Lucius Henry Holsey was born on July 3, 1842, near Columbus, Georgia.[1][2] His mother Louisa was enslaved. His father James Holsey owned the plantation.[1] Lucius was born enslaved.[3]
He was sold to his cousin T. L. Wynn and then to Richard Malcolm Johnston, an academic.[1] According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, Holsey chose to be sold to Johnston.[4] According to American National Biography, Holsey taught himself to read and write and was not educated;[1] according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, some of Holsey's relatives taught him to read.[4] He remained enslaved by the Johnston family until slavery was abolished.[5]
In 1898, Holsey published Autobiography, Sermons, Addresses, and Essays with Franklin Printing & Publishing Company in Atlanta, Georgia.[8] It went through three editions.[3]
Holsey married Harriett Turner on November 8, 1862,[4][5] or 1863.[7] Harriett was 15 at the time.[5] Her name is also given as Harriett A. Pearce or Harriet A. Turner.[7] Harriett and Lucius met in Hancock County, Georgia, while classes at the University of Georgia, where Johnston taught, were canceled due to the Civil War.[4] Lucius died on August 3, 1920,[1] at his home on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta.[9]
^Culp, Daniel Wallace (1902). Twentieth Century Negro Literature; or, A Cyclopedia of Thought on the Vital Topics Relating to the American Negro. Toronto, Ontario; Naperville, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia: J. L. Nichols & Co. p. preceding page 47. OCLC1158089806. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ abcRowe, Kenneth E. (1984). Black Methodism: An Introductory Guide to the Literature. Madison, New Jersey: General Commission on Archives and History, United Methodist Church. p. 22. OCLC1244498368.
Cade, John Brother (1980) [1964]. Holsey, The Incomparable. Pageant Press. OCLC6327870.
Eskew, Glenn T. (November 1992). "Black Elitism and the Failure of Paternalism in Postbellum Georgia: The Case of Bishop Lucius Henry Holsey". The Journal of Southern History. 58 (4): 637–666. doi:10.2307/2210788. JSTOR2210788.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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