George Moses Horton Materials at Wilson Special Collections Library: Manuscripts at Wilson Library

Before George Moses Horton learned to write, he composed poems for others to transcribe for him, hence the variety of penmanship. Where his poems appear in family papers, it can be assumed that a member or associate of that family commissioned the poem and then saved it. Included here are numerous handwritten poems (some archived with the papers of white families), three letters in his own hand archived with the David Swain papers, a transcription of a speech Horton gave at UNC, and a single broadside poem. Please click the links to see the Finding Aid or bibliographic record for each document.

Avery Family of North Carolina Papers, 1777-1890, 1906

An undated, four-page dialogue poem, titled "Folly's Dialogue." Folder 184

Gillespie and Wright Family Papers, 1735-1990

Two undated acrostics; the subjects are Lucy G. Wright and Jane E. McIver. Folder 17

Pettigrew Family Papers, 1776-1926

Poems, 1836 and undated. Box 26, Folder 568

"The Emigrant Girl"
"On Ghosts"
An acrostic (Doctrine Davenport) "Mr. Davenport's address to his lady"
An acrostic (Mary M. Davenport) "His lady's reply"
An acrostic (Mary Pettigrew Davenport) "To their little daughter"
"The Pleasures of a College Life"
An acrostic (Julia Shepard) "On the pleasures of beauty" circa 1835 - transcribed at Documenting the American South

William Bagley Letter Books, 1840-1850

Transcription of an acrostic poem for Mary Williams (page 128)

Two poems by George Moses Horton, circa 1840.

"Departing Love" written by George Moses Horton, in his hand. The poem was commissioned by the Reverend Henry A. Dixon of Chapel Hill, N.C., for his bride to be, Martha Sugg. A contemporary transcription, dated 1 August 1856, by the recipient, Martha Sugg Dixon, is also included.

David L. Swain Papers, 1807-1877 (bulk 1833-1868)

Three letters written by George Moses Horton, in his own hand.

Letter to William Lloyd Garrison, editor of The Liberator newspaper of Boston, September 3, 1844. Folder 12

Horton writes to Mr. Garrison through President David L. Swain requesting assistance in publishing his work. Horton argues that his work can answer the question "whether a negro has any genius or not." Horton says that he "never had one day's schooling in all the course of my life," although he was "early fond of hearing people read." Horton learned his letters "by heart, and by that means, learned them in the book."

Letter to Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune, 1853. Folder 24

Like with the letter to Garrison, Horton sends Horace Greeley a letter via the care of President David L. Swain. Horton appeals to Greeley for "some assistance to remove the burden of hard servitude" requesting a "bounty of 145 dollars" to help assure the ability to further write and publish. Horton wants his "literary labour of the night . . . circulated throughout the whole world." The second page of the letter contains a poem called "The Poet's Feeble Petition."

Letter to David Swain, undated. Folder 57

Horton describes himself as having been for some time "very anxious for some Gentleman in this place to buy me." He has selected Swain because of his location near the University, which will allow Horton to attend to his "business, which chiefly lies on the Hill." Horton estimates his worth at "$200[and]50 dollars" and writes that he is willing to serve to the best of his ability. Swain, however, did not buy him.

The Stream of Liberty and Science - An address to collegiates of the University of N.C., 29 pages, in the North Carolina Collection at Wilson Special Collections Library. 1859.

Transcribed at Documenting the American South with accompanying essay by Constance Chia."In 1849, he gave a five-minute Fourth of July speech in Chapel Hill. Around 1859, Horton gave another speech at the university in Chapel Hill entitled 'The Stream of Liberty and Science.' Undergraduates in his audience came equipped with pen and paper and attempted to transcribe the latter word for word. The result is a manuscript now housed in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina."

"Creation," 1829 or 1830

"A Poet's Feeble Petition"

Bewailing mid the ruthless wave,
I lift my feeble hand to thee.
Let me no longer live a slave
But drop these fetters and be free.

Why will regardless fortune sleep
Deaf to my penitential prayer,
Or leave the struggling Bard to weep,
Alas, and languish in despair?

He is an eagle void of wings
Aspiring to the mountain's height;
Yet in the vale aloud he sings
For Pity's aid to give him flight.

Then listen all who never felt
For fettered genius heretofore —
Let hearts of petrifaction melt
And bid the gifted Negro soar.