Peter Fossett

Peter Farley Fossett (June 5, 1815 – January 3, 1901) was an enslaved laborer at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation, who after he attained his freedom in the mid-19th century, settled in Cincinnati where he established himself as a minister and caterer. He was a captain in the Black Brigade of Cincinnati during the Civil War. Fossett was an activist for education and prison reform. He was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. His remembrances, Once the slave of Thomas Jefferson, were published in 1898.

His wife, Sarah M. Fossett, was active in the church and Underground Railroad as well, but she was also noteworthy in her own right. Trained by a French specialist in New Orleans, she was a hairdresser to the elite women of Cincinnati's society. She was brought to Cincinnati by Abraham Evan Gwynne, the father of Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt. In 1860, she filed a suit after being denied passage on a streetcar, which resulted in the desegregation of streetcars in the city for African-American women. For twenty-five years, she was the manager of the Colored Orphans Asylum in Cincinnati.

Early life Peter Farley Fossett was born into slavery at Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia, on June 5, 1815. His parents were Edith Hern Fossett and Joseph Fossett. Edith was the head cook at Monticello and Joseph was a blacksmith. Slaves did not generally receive pay at Monticello, but as a manager of the blacksmith shop, Joseph received a percentage of the shop's profits.

Unlike most slaves who were field laborers, he learned to read and write and had less physically demanding work. He assisted his parents in their work Jefferson allowed children of slaves to be educated with his grandchildren, according to Fossett. Lewis Randolph, Jefferson's grandson, was his teacher. He was the great-grandson of Betty Hemings.

Eleven-year old Peter was put on the auction block, feeling like he was sold like a horse. He was purchased by Colonel John Jones who ran his plantation differently than Jefferson. At Monticello he had learned to read and write. Under threat of whippings, Peter continued these practices, and taught fellow slaves to read and write, but hid those activities.

Although Jones was brutal to Fossett, his wife considered him a member of the family. Mrs. Jones offered lodging to preachers of any faith who traveled through the area, who made an impression on Fossett. Jones also came to care for Fossett.

Fossett lobbied for prison reform and sat on the school system's board of directors. The school system was segregated at that time. Abraham Evan Gwynne, the father of Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt (1845 – 1934), brought Sarah to Cincinnati, As a young girl, she was trained to care for hair by a French specialist in New Orleans. "Through their influence she secured entry in its exclusive group and had no superior in her profession," as quoted in The History of Black Business in America. She was the manager of the Colored Orphan Asylum for more than 25 years. The Fossetts lived in a "comfortable, well furnished and well provided home" in Cincinnati. They had four children, only one of whom survived to adulthood.