Chester, Thomas Morris

Life Span
to
    Full name
    Thomas Morris Chester
    Place of Birth
    Burial Place
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Exact
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    Black
    Sectional choice
    North
    Origins
    Free State
    No. of Spouses
    1
    Family
    George Chester (father), Jane Maria (mother), Florence Johnson (wife, 1879)
    Education
    Other
    Other Education
    Thetford Academy, VT
    Occupation
    Attorney or Judge
    Educator
    Journalist
    Relation to Slavery
    Free black
    Other Affiliations
    Colonizationists
    Military
    Union Army

    Thomas Morris Chester (American National Biography)

    Scholarship
    Chester was fiercely independent, driven by what he called "self respect and pride of race." As he told many audiences at home and abroad, he was descended from a long line of independent black men and women who had openly defied all forms of racial restrictions. In Liberia his work as editor and teacher contributed to the social and political life of Robertsport and Monrovia. In the United States he sought to push the country toward realizing the dream of full equality for all its people.
    R. J. M. Blackett, "Chester, Thomas Morris," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-00291.html.
    How to Cite This Page: "Chester, Thomas Morris," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/31837.