To find out more about lesser-known members of the Chatham Convention, it’s best to use both Anderson\u2019s list of members of the convention and the one provided by the West Virginia Archives and History. Here is a comparison of the two lists of names.<\/span><\/p>\n Anderson’s list:<\/p>\n West Virginia Archives and History’s List:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Voice from Harpers Ferry” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Front page of Anderson’s A Voice From Harpers Ferry<\/em>. Image: Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Introduction” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Many of those who signed the minutes signed using their initials, such as: A.J. Smith, I.D. Shadd, and L.F. Parsons. The list provided by West Virginia Archives and History (WV A&H) includes the full names: Addison J. Smith, Isaac D. Shadd, and Luke F. Parsons.<\/p>\n WV A&H also provides information on where convention members lived and from where they traveled. Comparing the names using initials in the minutes with the full names and locations published by WV A&H offers more information on convention members.<\/p>\n For example, A.J. Smith (Addison J. Smith) was a self-liberated person from Tennessee who fled to Canada. He was also married to Osborne P. Anderson\u2019s cousin, Mary Anderson [2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Smith also helped to establish the school Shrewsbury SS13 in Canada: \u201cit was an integrated school and its first teacher was Mrs. Emeline Shadd\u201d [3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n I.D. Shadd (Isaac D. Shadd) was Mary Ann Shadd Cary\u2019s brother and an ally of John Brown. Once we have identified delegates by their full name, we can identify their social, professional, family, and activist networks as well [4]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Group Image of Shrewsbury SS13″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photograph of Shrewsbury SS13, the integrated school Addison J. Smith helped establish. The photograph was taken in 1910. Image: Shrewsbury Community Association.<\/p><\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n L.F. Parsons (Luke F.) Parsons came from Kansas and fought alongside Brown at the Battle of Blackjack and the Battle of Ossawatomie, both of which took place during the Bleeding Kansas Period [5],<\/a> [6]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Using both lists allowed researchers to search for more information on delegates and participants. This leads to sites, such, as the Shrewsbury Community Association and the Kansas Historical Society. Using multiple sources always unveils more complete information than only accessing one, such as the names in Anderson\u2019s book.<\/p>\n Below is a compiled list of the sources used in this research:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Not only did some of the members of the Chatham Convention only use their first and middle initials along with their last names, sometimes these names were misspelled or spelled differently, as in the case of Thomas W. Stringer (listed in the Minutes as Thomas M. Stringer) and James Madison Bell (listed in the Minutes as James M. Buell) [7]<\/a>,\u00a0[8]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Using the spellings of the names provided by WV A&H led me to sites such as the Buxton Museum, which has information on Stringer, and blackpast.org, which has a profile of Bell [9],\u00a0<\/a>[10]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Rev. Thomas W. Stringer was the founder of the British Methodist Episcopal (BME) Churches in Buxton and Chatham, Canada. So, it is not surprising that a Canadian Black community leader such as Stringer attended the convention [11]<\/a>.<\/p>\n James Madison Bell was a Black \u201cpoet, orator, and activist\u201d from Ohio who lived in Chatham. It is also not surprising that someone who was a part of various Black cultural and political circles such as Bell attended the convention [12]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Luke F. Parsons” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Portrait of Luke F. Parsons taken on Feb. 22, 1909. Image: Kansas Historical Society.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Rev. Thomas Stringer” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Portrait of Thomas W. Stringer. Image: Xavier University of Louisiana Library Digital Archives & Collections<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Credits & References” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Created by Jessica Thelen, PhD student in English, for P. Gabrielle Foreman’s ENGL\/HIST 677 class, Spring, 2019. Edited by P. Gabrielle Foreman.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> These discrepancies are seen in the list of \u201cChatham Convention Delegates, May 1858,\u201d published by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History as part of West Virginia Archives and History\u2019s online exhibit \u201c\u2018His Soul Goes Marching On\u2019: The Life And Legacy Of John Brown.\u201d Paul, Heike. \u201cOut of Chatham: Abolitionism on the Canadian frontier,\u201d Atlantic Studies<\/em>, vol 8, no. 2, 2011, p. 180.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Blount, Catherine Meehan. \u201cAddison Smith,\u201d Shrewsbury Community Association, shrewsbury-on.blogspot.com.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> \u201cHeritage,\u201d Shrewsbury Community Association, shrewsbury-on.blogspot.com.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> West Virginia Archives & History. \u201cChatham Convention Delegates: May 1858,\u201d wvculture.org.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> \u201cLuke F. Parsons.\u201d Kansas Memory, Kansas Historical Society, www.kansasmemory.org.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> West Virginia Archives & History. \u201cChatham Convention Delegates: May 1858,\u201d wvculture.org.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Anderson, Osborne P. A Voice From Harper\u2019s Ferry: A Narrative of Events at Harper\u2019s Ferry<\/em>, p. 13. Print.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> \u201cRev. Thomas W. Stringer (1815-1897).\u201d Buxton Museum, www.buxtonmuseum.com.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Larsen, Julia. \u201cJames Madison Bell (1826-1902),\u201d blackpast.org.<\/p>\n\n
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![\"Front](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2019\/05\/A-Voice-From-Harpers-Ferry-Front-Page.jpg\")
![\"Photograph](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2019\/05\/Shrewsbury-SS13.jpg\")
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![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2019\/05\/Luke-F.-Parsons-Portrait-737x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLuke F. Parsons<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2025\/07\/Thomas-Stringer-785x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRev. Thomas W. Stringer<\/h3>\n
Credits<\/h3>\n
References<\/h3>\n