The Life of William Boen

by: William Boen

Like many of his brethren of the African race in those days, William Boen (1735-1824) was held as a slave from his birth, laboring for many years on a farm in Mount Holly, New Jersey. But though poor and uneducated in his early days, he was seen and cared for by the universal Parent of the human family, who taught him to follow the light of Jesus Christ as his “new master,” the inward guide and rule of his life. From a poor slave, Boen became a pious, sober, temperate, honest, and industrious man; and by this means obtained the friendship, esteem, and respect of all classes of his fellow-men, and the approbation and peace of his heavenly Father. (Original title: Anecdotes and Memoirs of William Boen, A Coloured Man, Who Lived and Died Near Mount Holly, New Jersey.)