Twenty-Two Years a Slave and Forty Years a Freeman

"Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman" is a slave narrative, detailing Austin Steward's early life of enslavement and escape, as well as his years of freedom and work at Wilber force Colony. Austin Steward (1793 - 1869) was an African-American abolitionist and author. He was born a slave and escaped from Virginia at about age 21, settling in Rochester, New York, and then Canada. Contents: - Slave Life on the Plantation - At the Great House - Horse-racing and Its Consequences - Journey to Our New Home in New York - Incidents at Sodus Bay - Removal From Sodus to Bath - Dueling - Horse-racing and General Training - Death Bed and Bridal Scenes - Hired Out to a New Master - Thoughts on Freedom - Capt. Helm -- Divorce -- Kidnapping - Locate in the Village of Rochester - Incidents in Rochester and Vicinity - Sad Reverses of Capt. Helm - British Emancipation of Slavery - Oration -- Termination of Slavery - Condition of Free Colored People - Persecution of the Colored People - Removal to Canada - Roughing It in the Wilds of Canada - Narrow Escape of a Smuggler - Narrative of Two Fugitives From Virginia - Pleasant Re-union of Old and Tried Friends - Private Losses and Private Difficulties - Incidents and Peculiarities of the Indians - Our Difficulties With Israel Lewis - Desperation of a Fugitive Slave - A Narrow Escape From My Enemies - Death of B. Paul, and Return of His Brother - My Family Return to Rochester - The Land Agent and the Squatter - Character and Death of I. Lewis - My Return to Rochester - Bishop Brown -- Death of My Daughter - Celebration of the First of August - Correspondence Letter From A. Steward to Wm. L. Garrison