A Narrative of the Life of Rev. Noah Davis, A Colored Man: Written by Himself, At The Age of Fifty-Four

In Short

Noah Davis writes his life story with an urgent, singular aim: to raise funds to buy his last two children out of slavery. Born into Virginia bondservants, Davis learns shoe-making, converts to Christianity, and feels called to preach. After purchasing his own freedom, he moves to Baltimore to lead a struggling African Baptist church. To reunite his family, he travels extensively across Northern cities, soliciting donations from white and Black patrons alike. Grounded in evangelical faith and pragmatic determination, this narrative endures as a powerful historical testimony to Black self-determination, parental devotion, and the immense financial toll of American slavery.

The Story

The autobiography traces Noah Davis's journey from an enslaved youth in Virginia to an influential minister in antebellum Baltimore. Born in 1803, Davis grows up with pious parents who instill in him a strong moral foundation. As a teenager in 1819, he is bound as a shoe-making apprentice in Fredericksburg. During this apprenticeship, he serves a year in his master's household under the strict discipline of Mrs. Wright, whose rigorous instruction in domestic work he later views as a vital life lesson. Shortly after finishing his trade training, a deep spiritual awakening changes his path. Affected by a story told at a local prayer meeting, Davis faces an intense period of religious conviction, eventually experiencing a joyful conversion that fills him with love for God and a compelling urge to preach to fellow sinners.

Guided by his desire to read the Scriptures publicly and preach freely, Davis asks his owner, Dr. F. Patten, for permission to buy his freedom. His master sets the price at five hundred dollars and grants him permission to travel to raise the money. After securing his release, Davis accepts a call to Baltimore to pastor a small, underfunded African Baptist congregation. Finding himself in a city where the free Black population is surprisingly well-educated, Davis feels humbled by his own lack of formal schooling, but he throws himself into his ministry.

While building his church, Davis faces the staggering financial burden of buying his family out of bondage. Over twelve years, through tireless effort, church subscriptions, and personal loans, he successfully purchases himself, his wife, and five of his children, spending over four thousand dollars. His work expands significantly when his congregation, backed by white benefactor William Crane, erects the Saratoga Street African Baptist Chapel—a large three-story brick structure intended to host a church, Sunday school, and day school. However, heavy construction debts and the financial panic of 1857 compound his personal struggles. When his children are auctioned off in Virginia, friends step in to temporarily buy his daughter for eleven hundred dollars to prevent her from being taken by a slave trader. Davis embarks on multiple grueling fundraising tours through Northern cities, including Philadelphia, Boston, and New York, where he addresses prayer meetings and receives generous donations from sympathetic believers. The narrative closes with his daughter's safe return to Baltimore, followed by a published sermon on family responsibility, as Davis makes a final appeal to the public to help buy his remaining two children.

How It Unfolds

Youth and apprenticeship Growing up in Virginia under religious parents, Davis leaves home in 1818 to learn shoe-making in Fredericksburg. He serves a rigorous year of household domestic work under Mrs. Wright before taking his place in the shoe shop.

Conviction and ministry Following a solemn story at a prayer meeting, Davis experiences intense religious anxiety, which culminates in a joyful conversion experience. Recognizing a call to preach, he obtains permission from his master to purchase his freedom for five hundred dollars and travels North to begin raising the required funds.

Ministry and family struggle in Baltimore Davis moves to Baltimore to lead a small African Baptist church, feeling self-conscious about his lack of formal schooling compared to the educated congregation. He embarks on a lengthy, agonizing campaign to buy his wife and children out of Virginia, accumulating thousands of dollars in debt and relying on loans from trusted friends.

Building the chapel With the help of white benefactor William Crane, the congregation constructs the Saratoga Street African Baptist Chapel, a massive $18,000 project meant to house worship services and a day school. The building incurs massive debt, and the school fails to generate rent, adding financial strain to Davis's ongoing personal crises.

Northern fundraising tours When his daughter is sold at auction to a slave trader, local friends buy her back temporarily on bond, forcing Davis to go North on an urgent fundraising circuit through Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. Through prayer meetings and unexpected encounters—including meeting his former owner in Boston—he secures the necessary funds to officially redeem her.

Final sermon and appeal Davis concludes his book with a practical, scripture-based sermon arguing that providing for one's family is an essential mark of true Christian faith. He presents a detailed school report for Baltimore's Black community and appeals directly to readers to purchase the book so he can buy his remaining two children.

The People

• Noah Davis: The author and narrator, an enslaved shoemaker turned Baptist minister. Driven by an unwavering commitment to his faith and his family, he navigates the complex social landscape of the antebellum South to purchase his freedom and preach the gospel.
• Mrs. Wright: The wife of Davis's shoe-making master in Fredericksburg. What Davis initially perceives as overly strict domestic management later becomes a standard of discipline and housekeeping that he respects and remembers with deep gratitude.
• Dr. F. Patten: Davis's owner, a kind-hearted master and U.S. Navy surgeon who grants Davis permission to buy his freedom for five hundred dollars and provides a pass for him to travel North. Years later, they share a warm, chance reunion on the streets of Boston.
• William Crane: A devoted white Baptist advocate in Baltimore who serves as the Sunday school superintendent. He finances and oversees the construction of the $18,000 Saratoga Street African Baptist Chapel, acting as an unfailing financial backer and personal ally to Davis.
• Joseph M. Harden: A literate young Black church member baptized in Baltimore who provides vital assistance to Davis in managing the growing congregation and Sunday school before departing for missionary work in Africa.

In Its Own Voice

When Davis realizes the full extent of his sinfulness before God during his spiritual awakening, he retreats into isolation, writing:

"So I ran to my lodging-place, and tried to hide myself in a dark room. But this was useless; for it appeared that God could see me in the dark, as well as in the light."

Arriving in Baltimore as an uneducated preacher among a sophisticated Black population, Davis reflects honestly on his initial sense of inadequacy:

"I had never had a day's schooling; and coming to one of the first cities in the Union, where the colored people had the advantages of schools, and where their pulpits were occupied, Sabbath after Sabbath, by comparatively intelligent colored ministers--what could I expect, but that the people would turn away from one who was trying to preach in the room of a private house, some fifteen by twenty feet?"

Reflecting on his experiences during a fundraising tour among Northern Christian congregations, Davis finds spiritual purpose in his personal hardships:

"In a word, I felt at times it was good for me to be afflicted, for surely, if it had not been for my peculiar circumstances, I should never have been inside the Old South Chapel, or North street prayer meeting, where I enjoyed so much of God's presence, and found so many real friends, in the midst of strangers."

What It's Really About

Beneath its modest autobiographical structure, A Narrative of the Life of Rev. Noah Davis is a profound meditation on the economic reality of human freedom in pre-Civil War America. Davis reveals slavery not only as an oppressive social institution, but as an agonizing financial market where parental love is continuously taxed. The book presents a lived argument that genuine Christian faith demands practical action, hard work, and family responsibility. By including a complete theological sermon alongside detailed financial accounts of chapel construction and school enrollment data, Davis argues that spiritual salvation and physical self-determination are inextricably linked, showing how Black community institutions in urban centers like Baltimore fought to build education and independence without state support.

Why Read It Today

This short narrative offers readers a rare, authentic glimpse into the life of an enslaved craftsman who successfully navigated the urban antebellum South to become a community leader. Unlike more famous, dramatic escape narratives, Davis's account exposes the slow, grinding process of buying freedom dollar by dollar. The prose is plain, direct, and unpretentious, reflecting the earnest voice of a self-taught preacher writing for a clear practical purpose.

While modern readers may find the detailed church reports, financial ledgers, and formal sermon at the end somewhat dense, these elements provide invaluable historical context regarding Black church organization, northern charitable networks, and the lack of public education for Black children in 1850s Maryland. What stays with you long after reading is Davis's incredible resilience and quiet dignity. He does not indulge in self-pity or sensationalism; instead, he presents the plain facts of his life and asks the reader to help him complete a father's duty—making this narrative both an important historical document and a deeply moving testimony of paternal love.