"George Washington Williams"(October 16,1849-August 2,1891)

Was an American Civil War veteran,politician and historian.Shortly before his death he travelled

to King Leopold 2 Cong Free State and his open letter to Leopold about the suffering of the region's inhabitants at the hands of Leopold's agents,spurred the first public outcry against the regime running the Congo under which some 10 million people lost their lives.George was born in Bedford Springs,Pennsylvania,to Thomas and Ellen Rouse Williams he was the eldest of four children;John,Thomas,and Harry Lawson.After a limited education and a stint in a "house of refuge"where he learned barbering,George enlisted in the Union Army under an assumed name when he was only 14and fought during the final battles of the American Civil War.He went to Mexico and joined the Republican army under the command of General Espinso,fighting to over throw Emperor Maximilian.He received commission  as lieutenant,learned some Spanish,got a reputation as a good gunner and returned to the U.S. in the spring of 1867.Back home,he enlisted for a 5-year stint in the army and while in the Native American, territory,he was wounded in 1868.He remained hospitalized until his discharge.Once back in civilian life,the young veteran decided to attend college and was accepted at Howard University.Records show his having stayed there very long and in 1870,he began studies at the Newton Theological Institution.George became the first African-American to graduate from newton in 1874.He met Sarah A. Sterrett during a visit to Chicago in 1873 and they married the following spring.They had one son.After graduating,he was ordained as a Baptist minister and held several pastorates,including the historic Twelfth Baptist Church of Boston.With support from many of the leaders of his time such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison,George founded The Commoner, a monthly journal,in Washington, D.C.He was only able to publish eight issues.George moved to Cincinnati Ohio where he studied law.George later became the first African-American elected to the Ohio State Legislature,serving one term 1880 to 1881.In 1885,President Chester A. Arthur appointed him "Minister Resident and Consul General" to Haiti.He never served.In addition to his religious and political achievements,George was also the author of  A History of Negro Troops in The War of Rebellion and the History of the Negro Race in America 1619-1880,the first of African-Americans.In 1889,George was granted an informal audience with King Leopold 2 of Belgium.At that time,The Congo Free State  was the personal possession of the King.In spite of the monarch's objections,George went to Central Africa to see the conditions there for himself,from where he addressed "An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold 2King of Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo"from Stanley Falls on July 18,1890.In this letter,he condemned the brutal and inhuman treatment the Congolese were suffering at the hands of the colonizers.He mentioned the role by Henry Morton Stanley,sent to the Congo by King,in tricking and mistreating the Africans.George reminded the King that crimes committed in his name,making him guilty as the actual culprits.He appealed to the international community of the day to"call and create an international an international Commission to investigate the charges herein preferred in the name of Humanity...."Traveling back from Africa,George died in Blackpool,England,from tuberculosis and pleurisy,and is buried in Layton Cemetery,Blackpool.