"Augustus Washington {9-21-1920-June 7 1874}stus

He was the son of a former slave and a woman of South Asian decent.His mother died when he was young a stepmother,also a former slave raised him.Augustus struggled to obtain schooling,first in Trenton and later at the Oneida Institute in Whitesboro,New York,Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire,and Darmouth College.In 1843,he moved to Hartford and opened a daguerrean studio to help finance education.Finishing education in 1847,Augustus returned to Hartford;open a studio for a short period of time.During this time many of his portraits were political and social figures of the era and reflect his sentiment about slavery.In 1851 he expressed pessimism about prospects of African Americans in America society in a letter to New York Tribune.In 1853 Augustus immigrated to Liberia to work as a teacher,farmer stone operator and Daguerreotypist.One year later,he expressed enthusiasm about his his adopted land in a letter,stating that,"I believe that i shall do a thousand times more in Africa."The Last reference to Washington's work as a Daguerreotypist dates from 1858.He never regretted his decision to immigrate to Liberia,and when he died in Monrovia,his death was mourned as a "severe loss to Western Africa."