From Slave Ship to Harvard: Yarrow Mamout and the History of an African American Family

by James H. Johnston

From Slave Ship to Harvard is the true story of an African American family in Maryland over six generations. The author has reconstructed a unique narrative of black struggle and achievement from paintings, photographs, books, diaries, court records, legal documents, and oral histories. From Slave Ship to Harvard traces the family from the colonial period and the American Revolution through the Civil War to Harvard and finally today.

Yarrow Mamout, the first of the family in America, was an educated Muslim from Guinea. He was brought to Maryland on the slave ship Elijah and gained his freedom forty-four years later. By then, Yarrow had become so well known in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., that he attracted the attention of the eminent American portrait painter Charles Willson Peale, who captured Yarrow’s visage in the painting that appears on the cover of this book. The author here reveals that Yarrow’s immediate relatives―his sister, niece, wife, and son―were notable in their own right. His son married into the neighboring Turner family, and the farm community in western Maryland called Yarrowsburg was named for Yarrow Mamout’s daughter-in-law, Mary “Polly” Turner Yarrow. The Turner line ultimately produced Robert Turner Ford, who graduated from Harvard University in 1927.

Just as Peale painted the portrait of Yarrow, James H. Johnston’s new book puts a face on slavery and paints the history of race in Maryland. It is a different picture from what most of us imagine. Relationships between blacks and whites were far more complex, and the races more dependent on each other. Fortunately, as this one family’s experience shows, individuals of both races repeatedly stepped forward to lessen divisions and to move America toward the diverse society of today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, African American, Islam, Biography

302 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[DaJuan Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing story of a family from humble beginnings to the preeminent university in America, Harvard. I was extremely impressed with the author's research and how detailed he was in regards to the Washington DC area and the growth that took place in the region. The depth of knowledge that I gather regarding how slavery vary in rural vs urban was illustrated in totality. Great book and very inspirational.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good history of a family , from slavery to harvard.

[Hannah CF · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not that this book isn’t incredibly well-researched. It is. There is so much detail around people and places in Maryland that it is overwhelming at times. I thought I was mainly going to be reading a biography of Yarrow Mamout. Unfortunately there is not that much information about him so much of the book is devoted to the places he lived, went, and labored, the people he interacted with, and their descendants. I should have taken notes because it was hard to keep track of all the names.

[Ashley Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting to imagine how my hometown of dc played such a major role on the enslavement of blacks. From the zoo, to rock creek park, and the naval academy. So much of African American history has it's roots in dc.

[Ellen Turnbaugh]

What a triumph over slavery

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

While genealogy is always fascinating in its own right, this proves that it is an essential consideration in our shared history. While most general histories focus on majorities with acknowledgments of marginalized stories or take the opposite route by highlighting one individual or group, this work does a phenomenal job of seemingly blending the voices of many while also showing that all history can interconnect.

I became aware of this book while studying the history of slavery in relation to higher education, as shown in Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's Universities and Harvard's use of a "Moor" to provide service to the president. Seeing how this book connects the terminology of the Moor to the broader aspect of the slave trade and then expands it into the lineage of Yarrow Mamout to show how a family history connects the terminology to an eventual place at Harvard, it becomes a history that shows resilience, challenges, bias, hate, and is, as the title suggests, a story of an American family.

I will not belabor the point beyond what other reviewers have said as well or better than I, but this is an important and meaningful book. While I study and teach the history of higher education, I think works like this have the opportunity to show us that, to borrow from Thomas Carlyle , "The true past departs not, no truth or goodness realized By man ever dies, or can die; but all is still here, and, recognized or not, lives and works through endless change." This is a work that speaks to the lived experience of the enslaved, the challenges of "coming up," and the importance of building such history into the broader context of the study of American history.

This work benefits the discussion of American history and I am glad it was recommended to me as a way to consider the implications of other such histories.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic story of a slave whose eventual family becomes free, gets educated, and makes good. The only striking difference here is that the original slave from Guinea, Africa, while starting out in America as a slave, was a Muslim, and could read and write in Arabic. He came as a boy and became the man servant of his master, eventually learning other skills, and coming into contact with key players in the American Revolution, including George Washington. And he had 2 formal portraits made of him, both of which still exist today.

Yarrow Mahout was eventually freed, bought the freedom of his son, Aquila, owned his own home and even had savings in the bank. In between, his descendant served in a colored regiment during the Civil War, and survived to continue the family line. Via marriage, his family line continued for several more generations as his relatives went to elementary school, high school, and college and finally one descendant graduated from Harvard in 1927. The family line still exists.

[Paige Sellars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative book! Thoroughly researched and very interesting to learn about the deep history of the Slave Trade in America, specifically in Maryland and Washington DC. Also I like that the story is about Yarrow Mamout and his family not the Peales, thus elevating the story of someone remarkable that many people might not yet know about - definitely check this out if you are interested in people’s lives, family genealogies, and American history.

[NZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great research into the history of a Black Muslim slave and his descendants. The Harvard connection was a long-winded one, but the story of Robert Turner (Yarrow's descendant who attended Harvard) is very rewarding in this narrative. Looking forward to future scholarship on Yarrow/'s family.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thorough and detailed description of exactly what comes down to us through family history and public records from a vanished time. Exactly what was that famous artist all about who painted the portrait of Yarrow Mamout? Why were the land parcels given such odd names back in the day, and what about that guy who seemed to buy up every little spot where you could put a water mill? The overall historical significance of the Beall family comes through, but exactly what was the lived experience of the enslaved people who worked for them, and their descendants? This book is probably as close as you can get to a factual reconstruction of the lives of people in Maryland and DC, and raises as many questions as it answers. Perhaps, someday, it will inspire a novel or a movie where Yarrow Mamout gets to speak for himself.

[Miranda Prather · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Well written, well researched look into a little known individual and events that shaped our nation. In Maryland, at least, information should be included in the schools and this should be a reading for students. Thank you to the author for writing about this. I am going to have to look for the areas since I know them

[Mike]

did not finish