George Moses Horton's Departing Love -3755271838

George Moses Horton's "Departing Love" 

George Moses Horton was enslaved in Chatham County, N.C during the early and mid 1800s. His work, The Hope of Liberty, was the first book published by a black author in North Carolina and even the South when it was published in 1829. It remains the only book published by an individual during their enslavement in the U.S.

Before the publication of his book, Horton wrote poems and acrostics on commission and sold them to students at UNC Chapel Hill in an effort to earn enough money to buy his freedom. 

This poem, "Departing Love" was written by Horton and commissioned by Reverend Henry A. Dixon of Chapel Hill, N.C. to be given to his future bride, Martha Sugg. 

Public Domain

Link

Horton, George Moses. "Departing Love." Separated Folder 1: Departing Love by George Moses Horton: Scan 1. Separated Folder 1: Departing Love by George Moses Horton: Scan 2.  1851. George Moses Horton Poem #04799-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/04ddd/id/451533/rec/4https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/04ddd/id/450357/rec/1.