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.