Solomon Northup Day to be held Saturday

Jul. 7—KEESEVILLE — Each Solomon Northup descendant has a unique story of how their famous ancestor came on their radar.

For Justin Gilliam, 36, his entree was via "Puttin' On Ole Massa: The Slave Narratives of Henry Bibb, William Wells Brown, and Solomon Northup," a compilation of slave narratives that was gifted to him by his mother, Vera Jackson-Williams.

LITERARY LEGACY

"It was gifted to my mother by her mother, my grandmother, Laura, that was passed down from her mother, Victoria," Gilliam, CEO of the Solomon Northup Foundation (SNF), said.

"When I was probably about 5 or 6, and was really trying to get better at reading and my comprehension, my mother introduced me to the book. She didn't necessarily tell me, 'Justin, you have a relative in this book.' She eventually told me that one of these stories, specifically the one about Solomon Northup, is one of your lineage. Basically, she let me know he was my fourth great-grandfather. So my great-grandmother Victoria's grandfather."

Gilliam became the highlight of every Black History Month in school.

"I was in the same situation as I am now as the descendant of someone who had gone through the things that Solomon had gone through and gained the notoriety that he did through his book and through his life," he said.

"When I was able to get up and do my written or oral presentations about someone other than Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, the typical figures in our history classes, it always brought a little bit more attention. Of course I got A++."

Gilliam added pearls of information that was not commonly known about Solomon Northup.

"It also ignited the spark in me passion-wise to understand my ancestor's story a little bit better and how it plays into modern day," he said.

"It was the prequel, so the speak, to the Foundation being created."

Gilliam and Jackson-Williams are the keynote speakers at Saturday's "Solomon Northup Day Virtual Celebration 2022," presented by the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association.

The livestreamed event will be broadcast from 2 to 4 p.m. at tinyurl.com/4hm5wes4.

The program also includes opening remarks by Renee Moore, Solomon Northup Day founder; Henrique Prince, violinist/vocalist of The Ebony Hillbillies fame; Tracy Edwards, teacher, and her former New Vision Government and Law Class students: Lucas Hart, Lindsay Martin, Gina Norcross and Gracie O'Hare.

Association Trustees Andrea Bear, emcee; and John Mitchell, producer, round out the program, underwritten by Nell Painter of New Russia, with facility support from Adirondack Architectural Heritage in Keeseville.

BACKSTORY

Solomon was born free, July 10, 1807 or 1808, in Minerva, Essex County.

His father, Mintus Northup, was an emancipated slave. His mother, unknown name, was free.

Solomon and Anne (Hampton) Northup had three children — Elizabeth Northup, Alonzo Northup, and Margaret (Northup) Stanton.

"I descend from Alonzo, his only son," Gilliam said.

"Alonzo's son, John Henry Northup, is my great-grandmother's father. Victoria lived to be, I want to say, 99. I actually got to know her up until my teen years. I was 14 when she passed. We actually never talked about Solomon Northup. When I was that age, it never even dawned on me. I wanted to just be loved on. We weren't having those kind of conversations at 14."

Now, Gilliam realizes Victoria was a wealth of knowledge, and he missed a valuable opportunity.

"My main priority at that age was money, treats," he said.

"She made an amazing banana pudding, probably my number one request. She also made her own preserves, my other request."

ESSEX CONNECTION

The Northup patriarch, Mintus, was born a slave c. 1772 in North Kingston, Washington County, Rhode Island.

He moved with the white Northup family to Hoosick, NY.

In 1797 after Capt. Henry Northup's death, his slaves, like Mintus, were manumitted according to his will, according to britannica.com.

Once he gained his freedom, Mintus adopted the Northup surname, married and relocated with his wife to Minerva, where their sons, Joseph and Solomon, were born.

A successful farmer who educated his sons, Mintus eventually acquired his own farm with a $250 valuation, which allowed him to vote per a New York state law for Black men only.

He died Nov. 22, 1829 and is buried in the Baker Cemetery, Hudson Falls.

"We know where Mintus is," Gilliam said.

"Part of what the Foundation continues to do is to find his (Solomon's) final resting place. We created the Foundation right before the movie came out.

"Throughout the process of that Solomon Northup Day, that year as all the events were getting prepared and we were working with Skidmore (College), we realized that we were not being as involved as we would liked to have been. As descendants, we felt like we had more of a right to this story and how it is presented to the public."

PLAN B

In North America, the film was distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures and produced by Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment.

"My mother, myself, and a number of other family members, thought it would be pertinent to have a hand in how our ancestor was represented," Gilliam said.

'That's really where the Foundation's beginnings' started."

SNF includes cousins Eileen Jackson, a West Coast representative, and Clayton Adams, historian and New England area representative.

"Our general mission is to educate and bring awareness to our ancestor and others like him who changed the narrative of our history, that we were not just slaves and far bigger contributors to the infrastructure of this country," Gilliam said.

"That's the long version of it. Our short mission statement is: 'To Keep The Flame Burning.'

"To keep the memory of Solomon Northup, and his true history alive."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell