Jermain Wesley Loguen, born Jarm Logue, in slavery, was an African-American abolitionist and bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and an author of a slave narrative.
Background
Jarm Logue was born to an enslaved woman, named Cherry, in Davidson County, Tennessee, and a white man, David Logue (his "owner"). At age 21, he successfully escaped bondage on his second attempt with help from his mother, stealing his master"s horse and following the Underground Railroad north, finally crossing into Canada.
Education
Jarm Logue added an "n" to the end of his last name, learned to read, worked various jobs in Canada and New York, studied at the Oneida Institute in Whitesboro, New York, opened schools for black children in Utica, New York and Syracuse.
Career
Loguen settled in Syracuse, where his house became a major depot (stop) on the Underground Railroad. Loguen was involved in rescuing William Henry, a cooper and a former slave. On October 1, 1851, Henry, known as "Jerry", was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Law.
The anti-slavery Liberty Party was holding its state convention in the city, and when word of the arrest spread, several hundred abolitionists broke into the city jail and freed Jerry.
The event came to be widely known as the Jerry Rescue. He held various church posts and was appointed bishop in 1868.
Loguen became a popular abolitionist speaker and authored an autobiography, The Review J. West. Loguen, as a Slave and as a Freeman, a Narrative of Real Life (1859).
The wife of his former master, Sarah Logue, wrote Loguen demanding $1000 compensation.
Loguen wrote a scathing reply which was published in The Liberator. Loguen had six children. Amelia was excellent in math and French, her mother being her first educator.
Mistress
Loguen, the former Caroline Storum of Busti, New York (near Jamestown), was a biracial woman from a free and educated abolitionist family. 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, New York, an hour from Syracuse.
8 for Colored children".
As black churches in that time often had to double as school rooms, Mission Amelia held adult night classes at the AME Zion church in Binghamton as well. Another daughter, Sarah, 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.