"James Madison Wesley" (April 3,1826-1902)

Poet,orator,and activist and activist was born in Ohio.James lived in Gallipolis, Ohio.He lived in Ohio most of his life although he briefly resided in Canada and California before eventually returning to Ohio.When James was 16 he moved to Cincinnati to live with his brother-in-law George Knight who taught him the plastering trade.George and James were talented plasters who in 1851 were awarded the contract to plaster the Hamilton County public buildings.
On November 9,1847,James married Louisiana Sanderlin.They eventually had seven children and lived in Cincinnati until 1854 when they moved to Chatham,Ontario,Canada.Chatham was a major destination for the Underground Railroad,and while there he became involved in aboltionist activities and later returned to Cincinnati to continue his antislavery work.


Although he supported himself primarily as a plasterer,James soon became known for his speeches and poems which he used in the campaign against slavery.His most famous poem,"The Day and the War," was read at Platt's Hall in Cincinnati in January 1864 for the celebration of the Anniversary of President Lincolin's Emancipation Proclamation.James dedicated "The day and the "War to friend and fellow abolitionist John Brown who was executed in 1859 for his role in the raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.


James was also active in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and became superintendent of the AME Sunday School from 1870-1873.Louisiana and his oldest son are through to have died in 1874.James continued to travel around as an orator until 1890 when he settled down with his family in Toledo,Ohio.In 1901 he published 27 of his poems which he called The Poetical Works of James Madison Bell.