George Moses Horton was a fixture at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, surrounded by admiring students listening to his original poems.
Marjorie Hudson, a poet from Chatham County who teaches creative writing and has written two books and been published in five anthologies, told the story of Horton during the New Bern Historical Society?s Lunch & Learn Series, this month titled ?Celebrating Lost Black History.?
Her talk was highlighted at different points in Horton?s life story by members of the Historical Society reading a few of his poems.
More than a century ago Horton was born into slavery on a Northampton County plantation near the Virginia border. When he was 3, his master, William Horton, moved him and members of his family to a farm in Chatham County, Hudson said.
?George was only 3 years old but he was fascinated with words already,? she said.
He taught himself how to read by immersing himself in books to the point of forgetting to eat, Hudson said.
Although he couldn?t yet write when he was in his teens, Horton composed poetry in his mind. When he was about 17, Horton?s master decided to divide his estate. Lots were drawn and Horton became the slave of his former master?s son, James. That period of his life was traumatic, inspiring him to write the poem ?Division of an Estate,? Hudson said.
Horton used his time off from the farm work to walk nine miles to Chapel Hill and sell vegetables at the market with his new master?s permission. He would also spend time on the campus at UNC Chapel Hill.
?He would say the students were full of pranks,? Hudson said. ?They would get him drunk and get him to read his poems to them.?
But Horton soon got tired of the way he was being treated, she said. He quit drinking and wrote the poem ?Tippler to His Bottle,? Hudson said.
Even sober, the students were impressed with Horton?s poetry. They soon got him to write love poems for their sweethearts and would pay him for them, Hudson said.
By the 1820s Horton was seen often on the UNC campus. His poems were selling for 25 cents to 75 cents and he was making $4 to $5 a week, she said.
The students loved Horton and brought him books on the classics. That?s when Horton started taking his poetry seriously, Hudson said.
It wasn?t long before Horton got two poems published in the Lancaster Gazette. He found a mentor who helped him write the poems down and then taught him to write. She also helped him write down ?Hope Liberty,? his first book of poetry, which was the first book published by an African American in the south, Hudson said.
Horton ended up writing three books, with the hope and intention of making enough money for one of them to buy his freedom. They never did. But he was set free at the age of 65 when the Union Army marched into Chapel Hill, Hudson said.
After the Civil War, Horton moved to Philadelphia, Pa. He quit writing but one of his last poems was to his free children called ?Song of Liberty and Parental Unbiased.?
His poetry explored faith, hope, slavery, and celebrated the rural beauty he grew up in, Hudson said.
?He gave us hope,? she said. ?He gave us his undying commitment. He gave us his liberty.?
Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 o at efitzgerald@freedomenc.com
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Source: http://www.newbernsj.com/news/historical-104211-horton-society.html
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