From Slave Cabin to the Pulpit

Peter Randolph was born c. 1825 in Prince George County, Virginia, on the Brandon Plantation. He was enslaved upon birth and owned by Carter H. Edloe, who also held his mother and four or five siblings in bondage. Randolph's father was enslaved on a nearby plantation, and died when Randolph was approximately ten. Edloe had written a will directing that upon his death his slaves be freed and land he owned be sold, in part to pay his debts, but also to finance sending his former slaves to whichever state or colony they sought. Edloe's wishes were initially ignored by the executor of his will after he died in 1844. However, Randolph, who was Edloe's only literate slave, read the will and began legal proceedings to fight for his freedom and that of Edloe's other slaves. Three years later, they were freed by the order of a judge.

Aided in settling by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Randolph initially lived in Beacon Hill, Boston, where he attended the Belknap Street Church, led by Leonard Grimes. He was an original member of the Twelfth Baptist Church upon its formation and was later a preacher there...

By 1861 Randolph was working at a newspaper in Boston and preaching. Randolph grew to become a vocal anti-slavery advocate as a member of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, donating money and otherwise aiding enslaved people seeking freedom. He published an account of his experience with slavery, The Sketch of a Slave life, or, an illustration of the peculiar institution, in 1855, with the goal of showing "that slaves, when liberated, can take care of themselves, and need no master or overseer to drive them to their toil." Randolph died on August 7, 1897, in Boston.-Wiki.