Black Heritage Trail

Last Friday was a very hot day, and we visited at Beacon Hill again. We went to the Black Heritage Trail to see the freedom process of the African Americans. My job was to introduce the John J. Smith House to the rest of my classmates

John J. Smith was born free in Richmond, Virginia, on November 2, 1820, and moved to Boston at the age of twenty-eight. He joined in the 1849 California Gold Rush but returned to Boston as poor as when he left.

He set up a shop and became a barber on the corner of Howard and Bulfinch Streets. His shop was a center for abolitionist activity and a redezvous point for fugitive slaves. Whe abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner was not at his home or office, he was usually found at Smith's shop.

During the Civil War, Smith moved to Washington, D. C, as a recruiting officer for the all-black 5th Cavalry. After the war, Smith was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1868, 1869 and 1872.

John J. Smith lived at 86 Pinckney Street until 1893 on the Beacon Hill. He died on November 4, 1906.