The students of the Radical University: Owen L. W. Smith

Owen Lun West Smith (b. May 18, 1851; January 5, 1926)
North Carolina.  Born enslaved.  Mulatto/Black.  
Occupation: U.S. ambassador, minister, teacher.

Owen L. W. Smith
From One Hundred Years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

Owen. L. W. Smith was born a slave in Sampson Country, North Carolina to Ollen (or Allen) and Maria Hicks Smith, both enslaved African Americans.  During the Civil War, he served as a personal servant in the Confederate Army.  He was present at the Battle of Bentonville in March 1865.  That battle saw the defeat of a Confederate army by General Sherman, and Smith followed Sherman's army afterwards.  With the army, he traveled through North Carolina and to Washington D.C.  According to some accounts, he was present at the May, 1865 Grand Review of the Armies in D.C.

After the Civil War, he returned to North Carolina, where he worked as a farmer and furthered his education. In May, 1870, he set out for New Orleans, but he ended up staying in South Carolina.  He started teaching in a public school in 1871, and two years later year, he was appointed as a trial justice in Aiken country by Governor Franklin J. Moses Jr.  (Trial justice was a low-level judicial position similar to a Justice of the Peace.)

Smith enrolled as a student at the University of South Carolina in April 1, 1874.  Several accounts state that he studied law, but university records describe him as an undergraduate college student following the modern studies track.  The university was closed before he completed his degree.

After Reconstruction, Smith returned to North Carolina and became involved in the AME Zion church.  He converted to the religion at a 1880 camp meeting, and the next year, he joined the North Carolina Conference (the church's regional administrative body).  He then began working as an AME Zion minister in various parts of North Carolina.  In November 1883, he became pastor of St John's Church in Wilson, North Carolina.  During this time, he served as corresponding editor of the Star of Zion, the official journal of the AME Zion Church.  In 1898, he was awarded an honorary D.D degree by Livingstone College.

President McKinley appointed Smith to two terms as the U.S. ambassador (or Minister Resident/Consul Genera) to Liberia from February 1898 to May 1902.  Before arriving in Liberia, he traveled in England, and his accounts of those travels were published in the Star of Zion.  

Smith died in January 1926 after a long period of poor health. He is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Wilson, North Carolina.

Hon. Owen L. W Smith, Minster to Liberia
From the Schomburg Center

Owen L. W. Smith
From Wilson County Public Library

Sources:

1). "Rev. Owen L.W. Smith, US Minister to Liberia." Wilson County Public Library Local History and Genealogy Blog.  Accessed March 21, 2020.

2) 1870; Census Place: Lisburn, Sampson, North Carolina; Roll: M593_1159; Page: 258A

3). 1880; Census Place: Whiteville, Columbus, North Carolina; Roll: 959; Page: 96A; Enumeration District: 053.

4). 1910; Census Place: Wilson Ward 3, Wilson, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1137; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0116; FHL microfilm: 1375150.

5). 1920; Census Place: Wilson Ward 3, Wilson, North Carolina; Roll: T625_1327; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 113.

6). Johnston, Hugh Buckner and Eagles, Brenda Marks. “Owen Lun West Smith.” Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, P-S.  Volume 5. 1994.

7). Hood, James Walker.   One Hundred Years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or the Centennial of African Methodism.  AME Zion Book Concern, New York.  1895.