Top of the Morning column published in The Natchez
Democrat (Wednesday, October 8, 2025, page 4A)
Natchez will honor Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima with its
first historical marker dedicated to the enslaved African prince, celebrating
his legacy at a ceremony near Jefferson College on Oct. 24.
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| (Click on image to enlarge.) |
Top of the Morning
Ibrahima historical marker a gift to Natchez
By Roscoe Barnes III
The Natchez Historical Society is planning a dedication
ceremony for a historical marker that will honor the legacy of Prince Abdul
Rahman Ibrahima (1762-1829). The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct.
24, near Historic Jefferson College on the corner of Highway 61 and Jefferson
College Street.
Natchez Historical Society is also the sponsor of the
marker that was acquired through the Mississippi Department of Archives and
History.
The marker will be the first one in the Natchez-Adams
County area to honor the prince who was enslaved for 40 years on Thomas
Foster’s plantation just outside of Natchez.
With that in mind, we could say that this dedication
ceremony will be historic in more ways than one.
Gift to community
In October 2024, the society’s board members approved a
donation of $3,420 to cover the cost of the marker. The total cost includes
$2,670 for the marker and post, plus an additional $750 for a sign underneath
that reads, “Sponsored by the Natchez Historical Society.”
Karen Hill, former president of the society, said the
marker is an important gift to the Natchez-Adams County community and to the
descendants of Ibrahima, many of whom still live in Natchez.
Ibrahima’s story is told in Dr. Terry Alford’s book,
“Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in
the American South” (Oxford University Press, 1977). Alford praised the society
for its donation, its initiative, and the foresight it has shown to commemorate
Ibrahima.
Ibrahima’s backstory
Ibrahima was a Muslim prince who said he was born in 1762
in Timbuktu, a city in the current western African country of Mali. He grew up
in Timbo, Guinea, West Africa. His father, Ibrahima Sori, ruled as a political
and religious leader in the Futa Jallon highlands of Guinea.
By the age of 26, Ibrahima became a colonel in his
father’s army. In January 1788, he and his soldiers were returning home to
celebrate a victory when they were ambushed by the Hebohs, a rival non-Muslim
group that prevented Futa Jallon from trading with Europeans. Ibrahima was
captured and sold to slave traders for two flasks of powder, a few trade
muskets, eight hands of tobacco, and two bottles of rum.
As a captive of the slave traders, Ibrahima sailed from
West Africa to the West Indies and on to New Orleans, from where he sailed
north on the Mississippi River to Natchez.
Ibrahima arrived in Natchez in August 1788 at the site
that is known as Under-the-Hill. From there, he and his friend, Samba, who
served under him in the military, were sold to a farmer named Thomas Foster for
$930.
In 1791, Foster purchased a woman in her early 20s named
Isabella. She and Ibrahima married on Christmas Day of 1794. The two of them
welcomed nine children into their family: five sons and four daughters.
In 1803, Ibrahima met newspaper editor and printer Andrew
Marschalk, who is today known as the “Father of Mississippi Journalism.” He
would play a significant role in helping Ibrahima to gain his freedom.
Connection to Jefferson College
The area near Jefferson College was selected as the site
for Ibrahima’s marker because of its connection to his story.
First, the land occupied by Jefferson College was donated
by John Foster and James Foster, according to the National Register of Historic
Places. Both men were brothers of Thomas Foster.
Second, it was in the area near the college that Ibrahima
recognized Dr. John Coats Cox in 1807 at the market. Cox, an Irishman, had
sailed to West Africa in 1781. After going ashore to hunt, he became lost and
ill but was rescued by the Fulani people and taken to Timbo, where Ibrahima’s
father cared for him.
After their chance meeting in Mississippi, the doctor
tried for many years to purchase Ibrahima’s freedom, but Thomas Foster refused
to release him. Even so, Ibrahima’s fame spread because of his meeting with
Cox, and it eventually led to his freedom.
Finding freedom
In 1828, Ibrahima gained his freedom through the help of
Natchez newspaper editor, Marschalk, and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Clay in
President John Quincy Adams’ administration. Clay authorized Marschalk’s
efforts to obtain Ibrahima’s freedom.
On Friday, Feb. 22, 1828, Thomas Foster delivered
Ibrahima to Marschalk’s printing office along with a deed in trust for
Ibrahima. Ibrahima was 66. Isabella’s freedom was later purchased for $200.
On April 8, 1828, Ibrahima and Isabella traveled with
their family to the dock under the hill. They boarded the Neptune steamship and
waved goodbye to their children, who remained enslaved. For several months
after leaving Natchez, Ibrahima travelled to Washington, D.C., and Connecticut,
among other places, on a fundraising campaign to help free his children.
However, he came up short with his fundraising campaign.
In February 1829, he and Isabella sailed to Monrovia,
Liberia, which the American Colonization Society had created as a home for
formerly enslaved Africans. During their stay in Liberia, Ibrahima contracted a
disease and died on July 6, 1829, at the age of 67. He never reached his
homeland. Isabella remained in Liberia. Two of her sons later joined her.
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Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D., is cultural heritage tourism
manager at Visit Natchez.
