Name John Weishampel, | ||
John Frederick Weishampel, Jr. (Baltimore, Maryland, April 22, 1832 – 189?) was a printer and publisher who was prolific in the mid-nineteenth century. His print shop was located at 484 West Baltimore Street in Baltimore. Weishampel was a third-generation Prussian-American and son of Rev. John Frederick Weishampel.
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Noah Davis
In 1859 Weishampel published A Narrative of the Life of Rev. Noah Davis, a Colored Man, an emancipation narrative and autobiography written by Noah Davis, a Baptist minister and former slave. Davis had been born into slavery in Madison County, Virginia and learned various trades. In 1818 he moved to Fredericksburg, where he learned to read and write, and in 1831 he was baptized into the Fredericksburg Baptist Church. Davis went on to marry a fellow church member and eventually purchased his own freedom using funds raised while working as a missionary in Africa. Davis purchased his wife's freedom in 1851 and went about securing funds to purchase as many of his enslaved children as possible. Weishampel's publication of Davis's narrative assisted in this effort and between the sales of the book and money raised by himself and his wife, Davis was able to free five of his children.
Davis's work is considered to be one of the most important publications that Weishampel published.