canvas he would need, 103 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: and then Thomas used the money that he earned through 104 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: his side work to set up a lending business so 105 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: that he could be paid back with interest uh when 106 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: he loaned money to clients, and then he could further 107 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: grow his holdings that way. In late seventeen seventy three 108 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: or early seventeen seventy four, when James was still just seven, 109 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: his father died. The details of the ill us that 110 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: led to this death are unknown, but Margaret then left 111 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: to figure out how to provide for her children. James 112 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: and his younger sister, Abigail, reached out to her husband's 113 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: acquaintances and business associates to try to pull together a 114 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: plan to get James educated and to keep food on 115 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,239 Speaker 1: the table. From seventeen seventy three to seventeen seventy five, 116 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 1: James attended a Quaker school, the Friends African School, But 117 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: then when James was just nine, the school ran into 118 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: an array of problems. There was financial issues and the 119 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: failing health of the school's teacher, so it had to 120 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: close often. It kept up kind of a sputtering schedule. Meanwhile, 121 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: the family needed James to work to help support them, 122 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: and his time in school ended because of that. James 123 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: continued to be a voracious reader long after his formal 124 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: schooling with the friends ended though. Yeah, that was a 125 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: kid that loved books. And Margaret was working. She was 126 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: doing like taking and mending and stuff, but like to 127 00:06:57,920 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 1: support the three of them and pay their rent, it 128 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: was just not enough. So James started working for a shopkeeper. 129 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: And because he was still just a boy at this point, 130 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: remember he's like nine, this work was kind of like 131 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: cleaning the store, stalking the shelves. It's been theorized that 132 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: he probably served as an occasional clerk. And of course, 133 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: all of this upheaval in James's personal life was happening 134 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: as the colonies were going through their own upheaval. Yeah, 135 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: James was a boy in Philadelphia as the Revolutionary War 136 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: was brewing. He was still just nine when he heard 137 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: the Declaration of Independence being read publicly for the first 138 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: time on July eight, seventeen seventy six. When the British 139 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: marched into Philadelphia and took possession of the city on 140 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: September seventeen seventy seven, James witnessed that as well, yeah, 141 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: there has been. I saw an interesting discussion of this 142 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: in in one of the pieces I was reading about 143 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: why his why some families, particularly black families did not 144 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: leave and and there's a story and that's like they 145 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: didn't have anywhere to go. Um, a lot of people 146 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: just did not have the means, both black and white, 147 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: to leave the city when they knew that this occupation 148 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: was going to happen, so they kind of just hunkered 149 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: down and waited it out. But after the British moved 150 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: out of the city, Philadelphia became a rallying spot for privateers, 151 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: and this meant that the shipyards once again became very 152 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: busy as investors set about outfitting existing ships for privateering 153 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: or commissioning new ships to be built specifically for that purpose. 154 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: And because of the ongoing war, which had deeply impacted 155 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: the import of goods from Europe, this was also a 156 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: time that inflation was a very intense problem, so James 157 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: and his family would have needed all of the money 158 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: they could get just to make ends meet. As he 159 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,680 Speaker 1: reached his team years and was able to take on 160 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: more demanding work, James joined the crew of a privateering vessel. 161 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: This was the Royal Louis. He was fourteen at the time. 162 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 1: Because he knew about sale, construction and repair, he was 163 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: really an asset for the Louise captain, which was Stephen Decatur. 164 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: James's mother, Margaret, wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the smooth but 165 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: she did consent to it. The plan was that the 166 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 1: Royal Louis, which left Philadelphia with a crew of two 167 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: hundred men, would take other ships and then deploy members 168 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: of the crew to sail those ships. James was one 169 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: of twenty black crew members, and at this point the 170 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: British held both New York and Charleston, and Decatur had 171 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: been commissioned to cruise along the coast between the two 172 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: cities in search of British vessels. The Royal Louis took 173 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: four other ships with very little resistance, although the times 174 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 1: that there were firefights definitely left an impression on Forton. 175 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,959 Speaker 1: Uh There is some discrepancy in Forton's memories, as relayed 176 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: to a family friend later in life, versus historical record 177 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: regarding which ship put up a fight, but the primary 178 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: takeaway was that James saw both shipmates and the crew 179 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: of the other ship killed. Although he himself was uninjured. 180 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: This first voyage was both lucrative for Forton and gave 181 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 1: him a sense of pride at having helped the colonies 182 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: in their fight against British rule. The Louis had intercepted 183 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: British vessels that were carrying military dispatches, and so that 184 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: disrupted the flow of information that was vital to British planning. 185 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: James once again set out as a member of the 186 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: Royal Louis crew in October seventy one, as the Siege 187 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: of Yorktown was underway, but this time the Royal Louis 188 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: was captured by the British ship Amphion. That happened almost 189 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: immediately after they left port, and James became a prisoner. 190 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: He was naturally worried, recounting later that his mind was 191 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: quote harassed with the most painful forebodings from a knowledge 192 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: that rarely were prisoners of his complexion exchanged. They were 193 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: sent to the West Indies, and they're doomed to a 194 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: life of slavery. But that did not happen. Instead, James 195 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: Forton was assigned by the captain of the Amphion, which 196 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: was John. Basically, he was assigned to be a companion 197 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: to the captain's twelve year old son, Henry. This may 198 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: have started out essentially as a babysitting assignment for a 199 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: kid who was at See for the first time, but 200 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: according to Forton's account, he and Henry became real friends 201 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: and Captain Baisley started to treat him more and more 202 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: as his child's friend and less like a prisoner. Yeah, 203 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: there was one particular incident that's recounted where the two 204 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: boys were playing marbles and James made this particularly amazing 205 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: move and so Henry was like, everybody, come look at this, 206 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: it's amazing, And later he would kind of jest that 207 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: being good at marble's had saved his life. But James 208 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: Forton did end up on a prison ship for a 209 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,679 Speaker 1: while though, and we're gonna pause here for a sponsor 210 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 1: break before we get into that part of his story. 211 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 1: So when the Ampion regrouped with a British prison ship, 212 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: Captain Baisley actually gave James Swarton the opportunity to instead 213 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: travel to England with his son Henry. James turned down 214 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: the offer by saying that he had quote been taken 215 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: prisoner for the liberties of my country and never will 216 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: prove a traitor to her interest. He was then listed 217 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: on the prison ship Jersey as prisoner number forty one 218 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: O two, carrying with him a letter from Captain Baisley 219 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: to the Captain of the Jersey asking that James quote 220 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: not be forgotten on the list of exchanges. While aboard 221 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: the Jersey, James made a deal with a Continental Navy officer. 222 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: At one point that officer was to be exchanged for 223 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: a bit of British officer, and the steal was so 224 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: James could hide in the man's sea chest and be 225 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,559 Speaker 1: exchanged along with them. But when the moment actually came, 226 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: James gave his spot away to a boy who was 227 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: two years younger than he was. That was Daniel Bruton. 228 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: And Daniel made it to safety and would become James 229 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: Morton's friend for life. This was a huge sacrifice, aside 230 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 1: from the fact that there were horrible sanitary conditions in 231 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: the prison ship. One thing I read said something like 232 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: eight men died every single day just from the overcrowding 233 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: and the bad hygiene. The British didn't even consider privateer 234 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: as continental prisoners. They didn't recognize the letters of mark 235 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: that had established those privateering ships as working for the 236 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:11,439 Speaker 1: Continental Congress, and so that made James and his fellow 237 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: crew members pirates in the eyes of their captors, and 238 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: so James was in a really precarious situation. Simultaneously, even 239 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: on the continental military side, privateers were not valued the 240 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: same way. They were not considered equal exchanges for red coats. 241 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: Despite all of the odds against him, James survived long 242 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: enough for his name to make its way up the 243 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: exchange list, and after seven months as a captive, he 244 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: was released. He was dropped in New York and walked 245 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: to Trent And barefoot before getting food and assistance. When 246 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: he made it back to Philadelphia, he was not in 247 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: good health. He was thin and malnourished, to the point 248 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 1: that a lot of his hair had fallen out. But 249 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: to his mother and sister, who really thought he had 250 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 1: died at sea, his reappearance probably seemed like a miracle. 251 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: And also at this point he was still just a teenager. Yeah, 252 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:01,199 Speaker 1: I don't even know if he had turned fifteen yet 253 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: at this time. This all happened in a very short 254 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: period of time. But a year later, the war was 255 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: over and James was physically recovered and he was working, 256 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: probably in the sail loft of Robert Bridges again to 257 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: keep the family housed and fed. During this time, James's 258 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: sister Abigail, married a sailor named William Dunbar, who left 259 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: almost immediately after the wedding to sail to London aboard 260 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: a ship called the Commerce, which was run by a 261 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: merchant named Thomas Truxton, and James went with him. When 262 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: Jamesporton arrived in London, he was seventeen. William Dunbar went 263 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: back to Philadelphia aboard the Commerce as soon as the 264 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: cargo was unloaded and the new cargo brought on. But James, 265 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: knowing that he now had a brother in law who 266 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: could help look after the family, decided to stay in 267 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: England for a while. As a young man who was 268 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: able to make and repair sales, he could easily pick 269 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: up work along the docks and in the shipyards of London. 270 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: For James, this was definitely not an instance of a 271 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 1: young man who was looking to sew his wild oats 272 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: or enjoy some unrestrained party time. He is often described 273 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,280 Speaker 1: as pious. He never drank and was really quite disdainful 274 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: of alcohol. He would say later in his life that 275 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: he had never had a drop, and he seems to 276 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: have spent his free time kind of walking around the city, 277 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: observing the social and political norms of life in London 278 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: at the time, particularly in regard to race. While he 279 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: was less likely to stand out in the city because 280 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: of the color of his skin, James certainly witnessed the 281 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: racism involved in a city where black loyalist refugees from 282 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: the war were being referred to as an infestation. This 283 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: was also when the idea had started to take hold 284 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: of a colony in Sierra Leone where the British government 285 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: could ship unwanted black refugees. We will come back to 286 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: this later, but the truth is we actually don't really 287 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: know what James Forton thought or saw when he was 288 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: in London. Specifically, it is unclear whether he had always 289 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: intended that this would be a temporary visit, or if 290 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: he had actually at some point thought he might relocate 291 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: there and then later changed his mind for some reason. 292 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: There is no real record even of what ship he 293 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: sailed back to Philadelphia on. There has been speculation that 294 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: he once again met up with the Commerce and took 295 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: it back because it was making regular runs back and forth, 296 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: but we do not know for certain. All we know 297 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: is that he did return home to Philadelphia in Once 298 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: he was in Pennsylvania again, his next line of work 299 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: wasn't on the water. He officially became a sailmaker's apprentice 300 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: under Robert Bridges. Bridges was a lot more than a 301 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: boss to James. He was a mentor perhaps even a 302 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: father figure. Although a lot of the specifics of their 303 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: relationship are pretty speculative, it appears, based on records that 304 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: Forton lived with Bridges for a while, which was not 305 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: unusual for an apprentice, and that means that he would 306 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: have been a free black man in a home where 307 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: enslaved people made up the household staff. Yeah. This also 308 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,400 Speaker 1: gets into the discussion that I didn't really delve into 309 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: here of the indenture of an apprentice, and there is 310 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,199 Speaker 1: some discussion there to be made about whether or not 311 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: you're still a free person at that point. Certainly, indentures 312 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: were not in trade learning crafts exclusive to black people 313 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: at this point. Um. But it's just another kind of 314 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: nuance to consider in all of this. Um. And we 315 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: have also talked on the show before about the inherent 316 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: conflict of stories like this. A person, specifically a black 317 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: person that participates or lives in a system that enslaves 318 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:33,200 Speaker 1: other black people. Uh Forton's family had its own complicated 319 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: history with slavery, although the Fortins or Fortunes, depending on 320 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: which historical record you're reading and which one any given 321 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 1: individual in that family favored. Although they were black, James 322 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: had an aunt who purchased enslaved people. This was not 323 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: exactly uncommon in Philadelphia and other cities. Enslaved labor was 324 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: so much a part of the cultural and economic norms 325 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:58,239 Speaker 1: at the time that almost anyone with any kind of 326 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: financial stability or wealth was probably involved in enslavement. Back 327 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: to the relationship between Robert Bridges and James Parton. Bridges 328 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: even purchased a house in James Parton's name, and he 329 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: trained Forton to become an expert in designer and sailmaker. 330 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: This was all pretty unusual for a number of reasons 331 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: other than the ones that we've just mentioned. First, Forton 332 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: was the only free black person working in the sail loft. 333 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: Other black men worked there, but they were all enslaved. Additionally, 334 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 1: Robert Bridges and his wife Jemima, had children of their own, 335 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: and if things had progressed in the usual way, one 336 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: of the Bridge's sons would have been the one taking 337 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,159 Speaker 1: over the family business, but that did not happen. In 338 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: six Bridges promoted James Forton to foreman and then he 339 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,679 Speaker 1: was made junior partner. And in part this was because 340 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: Robert Bridges, who had done very well for himself over 341 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: the years, he had made additional money in privateering by 342 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,159 Speaker 1: uh purchasing privateering ships, even though he himself did not 343 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: ever sail on them. He was kind of angling for 344 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: his sons to become merchants and not tradesmen. He wanted 345 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: to push them up the socioeconomic ladder, and so, in 346 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: wishing to advance the position of his children, Robert had 347 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: created a space where James was the one that was 348 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: on a path to take over the business one day. 349 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 1: But to be clear, James was a hard worker. He 350 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: was very good at what he did. The time he 351 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: spent on the sea informed his work with practical knowledge 352 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 1: and experience that even Robert Bridges didn't have. And as 353 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: he took on greater and greater responsibility, the loft clients 354 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: recognized that James Sporton knew what he was talking about. 355 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: Although some accounts of his life include mentioned that he 356 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: patented a sale management system. There are no records to 357 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: indicate that that was actually the case now, but he 358 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 1: was undisputably like the sale expert um because he understood 359 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: like what it even meant to like lift a sale, 360 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 1: which a lot of salemakers didn't really know from personal experience. 361 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: Like they would hire in sailors sometimes to do extra 362 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,160 Speaker 1: sewing who were like on land for a little while, 363 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:06,640 Speaker 1: but there weren't people designing these sales who had really 364 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: been at sea very often at all, And so James 365 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: was like miles ahead of everyone in terms of experiential knowledge. 366 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: As the eighteenth century was coming to a close, James 367 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: reached a new transition point in his life in Robert 368 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:24,639 Speaker 1: Bridges retired and Forton took over the salemaking company. With 369 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: the help of Robert Bridges, he had become both a 370 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: homeowner and a business owner, both of which were very 371 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: unusual for black residents of Philadelphia in the late seventeen hundreds. 372 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,199 Speaker 1: This transition was pretty simple in terms of property, but 373 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: the workforce was a little different. While the apprentices stayed 374 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: trusting that James Forton could train them, the men who 375 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 1: had finished their apprenticeships weren't really as willing to stay 376 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: under this new ownership. While they had been answering to 377 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 1: James for quite some time as their supervisor, they had 378 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: some concerns that as a business owner, a black man 379 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:00,919 Speaker 1: would automatically lose clients because of prejudice. There was a 380 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: concern about financial stability as well. James was the only 381 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,679 Speaker 1: black person in Philadelphia at the time who owned a 382 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,919 Speaker 1: business the size of this sail loft, and none of 383 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: the employees knew what was going to happen. Allegedly, Robert 384 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: Bridges moves things out, although whether that was through a 385 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:22,199 Speaker 1: financial guarantee or just by reiterating the good reputation that 386 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: James Sporton had with all the other captains and the 387 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 1: shipowners in town, like, that's really unclear. Yeah, we don't know. 388 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: If he kind of made like a cash reserve and 389 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,399 Speaker 1: said like, look, guys, you're gonna get paid. This reserve 390 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 1: is here in case anything goes wrong, or if he 391 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: just was like, are you fools. Every captain knows that 392 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 1: this is a person you go to. They're not going 393 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: to go somewhere else because you're not going to get 394 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: the same level of service, And Bridges was by the way, 395 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: absolutely right. Uh. Thomas Willing, a banker in one of 396 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 1: the city's wealthiest men, really kind of became one of 397 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: Forton's first really like consistant champions and patrons in this regard. 398 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,439 Speaker 1: He regularly patronized the loft, and Forton eventually named one 399 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 1: of his sons after the businessman. His third son was 400 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: named Thomas Willing. Francis Forton Bridges died two years after 401 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:15,919 Speaker 1: the business changed hands, so he did not get to 402 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: enjoy his retirement very long. But if anyone had been 403 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 1: worried about James Forton continuing the firm's prosperity without his 404 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: mentors kind of standing by in the wings, they really 405 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: did not need to have been concerned. James Forton and sons, 406 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 1: as it eventually came to be known, continued to have 407 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,399 Speaker 1: success and to be a well respected business with a 408 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: dedicated clientele. And this was all the case, we should 409 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: point out. While the country's economic situation was not all 410 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: that stable. Up to this point in his life, James 411 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: had been taking care of his mother and sister, but 412 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,720 Speaker 1: he also wanted a family of his own, and we'll 413 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: talk about that after we have a little sponsor break. 414 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 1: If I of years after acquiring the salemaking business, James 415 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: met a young woman named Martha Batty who went by Patty, 416 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: and not a whole lot is known about her life before. 417 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,800 Speaker 1: She and James married on November tenth of eighteen oh three, 418 00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:16,200 Speaker 1: but unfortunately, their newly wed bliss lasted less than a 419 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 1: year before Martha died. Seven months later. She became ill 420 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: and passed, and the cause of her death is unknown. 421 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,120 Speaker 1: James did not really ever want to talk about her 422 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,120 Speaker 1: very much at all for the rest of his life, 423 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 1: so we don't really know much about their relationship or, 424 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: like I said, her, what caused her passing. Not long 425 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 1: after Patty died, his sister Abigail also lost her husband, 426 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: so from that point on, James took care of Abigail 427 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 1: and her children for the rest of their lives. Forton 428 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: got married again, this time on December tenth, eighteen o five. 429 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: His bride was Charlotte Van Deen, who was twenty at 430 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,159 Speaker 1: that time. There was another death in the family and 431 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: May of the following year, James's mother, Margaret, died at 432 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,080 Speaker 1: the age of eighty four. When James and Charlot it 433 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: welcome to their first child in September of eighteen six. 434 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,160 Speaker 1: They named her Margaretta in honor of the deceased matriarch 435 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: of the family. James and Charlotte had nine children's total, 436 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: there was Charlotte who died in childhood, Harriet James Jr. 437 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: Robert Bridges, Sarah Louisa, Mary, Isabella, Thomas Willing, and William. Yeah, 438 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: many of those names you will recognize because he often 439 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: would name people after Patron's mentors, people who were important 440 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 1: to him and his family. Forton's business model as he 441 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:31,679 Speaker 1: ran the sail loft in support of his growing family, 442 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:36,199 Speaker 1: was really progressive. He hired both black and white employees 443 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,639 Speaker 1: to work in his loft, and there was no separation 444 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,720 Speaker 1: along race lines, and his business flourished for the first 445 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: nine years, so much so that he was sometimes referenced 446 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,399 Speaker 1: in the press and in travelogs as this example of 447 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 1: black prosperity in Philadelphia, which of course ignores the fact 448 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: that like he was a complete outlier. Um they kind 449 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: of used him like, no, you could have the their 450 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,480 Speaker 1: dreams full filled, and it's like, well, yes, but one 451 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: dream Like there were a lot of people not given 452 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: the sort of lucky breaks that he had had. Then 453 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: the Embargo Act of eighteen o seven really meant that 454 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,919 Speaker 1: trade came to a standstill, so ships sales were not 455 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,680 Speaker 1: in demand anymore. Things picked back up in eighteen ten 456 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: when the foreign trade restrictions were lifted, and then the 457 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: War of eighteen twelve once again put everything into a 458 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: really perilous state, particularly during a blockade of the Delaware River. 459 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:33,200 Speaker 1: The trade continued through Philadelphia as supplies were moving inland, 460 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,720 Speaker 1: a lot of business owners just didn't make it through 461 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:40,159 Speaker 1: with their livelihoods. Intact, James was, as one biographer put it, 462 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: luckier or perhaps more prudent than many. He did experience 463 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,120 Speaker 1: some losses during all of this economic upheaval, but he 464 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 1: was really careful with his business, and he stayed financially stable, 465 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: and he was able to expand his fortunes once all 466 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,480 Speaker 1: of that instability had kind of settled down a little bit. 467 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,439 Speaker 1: He also whether to real estate bubble in a city 468 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 1: and a panic in eighteen nineteen, and like his father, 469 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 1: he put his money to work by lending, and he 470 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: also made real estate investments. Over the years of working 471 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,880 Speaker 1: on the waterfront, Forton rescued a dozen people from drowning. 472 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,399 Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty one. He was recognized for having saved 473 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,119 Speaker 1: so many with a certificate of heroism from the Humane 474 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: Society of Philadelphia. The certificate remained one of his most 475 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,120 Speaker 1: prized possessions for the rest of his life. He framed 476 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: it and displayed it in the sitting room of his home. Yeah, 477 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 1: there are varying accounts of whether the number was actually 478 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: twelve or not. Some go as low as four, and 479 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,239 Speaker 1: some are like it could have been even more. This 480 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,639 Speaker 1: is a port city where people were always falling in 481 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:45,639 Speaker 1: the water. Um usually twelve is where the consensus lands. 482 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: As Philadelphia was struggling to find its footing as it 483 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 1: was surpassed as a port city by New York. James 484 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 1: and his sons had to work really, really hard to 485 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: keep the business going, and it was not easy, but 486 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,919 Speaker 1: they managed to continue to be respected and seen as 487 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: a great success. Visitors would come to the Sale loft 488 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: to marvel at Forton's success and his integrated workforce, which 489 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:12,639 Speaker 1: was often touted as being about fifty fifty black and white, 490 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: was written about in the Anti Slavery Record in eighteen 491 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: thirty four. Of course, in spite of all the press 492 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:22,440 Speaker 1: and interest from the general public, many of whom openly 493 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 1: praised Forton's business, the Journeyman's Sailmaker's Benevolent Society of Philadelphia, 494 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:32,440 Speaker 1: only had white members. In thirty eight, Philadelphia's trade register 495 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: showed nineteen black sailmakers in the city. All but one 496 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,360 Speaker 1: was working at James Forton and Sons, and three were 497 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,959 Speaker 1: James and his sons, James Jr. And Robert. Though he 498 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: was running a very successful business, you would think very 499 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 1: busy with all those children, James Forton still made time 500 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:53,600 Speaker 1: to participate in church and community efforts as well. As 501 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: a member of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, 502 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: James put his business acumen to work and he spearheaded 503 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 1: fund raising efforts to help black men and women in 504 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:07,400 Speaker 1: Philadelphia get educations. He also advised both the church itself 505 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 1: and other members of the church in business affairs, and 506 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:12,680 Speaker 1: he would help them when they needed assistance with legal 507 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: matters as well. But even more than that, he emerged 508 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,880 Speaker 1: as a leader in the abolition movement and a champion 509 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,439 Speaker 1: of civil rights for black citizens. He had been connected 510 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: from a very early age to people in Philadelphia who 511 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: were abolitionists. Anthony Beneze, who was a well known abolitionist 512 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: and educator, had known James's father, and it helped James's mother, Margaret, 513 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,239 Speaker 1: arranged for James to attend the Friends African School as 514 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: a boy. Beneze was one of the founders of the 515 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:44,560 Speaker 1: Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, 516 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: which evolved into the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Pennsylvania had passed 517 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: the Gradual Abolition Act in March of seventeen eighty, when 518 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 1: James was still thirteen, and though this is widely touted 519 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: as a big step in abolition history, and it was 520 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,120 Speaker 1: the first of many said steps that were pushed for 521 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,360 Speaker 1: by abolitionists, it also meant that James, at a very 522 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:09,000 Speaker 1: impressionable age, saw firsthand how legislators were trying to appease 523 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 1: in slavers with this law by grandfathering in their right 524 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: to continue to keep people as property so long as 525 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: they registered them each year. And even as freedom was 526 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: afforded to more and more black residents, it didn't really 527 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 1: provide for a transition out of poverty once they were free, 528 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: and James saw that as the number of free black 529 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: inhabitants of the city grew, so did the hostility from 530 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: Philadelphia's white population. Forarton worked in the abolitionist cause from 531 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 1: an early age. He was one of the abolitionists who 532 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: petitioned Congress to change the seventeen ninety three Fugitive Slave 533 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: Law in the early eighteen hundreds, and once he had 534 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 1: a family, James was more passionate than ever about abolition 535 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:52,160 Speaker 1: and equality. He wrote the pamphlet Letters from a Man 536 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 1: of Color in eighteen thirteen, and its desire for his 537 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: children to have all the same rights as any other 538 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: citizen is clear in the text He wrote to implore legislators, quote, 539 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: are you a parent? Have you children around whom your 540 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: affections are bound by those delightful bonds that none but 541 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,840 Speaker 1: a parent can know? Are they the delight of your 542 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: prosperity and the solace of your afflictions? If all this 543 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 1: be true to you, we submit our cause the parents 544 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 1: feelings cannot air. In that same pamphlet, Forton wrote about 545 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: the obvious inequality between the white and black residents of Philadelphia, 546 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: particularly on holidays. He spoke specifically about the Fourth of 547 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: July and the contradictory nature of celebrating liberty when you 548 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: compared the experiences of Philadelphia's black and white residents. He wrote, quote, 549 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 1: it is a well known fact that black people, on 550 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 1: certain days of public jubilee dare not be seen after 551 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: twelve o'clock in the day upon the field to enjoy 552 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: the times. For no sooner do the fumes of that 553 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: potent devil liquor mount into the brain than the poor 554 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: black is assailed. Is it not wonderful that the day 555 00:30:57,440 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: set apart for the festival of liberty should be abu 556 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,440 Speaker 1: used by the advocates of freedom in endeavoring to sully 557 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: what they professed to adore. So if the name James 558 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,760 Speaker 1: Barton has been sounding familiar to you on this podcast, 559 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:12,000 Speaker 1: it might be because we did mention him in our 560 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,280 Speaker 1: episode on Paul Cuffey. The two men had a number 561 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 1: of things in common. They both became wealthy through maritime interests. 562 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: Cuffey had started to turn a profit in a shipping business, 563 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: and like Forton, invested in real estate. You may recall 564 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: that Cuffey was a supporter of relocation of Africans and 565 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: people of African descent in the United States to Sierra Leone, 566 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,960 Speaker 1: and we referenced this idea earlier in this episode. Although 567 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,400 Speaker 1: it going on in Great Britain, but of course that 568 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 1: also was an idea that spread across the Atlantic, and 569 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: in the Paul Cuffee episode, we talked about the failed 570 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 1: efforts that preceded Cuffe's involvement in the movement, which started 571 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen ten. Forton initially supported Cuffey's work in this area, 572 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: but he, like so many others, eventually backed away from 573 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: this idea and renounced it. He had that change of 574 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: heart largely after arranging a number of meetings where people 575 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,200 Speaker 1: discussed the realities of this plan, and he came to 576 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 1: realize that for most people that he talked to you, 577 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 1: this is just not something they wanted to do. Many 578 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: of them, of course, had no immediate ties to Africa 579 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 1: and had never even been there. They considered themselves Americans, 580 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,360 Speaker 1: and they didn't want to abandon that. Being a sailmaker 581 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 1: and an abolitionist also came with some tricky choices to navigate. 582 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: Fabric made in the United States became a bigger issue 583 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 1: as the country gained the ability to manufacture textiles, specifically duck, 584 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: which is a heavy duty canvas that's used in sailmaking. 585 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:38,720 Speaker 1: This was part of an effort to get away from 586 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,959 Speaker 1: the reliance on European goods, but it also meant that 587 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: the cotton industry, which was intertwined so deeply with slavery, 588 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: was also flourishing. We do not know James Forton's thoughts 589 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: on this, If he ever recorded any, they are lost, 590 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: but we do know that he did continue to use 591 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: cotton duck and cotton duck that was manufactured in the 592 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: United States. But we also know that his daughter, Harriet, 593 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: for example, who was married to Robert Purvis, was an 594 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: active participant in the Colored Free Produce Association, which chewed 595 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 1: the use of anything that had been produced by enslaved people. 596 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: So there was almost certainly an awareness of how success 597 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,440 Speaker 1: in his field was tied, at least in some way 598 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 1: to enslavement, although he also leveraged his own success to 599 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: combat the institution of slavery. And it's also said that 600 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 1: he refused to make or repair sales for any ship 601 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: that he believed to have been involved in slave trade, 602 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,360 Speaker 1: So the ethics of his business do appear to have 603 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: mostly been aligned with his anti slavery views. Forton routinely 604 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 1: used his wealth to promote the idea of freedom of 605 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,480 Speaker 1: enslaved people and the rights of free black people, and 606 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,240 Speaker 1: his money was likely used to purchase the freedom of 607 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 1: several people. Because of his many connections with mariners, business leaders, 608 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: and lawyers who camped his business affairs, James also had 609 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,520 Speaker 1: a network of people who he could turn to in 610 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: order to stay informed and occasionally to leverage his influence. 611 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: Forton's own influence actually had a very lengthy reach. There 612 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,880 Speaker 1: is a specific story about a relative of his, so, 613 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,200 Speaker 1: through a series of bad events, one of his nephews 614 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 1: sons had ended up enslaved in New Orleans when the 615 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: man that the ten year old was apprenticed to sold him, 616 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,920 Speaker 1: and that boy, Amos did not immediately mention that he 617 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,360 Speaker 1: had a wealthy uncle in Philadelphia. He was kind of 618 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: too terrified to say much of anything, by the way 619 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:33,279 Speaker 1: the account reads. But once he did actually say this, 620 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: the story goes that Robert Layton, who was the man 621 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: that had enslaved him through purchase, recognized the name James 622 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:43,399 Speaker 1: Forton and looked into the matter, and ultimately this led 623 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:47,640 Speaker 1: to Amos Dunbar being returned to his family. In eighteen thirty, 624 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: Forton was part of the first National Negro Convention. He 625 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:55,320 Speaker 1: spoke out against the American Colonization Society At that event 626 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: and the years that followed, he once again urged government 627 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:03,719 Speaker 1: reform and asking Pennsylvania State legislature to forego restricting free 628 00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: black people to immigrate into the state. The Forton children 629 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: also got very much involved in the cause, and as 630 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,400 Speaker 1: they aged into adulthood, they wrote, and they spoke, and 631 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,239 Speaker 1: they helped form abolitionist groups. His daughters, in particular, were 632 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:21,080 Speaker 1: really really good writers. James and Charlotte Forton's home became 633 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,720 Speaker 1: a hub of abolitionist activity, both for work and for planning, 634 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:27,920 Speaker 1: as well as just for socializing. Parton was one of 635 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,840 Speaker 1: the driving forces that got The Liberator, which was the 636 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,240 Speaker 1: abolitionist paper run by William Lloyd Garrison, off the ground. 637 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 1: Not only did Forton use his own money to finance 638 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,880 Speaker 1: its publishing, but he also raised funds from other donors 639 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:45,240 Speaker 1: to ensure its ongoing printing. Forton also frequently wrote letters 640 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:48,880 Speaker 1: to the press speaking out against slavery and for civil rights, 641 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 1: although he usually used a pen name for this. He 642 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: favored signing off as a colored Philadelphian or a man 643 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,680 Speaker 1: of color as the two most common ones, but in 644 00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:01,520 Speaker 1: a lot of cases include In his eighteen thirteen pamphlet 645 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,759 Speaker 1: most of Philadelphia knew that these writings were the work 646 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 1: of James Forton. In eighteen forty, the Philadelphia Board of 647 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:11,799 Speaker 1: Education planned to close the only public high school for 648 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:15,920 Speaker 1: black students in Philadelphia, and Forton intervened and rallying his 649 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:18,960 Speaker 1: friends to promise to aid in the school's enrollment numbers 650 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,840 Speaker 1: and support, Forton managed to save the Lombard Street School. 651 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:27,359 Speaker 1: There is sort of a sad irony there where the 652 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,440 Speaker 1: school board ended up closing another school because they were 653 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 1: afraid that the numbers were so low, because these two 654 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,600 Speaker 1: schools were splitting enrollment, and the school they closed had 655 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 1: been the one that he had sent his kids to, 656 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,400 Speaker 1: and so so he kind of doomed one school to 657 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,719 Speaker 1: save another. But um then, beginning in eighteen forty one, 658 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 1: James started to feel unwell, and over that summer he 659 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 1: really started to have difficulty breathing. There has been speculation 660 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,560 Speaker 1: over the years that he may have had tuberculosis, but 661 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:59,120 Speaker 1: there are no medical records to consult, and it's just 662 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,600 Speaker 1: as possible that the various filaments and chemicals that he 663 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: was exposed to throughout his career of sailmaking had damaged 664 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:09,280 Speaker 1: his lungs. James Forton died in March of eighteen forty 665 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:13,040 Speaker 1: two at his Philadelphia home at Third and Lombard. On 666 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:15,240 Speaker 1: the day of his funeral, a huge crowd of people, 667 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:18,560 Speaker 1: hundreds of them, followed the hearse through the city streets 668 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,800 Speaker 1: to show their respect for him. It was really unprecedented 669 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:23,759 Speaker 1: for a black man to receive that kind of a 670 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:27,400 Speaker 1: funeral procession, not just a number, but because the crowd 671 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:30,120 Speaker 1: was made up of both black and white citizens walking together. 672 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:35,680 Speaker 1: Particularly surprising because Philadelphia really remained mired and a lot 673 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:39,439 Speaker 1: of conflicts stemming from racist attitudes of its white inhabitants. 674 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 1: J Miller McKim, who was an associate and a friend 675 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:46,239 Speaker 1: through the Pennsylvania Anti Slavery Society, wrote this about the 676 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:50,120 Speaker 1: funeral procession. Quote, the vast concourse of people of all 677 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,120 Speaker 1: classes and complexions, numbering from three to five thousand, that 678 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 1: followed his remains to the grave bore testimony to the 679 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:02,520 Speaker 1: estimation in which he was universally old. James Sporton's widows, Charlotte, 680 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,360 Speaker 1: lived for more than forty more years after James died, 681 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:07,680 Speaker 1: and was just a few days shy of her hundredth 682 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:10,840 Speaker 1: birthday when she died in the eighteen eighties, His surviving 683 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:14,239 Speaker 1: children continued both his business and his activism. He had 684 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,200 Speaker 1: stipulated in his will that the money he left his 685 00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:20,719 Speaker 1: daughters was theirs and would not become part of any 686 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:24,000 Speaker 1: husband's fortunes. Yeah. I kind of love that detail. That 687 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:29,120 Speaker 1: he was also a little bit of a feminist. Um. Yeah, 688 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:31,440 Speaker 1: he's such a cool figure, and I it's one of 689 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:35,040 Speaker 1: those things. This is a long ish episode, but I 690 00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:38,080 Speaker 1: had to cut so many cool things about him to 691 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: work because there are a cajillion stories that people would 692 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:47,399 Speaker 1: tell about him and their encounters with him. So, as 693 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,879 Speaker 1: our our usual apology, if I left your favorite out, 694 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:56,560 Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Um but yeah, like I said, I can't 695 00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,839 Speaker 1: believe we never talked about it before. Yeah. Yeah, I'm 696 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:05,200 Speaker 1: glad you chose this one because from the brief references 697 00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,640 Speaker 1: to him in the Paul Cuffey episode, it was like 698 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:11,759 Speaker 1: I knew the parts about being involved in the abolition movement. Um, 699 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:15,920 Speaker 1: I knew about his shifting support for the colonization plans 700 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:19,719 Speaker 1: of sending people to Sierra Leone. I did not know 701 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:25,560 Speaker 1: any of the stuff about privateers or sailmaker. Yeah. Uh yeah. 702 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: There's one particular, really really good biography of him and 703 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,000 Speaker 1: it goes into so much detail about sailmaking that I 704 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 1: was like down a rabbit hole of kind of delights 705 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:38,279 Speaker 1: like sewing. Talk Um, but I will shift gears to 706 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:40,080 Speaker 1: do a little bit of listener me if that's cool 707 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:42,879 Speaker 1: with you. That seems good to me. This is from 708 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,600 Speaker 1: our listener. I don't know she pronounces her name Lara 709 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:49,640 Speaker 1: or Laura, but writes Hi, Tracy and Holly. I often 710 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:52,000 Speaker 1: think I'm gonna write you after listening to an episode, 711 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,560 Speaker 1: such as after your episode back in about John Harvey Kellogg. 712 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:59,320 Speaker 1: My great grandparents trained as nurses at Battle Creek under Kellogg, 713 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,360 Speaker 1: with my great grand father being part of an effort 714 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:04,760 Speaker 1: to open a similar sanitarium in Wisconsin before he married 715 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:07,520 Speaker 1: my great grandmother, and then both of them after marriage 716 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:10,600 Speaker 1: working as nurses in Mexico, opening a health food store 717 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,000 Speaker 1: and hydrotherapy clinic in Washington, d C. And then moving 718 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:16,600 Speaker 1: to homestead in Alberta, Canada, where they were the main 719 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:20,320 Speaker 1: medical personnel in a prairie community. Lara, please write that story, 720 00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:24,799 Speaker 1: so um, I want all of that information. But she 721 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:27,400 Speaker 1: goes on. But it was the Isabella Bird episode that 722 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: finally prompted me to write I so appreciated the episode. 723 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,160 Speaker 1: I first learned about her on my honeymoon to Kauai 724 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,920 Speaker 1: in two thousand three, when I bought her book about 725 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:38,520 Speaker 1: the Hawaiian Islands in a gift shop, and then I 726 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:41,080 Speaker 1: became really fascinated with her and read many of her 727 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,040 Speaker 1: other books. I checked my bookshelf and found ones about 728 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:47,960 Speaker 1: the Rockies, Japan, Malaysia, and Tibet. Embellished or not, some 729 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,080 Speaker 1: of the things she did were unusual for a woman 730 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:51,920 Speaker 1: of her time, and I found that aspect of her 731 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:55,239 Speaker 1: writing interesting, including the details of how she traveled, what 732 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,400 Speaker 1: she packed, et cetera. But over time I found her 733 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,000 Speaker 1: writing more problematic for many the reasons you mentioned in 734 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,160 Speaker 1: the podcast. I love the podcast, and I really appreciate 735 00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:06,920 Speaker 1: the diversity of subjects you cover. There have been several 736 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:09,040 Speaker 1: times over the past couple of years that a friend 737 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:11,440 Speaker 1: has posted a link to something on Facebook about a 738 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,960 Speaker 1: historical event, usually a news article looking back at an event, 739 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:16,960 Speaker 1: with a comment along the lines of I had no 740 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,439 Speaker 1: idea about this until recently, and I've been able to say, Hey, 741 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:21,919 Speaker 1: if you want to know more about this, you should 742 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,280 Speaker 1: check out this episode of stuff he was newstry Glass. 743 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:28,760 Speaker 1: Thanks Laura you're like our little, um personal pr person, 744 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:34,719 Speaker 1: which I appreciate. Um, thank you again for one. I'm 745 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:38,879 Speaker 1: really really fascinated about your great grandparents and I really 746 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,680 Speaker 1: do hope you write that book. And also, yeah, Isabella 747 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,359 Speaker 1: Lucy Bird is an interesting creature. I think a lot 748 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:47,360 Speaker 1: of people who maybe were exposed to her writing, you know, 749 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:50,319 Speaker 1: at one point in their lives, as they go through it, uh, 750 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:55,000 Speaker 1: realize over time that it remains fascinating, but it is 751 00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:58,480 Speaker 1: also problematic in its way. Yeah. When we um, when 752 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,960 Speaker 1: we first put that episode on our social media, there 753 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:05,160 Speaker 1: was a surprising to me, like a surprisingly large number 754 00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:08,000 Speaker 1: of people who were like, oh, no, I just started 755 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:09,880 Speaker 1: reading this book and now I'm afraid I'm going to 756 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,879 Speaker 1: learn all the like, all the problematic things about her. 757 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:15,080 Speaker 1: And I was like, I'm surprised that there are this 758 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:18,360 Speaker 1: many people who listen to our show who are reading 759 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:22,600 Speaker 1: her books right now, who don't know right right like 760 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:27,000 Speaker 1: I could see picking up one of her books, but um, yeah, 761 00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:33,560 Speaker 1: and um, it's hard to avoid all of the problematic parts. Yeah. Well, 762 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,600 Speaker 1: and like I said in that episode, I kind of 763 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:37,319 Speaker 1: take for granted that that's going to be the case 764 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:42,120 Speaker 1: of any nineteenth century traveler we talk about right absolutely. 765 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:44,560 Speaker 1: I mean we've seen it happen over and over and over. 766 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:46,640 Speaker 1: But if you would like to write to us, you 767 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:49,239 Speaker 1: can do so. You can do that at History podcast 768 00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:51,440 Speaker 1: at iHeart radio dot com. You can also find us 769 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:54,200 Speaker 1: on social media at missed in History. If you would 770 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:56,359 Speaker 1: like to subscribe to the show, it is easiest pie 771 00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:58,080 Speaker 1: to do so. You can do that in the iHeart 772 00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:01,160 Speaker 1: Radio app, at Apple podcast or wherever it is you listen. 773 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:08,440 Speaker 1: Stuff you missed in History Class is a production of 774 00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,720 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 775 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 776 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:20,360 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H