My Life in the South

Jacob Stroyer (ca. 1846 - ca. 1908) was an African-American former slave, who became a preacher in New England. He is best known for his autobiography, My Life in the South. He was born on a plantation in South Carolina and worked as a groom. After the Civil War he was able to attend school. He was licensed as an African Methodist Episcopal preacher. He moved to Salem, Massachusetts to preach. His story begins "My father was born in Sierra Leone, Africa. Of his parents and his brothers and sisters I know nothing. I only remember that it was said that his father's name was Moncoso, and his mother's Mongomo, which names are known only among the native Africans. He was brought from Africa when but a boy, and sold to old Colonel Dick Singleton, who owned a great many plantations in South Carolina, and when the old colonel divided his property among his children, father fell to the second son, Col. M. R. Singleton."