London R. Ferebee
(Currituck County)
Featured Character – 1863
A Brief History of the Slave Life of Rev. L.R. Ferebee, and the Battles of Life, and Four Years of His Ministerial Life. Written from Memory. To 1882. by L.R. Ferebee
Courtesy of Documenting the American South, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries
London R. Ferebee was born a slave in Coinjock, Currituck County, on August 18, 1849. Before reaching the age of eight, Ferebee was sold to Edwin Cowles as part of his sea crew, where he remained as a slave living outside of Elizabeth City until August of 1861, when he escaped down the Pasquotank River into Yankee territory. Reunited with his father, Ferebee remained with the Union Army, where he learned to read and write at the Christian schools in both New Bern and at Roanoke Island. He was then placed as a teacher assistant and finally superintendant of the school at Roanoke Island. In 1867, Ferebee was called to run a school in Nixontown, Pasquotank County. While he taught, he continued to expand his own education in Latin, law, and English. Towards the end of 1869, Ferebee became involved in politics, where he was caught up in a political conspiracy that landed him in jail. By the governor’s pardon, however, Ferebee was released. Having taught Sunday school during his 47 days in prison, Ferebee eventually became a minister after his release. He married Lucinda Smith in 1872 and remained a minster at African Methodist Episcopal Church, serving in several churches before his death. In 1882, he published an autobiography entitled A Brief History of the Slave Life of Rev. L. R. Ferebee, and the Battles of Life, and Four Years of His Ministerial Life. Written from Memory to 1882.