Jermain Wesley Loguen
Bishop Jermain Loguen, 1835
Born	Jarm Logue February 5, 1813 Davidson County, Tennessee
Died	30 September 1872(1872-09-30) (aged 59)
Occupation	Abolitionist, Public speaker Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Spouse(s)	Carolyn Storum
Children	Sarah Loguen Fraser

Rev. Jermain Wesley Loguen (February 5, 1813 – September 30, 1872), born Jarm Logue, in slavery,^[1] was an African-American abolitionist and bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and an author of a slave narrative.

Biography[edit]

Engraving of J.W. Loguen from his 1859 Autobiography

Jarm Logue was born the son of an enslaved mother named Cherry in Davidson County, Tennessee, and David Logue, a white man who claimed them both as his own property. At age 21, he made permanent escape from bondage on the second attempt with help from his mother and a horse appropriated from his father, "master" of man and beast, then followed the Underground Railroad north to finally cross over Canada's border. Jarm Logue added an "n" to the end of his last name, learned to read, held various jobs in Canada and New York, studied at Oneida Institute in Whitesboro, New York, and established schools for Black children in Utica and Syracuse.

After settling in Syracuse, Loguen opened his home for use as a major Underground Railroad depot (stop). He was also instrumental in rescuing William Henry, a cooper and former slave. On October 1, 1851, Henry, known as "Jerry", was arrested pursuant to Fugitive Slave Act provisions. The anti-slavery Liberty Party state convention met in the city and when members heard of the arrest, word spread fast to several hundred abolitionists who bombarded the local jail and liberated Jerry. This event became known as the Jerry Rescue.^[2]

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Loguen became an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and took the middle name Wesley after John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement. He held various church posts and was appointed bishop in 1868.^[3]

Loguen went on to gain high acclaim by popular abolitionist speeches and authored an autobiography,The Rev. J. W. Loguen, as a Slave and as a Freeman, a Narrative of Real Life (1859). When "master" David Logue's then new widow Sarah, also stepmother to Jarm, made demand by letter for his return after almost 3 decades of liberty or $1,000 paid in lieu thereof, he sent a scathing reply titled Wretched Woman! ^[4] published by The Liberator^[5] and many other high-profile media.

Family[edit]

Loguen married Caroline Storum, who was born near Jamestown, New York. She was biracial, from a free and educated abolitionist family.
Jermain and Carolina had six children. Their daughter, Amelia, married Lewis Henry Douglass, oldest son of the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass, in 1869.^[3] Amelia (Helen Amelia) and Lewis followed in their parents' footsteps, passionate for justice and education for the enslaved and newly freed.

After the Civil War and Lewis's safe return home, Amelia and Lewis rejoined the Loguen family in Syracuse, dedicated to teaching, reuniting and rebuilding broken, destitute families after slavery. During the early 1860s, Amelia assisted her father while he preached (and ushered slaves to safety) in and around Binghamton, NY, an hour from Syracuse. She taught children (often from her own pocketbook) on Hawley Street at "School no. 8 for Colored children". As black churches in that time often had to double as school rooms, Miss Amelia held adult night classes at the AME Zion church in Binghamton as well.

Another daughter, Sarah Loguen Fraser, became one of the first African-American women to become a licensed medical practitioner, and later became the first female doctor in the Dominican Republic.

See also[edit]

• Sarah Loguen Fraser


• List of slaves

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• 
  Dictionary of American Biography, American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936.


• 
  Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States.

Further reading[edit]

• edition of his 1859 memoir: The Rev. J.W. Loguen as a Slave and as a Freeman: A Narrative of Real Life, edited by Jennifer A. Williamson. Syracuse University Press, 2016.

External links[edit]

• 
  The Rev. J. W. Loguen, as a Slave and as a Freeman. A Narrative of Real Life. Syracuse, N. Y.: J. G. K. Truair & Co., 1859.


• 
  Quarles, Benjamin (2001) [1974]. Allies for Freedom. De Capo Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780306809613.