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= Gilbert Hunt = Gilbert Hunt was an African-American blacksmith and former enslaved person who lived in Richmond, Virginia in the early-nineteenth century. Hunt was born into slavery in Northeast Richmond where he was owned by multiple masters. His blacksmithing skill was widely acknowledged and exploited until he purchased his own freedom in 1829. Before then, Hunt gained positive publicity due to his bravery during the Richmond Theatre Fire and the Virginia State Penitentiary fire, having risked his life to save the lives of others. He was considered a local hero and this reputation stayed with him until his death.

After purchasing his freedom, he emigrated to Liberia, however, he returned after only eight months. On his return, Hunt began advocating against the immigration of other freed slaves from the US to Liberia, which exposed him to some negative public perception. This wasn’t the only negative publicity he encountered however, as in 1840, alongside his blacksmithing, Hunt participated in Richmond's First African American Church where he appeared as an often controversial deacon. Aside from this, Hunt had run-ins with the law. He remarried in the 1850’s and purchased his own home, where he resided with financial support from the community until his passing in 1863.

Early Life and Time in Slavery
Believed to be born between the years of 1775 and 1782, Gilbert Hunt was a slave from Northeast Richmond. Hunt worked as a slave in a tavern called the Piping Tree for an unidentifiable master. When the youngest daughter of his first master was getting married, Hunt accompanied her to Richmond and began to learn carriage making alongside her husband. After some time, Hunt was sold to a second master where he worked for about five years until the man died. The quality of his blacksmithing work saw Hunt sold yet again, remaining in Richmond. He worked for his final master during the War of 1812 and played a significant role in crafting guns, cannon balls, horseshoes, and other war items in high demand. Working seven days a week, Hunt ran his master's blacksmithing shop with a substantial degree of autonomy. Hunt described his relationship with his final master as loyal and caring, built on mutual respect and trust. Hunt managed the store effectively and his master was very grateful upon his families’ return.

During his time as a slave, Hunt played a vital role in rescuing fellow citizens during two major fires. On December 26th, 1811, the Richmond Theatre caught on fire, and Hunt began to rescue individuals stuck inside by placing a ladder against the theatre on fire. Along with the ladder, Hunt was tasked with catching women who were dropped off the second floor window by Dr. James D. McCaw. On August 8th, 1823, the Virginia State Penitentiary caught fire. Hunt was a volunteer for Richmond’s fire brigade and assisted the captain of the fire brigade who made a hole in the flames with water. Due in large part to Hunt’s bravery, none of the 244 prisoners at the time had died. Hunt notes ironically in his biography that, as the city blacksmith, he had to make handcuffs for all the prisoners the next day.

Life in Liberia
In 1829, after purchasing his freedom for $800, Hunt relocated to Liberia. Today, that is equivalent to over ~$25,000 USD. Hunt was free, independent, and relatively wealthy, thus, unsure of his wife’s whereabouts, he made the decision with intentions to repurpose himself and become a beacon for the freed enslaved black people in Liberia. Hunt, along with 159 individuals left for west Africa on a ship called 'Harriett' on February 9th, 1829, and arrived in Monrovia on March 24th of the same year. It was popular at this time for free African Americans to settle in the colony, which had been established by the US for that purpose. One of the earliest and most respected settlers was another Virginia man by the name of Lott Carey. Upon arrival, Hunt stayed with another Richmond native by the name of Jack Lewis. His first encounter with the natives was when he was greeted politely by three boys with next to no clothing. Hunt was told that “If you come from Mr. Carey’s country you will be treated with kindness”.

During his time in Liberia, Hunt fronted negative and positive first impressions. For example, slavery was also prominent on the west coast of Africa, which was brought to his attention when he encountered a vessel of black people heading to Cuba. He recounted the way in which ‘They were all securely ironed to prevent their escape, and put up in stalls and fed, like cattle, on wheat bran.’ Hunt described ‘the cruelty with which they were treated’ as ‘ma(king) my heart sick’. He also witnessed an array of turmoil in the country including diseases such as malaria, political unrest, and diplomatic changes. Despite this, he believed Liberia to be the most beautiful place he had ever seen and was shocked by their civilisation, describing them as ‘much more intelligent than I had expected.’ Nevertheless, Hunt returned to Virginia after only eight months of his journey and recommended that no freed slaves travel to Liberia. For this, he was considered ‘a complete croaker’ who was ‘doing his utmost to prejudice the minds of the col’d free among us’ by white supremacists such as Benjamin Brand. This was fuelled by the common, thriving support for the American colonisation of Liberia.

Time as Deacon and Church Controversies
In the 1840s, the First African Baptist Church agreed upon honoring Hunt as a deacon of the church. This new position granted Hunt the opportunity to offer prayers, counsel the grievance committees, attend judicial cases, and succeed in the decisions of whom may receive financial assistance from the church. However, his position as a deacon was coupled with some controversy: in 1842 Hunt was charged for inciting a brawl with another church member, Abel Jefferson. As a result, Hunt placed his resignation as a deacon. Although the resignation was later accepted, Dr. Robert Ryland, the church’s white minister, advised the deacons against dismissing Hunt from the monastery. The minister’s words were persuasive, as over 2000 members of the congregation agreed through a democratic vote. In 1844, the congregation re-elected Hunt as a deacon. Hunt accepted the position and served as a deacon with no trouble up until his next controversy. In June 1849, Hunt was investigated after he was accused by a group of deacons for distributing a petition to disbar black trustees from the church deed. The investigation cleared Hunt’s name. In another instance, the deacons threatened to exclude Hunt from the church on account of his outburst which a church member described to be of “a most unlovely temper”.

Not only was Hunt constantly in disputes between church authorities, but he was also accused of violating the law. On February 8, 1847, Hunt was given a summon to arrive in the Richmond Hustings Court on the charge of “selling by retail ardent spirits to be drunk at the places where sold, without licence”. On the day of the court procedure, Hunt did not turn up. Another order was issued on September 15, with no attendance from Hunt. The charges were finally dropped in May 1848.

On January 23, 1848, Hunt was a part of the twenty free black Richmonders who established the Union Burial Ground Society. The society built a cemetery and offered free blacks the opportunity to obtain burial lots by a subscription for $10, in which they could enter both free or enslaved African-Americans.

Later Life
Gilbert Hunt’s later life is characterized by his experiences from the 1850s onwards. Within this time, he remarried to an African-American woman named Matilda Hunt. In this period, Hunt allegedly owned two slaves, which were believed to be family members of his whom he was attempting to help avoid the newly instated Virginian law that obligated all newly freed slaves to leave the state within a year of their freedom. This was discovered from a report in the daily dispatch which stated ‘David Smith, slave of Gilbert Hunt’. Aside from this, Hunt owned a property valued between $1500 and $2000. Today, that equates to between roughly ~57,000 and ~76,000 US dollars.An elderly Hunt was starting to gain attention as a figure connecting present Richmond to its past in local papers. The significant amount of positive publicity in his later life was evident in sources such as the Penny Post and the Richmond Whig, describing him as a hero and advocating for his financial support as he aged. One source questioned ‘Shall we neglect him in his old age, when the arm which defended, and the hand which saved our fathers and mothers are palsied with age?’ In 1859 Philip Barret interviewed Hunt and wrote a book about him as tribute, titled ‘Gilbert Hunt, The City Blacksmith’. In May of that year the Richmond Whig editors called for more attention to financially support Hunt by highlighting his previous acts in the theatre and penitentiary fires, along with his blacksmithing during the War of 1812. Hunt passed away four years later on April 26th, 1863, however, his legacy lives on, serving as inspiration to Virginians and African Americans.

= Gilbert Hunt, the City Blacksmith = Gilbert Hunt, the City Blacksmith is a biographical pamphlet written in the slave narrative form, published in Richmond, Virginia in 1859. It narrates the life of Gilbert Hunt, a former enslaved person and blacksmith who came to notoriety in early-nineteenth century Richmond. The biography was transcribed by 'Philip Barret', a pseudenym for a man named Thomas Ward White, and it was prefaced on raising funds for the elderly Hunt. It describes Hunt's experiences of slavery, his role saving lives in the Richmond Theatre Fire of 1811, his brief time living in colonial Liberia, and his later years. Since publication, the pamphlet has become the subject of scholarship that seeks to discern the account's veracity.

Style and Purpose
Gilbert Hunt, the City Blacksmith is an example of a slave narrative, a form of biography popularised in the nineteenth century. Typical of the genre, the biography narrates the life of an enslaved person, Gilbert Hunt. As the people who were subjects of such biographies were often illiterate, it was commonplace for the text to be attributed to another author, responsible for transcribing the subject’s testimony during interviews. In the case of Gilbert Hunt, the City Blacksmith, this process was conducted by a Richmond reverend named Thomas Ward White, writing with the pseudonym that appears on the pamphlet’s titlepage, ‘Philip Barret.’

Gilbert Hunt’s slave narrative is unusual to the genre, owing to its purpose. The production of slave narratives in the decades prior to the Civil War (1820s - 1860s)  was characterised by concerted efforts to engender support for abolitionism. These biographies, such as Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave, consisted largely of detailed descriptions of the harshness of life as an enslaved person. In contrast, Gilbert Hunt’s biography focuses little on his enslavement, often describing the experience favourably, and instead much of the text narrates his life after achieving freedom. The text is prefaced not on garnering sympathy for the abolitionist movement but on raising funds to assist the elderly Hunt in his old age. For this reason, it appeals to a local Richmond readership who knew of Hunt, rather than to the more national audiences sought by other contemporary examples of the form.

Chapter I - His Early Life
Gilbert Hunt says he was born circa. 1780, raised within a locale owned by his wealthy master in King William County. Learning artisanship in Richmond, he is sold twice over the course of a few years, subsequently toiling as a blacksmith under his last master for the War of 1812. As both his master and family evacuate, he is entrusted with looking after the premises. Upon their return, he relinquishes control. Hunt sentimentally cherishes them for their benevolence and describes how valiantly he would have defended their property.

Chapter II - The Burning of the Penitentiary
Now a firefighter, Hunt describes the scene of a fire at the Virginia State Penitentiary. He is sympathetic to the prisoners’ plight despite referring to them pejoratively. With the aid of his captain, they are able to rescue the prisoners one by one. The last prisoner rushes back to his cell to get his Bible, an action which stands out to Hunt. He says that perhaps that Bible was a childhood gift from his mother. Hunt spends the following day making handcuffs for the prisoners, much to his dismay as he expresses pity for their condition.

Chapter III - His Visit to Africa
At this point in his recount, Hunt is embarking on his long-awaited voyage to Liberia in Africa, arriving on the 17th of March. He remarks on the beauty and richness of the country’s geographical features. Venturing further, he is taken aback at the intellectual and cultural etiquette of the people. Later on, he laments the treatment of slaves who are being transported to Cuba. Witnessing the tattered state of a fellow blacksmith, he notes that Africans are not the barbarians they are purported to be. He returns to America in November. The chapter ends with a lighthearted anecdote from Hunt, in which he describes being conned by African natives into giving them his tobacco (bestowed by his captain) upon arrival. Defeated, he demands himself that he be taken back to Virginia.

Chapter IV - The Visit of Lafayette
Recalling Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Richmond in 1824, Hunt extols the soldier as a figure of humility. This is taken as a quintessential encounter in his life. Hunt’s purchase of freedom at over $800 and his membership at the Baptist Church for half a century are also mentioned to be of significance.

Chapter V - The Burning of the Richmond Theatre
In a retrospective of the Richmond Theatre Fire, Hunt’s selflessness in saving others is commemorated, enshrining his legacy. Two sources are excerpted to provide a broader context, before Hunt’s own recount. After returning from church service, he is alarmed by the announcement of the theatre catching fire. His wife’s mistress pleads for him to rush to the building and potentially save her daughter. He notices a Dr. James McCaw at one of the top windows, who yells for him to catch the women as he drops them, he immediately obliges. As they finish, the flames catch up to McCaw, prompting him to jump. Hunt rushes to his aid, taking him away to safety before the building collapses. The next day, he revisits the scene and witnesses the catastrophic aftermath. Having never found his mistress, he presumes her deceased. Concluding his memoir, he is silent and teary-eyed.

Scholarly Response and Veracity
Historical scholarship engaging with the text has sought to understand the truthfulness of Hunt’s narration. Corroborating sources attest to much of what is considered in the earlier parts of the biography. Contemporary newspapers celebrate Hunt’s integral role in the 1811 Richmond Theatre Fire and a commemorative stone bearing his name was incorporated into the structure of the Richmond Monumental Church, built on the site. Hunt’s description of colonial Liberia is also consistent with other accounts from the time that he lived there.

The biography’s description of Hunt’s later life contains inconsistencies with the historical record. Namely, the text describes Hunt as impoverished, and it is toward ameliorating the elderly man’s economic hardship that the pamphlet was prefaced. In spite of this, census records from the time of publication indicate that the man had considerable assets, making it unlikely that he was in need of any financial assistance.

Gilbert Hunt, the City Blacksmith also omits points in Hunt’s life that paint the figure in a poor light. In 1842 the man was charged by Richmond Police with assaulting a congregant at the First African Baptist Church where he was deacon. This evidence of violent behaviour suggests that the assessment of his character as “meek” given by the biography is unlikely. Also, In 1847 he was charged with the unlicensed sale of alcohol, for which he avoided making a court appearance until the charges were dropped the following year.