ABRAHAM - FUGITIVE SLAVE,ADVOCATE FOR INDIANS

excerpt from A SALUTE TO BLACK PIONEERS, AN EMPAK "BLACK HISTORY" PUBLICATION SERIES, VOL III

Abraham, 1790-1870, was a fugitive slave, adopted by the Seminole Indians in 1826.  Although uneducated, he was a persuasive and gifted speaker.  He was spokesman for Chief Micanopy during the period when the United States was relocating the Indians from Florida to Oklahoma and Kansas.  He was referred to by the Indians as the "prophet, high chancellor, and keeper of the King's conscience."

...born to slavery in Pensacola, Florida about 1790...was reported to be a full-blooded Negro of large and powerful stature....No parental information is recorded, records do indicate that Abraham was married and fathered a daughter and two sons.  In the early 1820s, he ran away and took shelter with the Seminole Indians. Abraham played a key role in both the Seminole Indian War and in their peace negotiations with the U.S. Government.... He feared that, while traveling across southern terrritory, many fugitives would be recaptured by their former masters.  During the peace negotiations, he wanted a guarantee that his people would not be returned to slavery once they left the Indian territory.

In 1826, as prime minister and privy counselor to Chief Micanopy, Abraham accompanied the Chief to
Washington, D.C to negotiate relocation plans.  In 1832, as interpreter for the Seminoles, he witnessed the signing of the removal treaty.  In 1833, Abraham went with the Seminole delegation to investigate the proposed site of the Indians' new home.  For the next two years, he served as interpreter at all councils at which United States agents insisted on the Seminole's removal.

Relocation plans collapsed when the Indians learned they had been tricked, and hostilities borke out December 28, 1835.  Abraham proved to be a cunning and brave warrior, both feared and respected by the U.S. Army....Seeing that relocation was inevitable, he and two Semonole Chiefs, Jumper and Alligator, agreed to a peace conference with Jesup in 1837.  Due to Abraham's diplomatic finesse, an agreement was made for the Seminoles to relocate, accompanied by their Black allies.

Later, the assumed treaty was broken by White agents and hostilities resumed.  Under the threat of hanging by government agents, Abraham continued to work for peace.  Working through Chief Micanopy, he brought about the surrender and compliance of the other chiefs; and later in 1837, a second treaty was signed, with a protection clause for the Blacks."