ABSTRACT
James Poovey was a slave to ___ Coates, blacksmith, of the district of Southwark, Philadelphia. James had learned the trade, was a strong, athletic man, and very valuable. A number of young men, in that city, formed a society, called the “Young Men’s Society for the Free Instruction of Colored People;” and for many years, kept a school, during the winter evenings, in Willing’s alley, which was attended by fifty or sixty male scholars, mostly adults; some of whom made rapid progress in their studies. Many learned to read, and write quite a legible hand, and some made considerable advancement in arithmetic. James attended this school several winters; but, although very attentive to his book, he made slow progress in learning. At length, however, by dint of application and industry, he learned so as to read with considerable facility, in the New-Testament; which seemed a great gratification. He now felt his bondage increasingly galling; and finally came to the determination to submit to it no longer. In the year 1802, when about thirty-three years old, he ventured to open his mind to his master, of which he gave me the following account:
