Twenty Eight Years a Slave; Or, the Story of My Life in Three Continents

Born enslaved in Virginia in 1836, Thomas Lewis Johnson refused to let bondage define the course of his life. Secretly teaching himself to read and write, and later finding faith through an evangelical conversion, Johnson charted a path of resilience that would carry him far beyond the plantation where he began. His early years, shaped by family separation and the brutality of slavery, gave him a lifelong determination to witness against injustice.

After Emancipation, Johnson moved north, working as a waiter while devoting himself to the Baptist Church. His leadership quickly drew notice, and he was called to missionary service—first in Denver, then abroad. He studied at the renowned Spurgeon’s College in England, a rare opportunity for a Black man in his era, and went on to serve as a missionary in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cameroon.

Johnson eventually returned to America and England, where he published his autobiography. Widely read and reprinted for decades, the book testified both to the horrors of slavery and to the possibilities of faith, education, and perseverance. Until his death, Johnson kept a whip and slave chains as reminders, ensuring that his story was used to educate others about the cruelties man could impose on man.