1845 Senate Report on Petition of John B. Russworm, African-American Editor and Colonizationist, for Revolutionary War Commutation Due His Father.

Important federal report linking early Black editor to Revolutionary War lineage

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Submitted to the U.S. Senate in 1845, this scarce three-page report confirms that William Russwurm, father of John B. Russwurm, served as a lieutenant in the North Carolina Continental Line during the American Revolution. The Senate Committee on Revolutionary Claims found that William Russwurm was legally entitled to commutation pay and that his son and legal representative, John B. Russwurm, was justified in seeking the unpaid interest on that sum. Although the principal had been issued under an 1838 act, the interest had not, due in part to the younger Russwurm’s delayed discovery of his father’s service and entitlements.

The report presents rare autobiographical detail on John B. Russwurm, stating he was born in 1793, months before his father’s death, and was taken from his mother as a child and raised in Tennessee, unaware of his lineage. Only in adulthood did he learn of his father’s military service and submit a claim to Congress. Russwurm would later become one of the most significant early African American public figures: the co-founder of Freedom’s Journal—the first Black-owned newspaper in the U.S.—and later governor of the Maryland Colony in Liberia.

Titled as issued: In Senate of the United States. January 20, 1845. Submitted, and ordered to be printed. Mr. Jarnagin made the following Report: [To accompany bill S. 74.] The Committee on Revolutionary Claims, to whom was referred the memorial of John S. Russwurm, the son and legal representative of William Russwurm, deceased, an officer of the Revolution, praying to be allowed interest on commutation pay, have had the same under consideration, and now report…

Price: $125.00