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The Early History of Muslims in America
Compiled By: Amir Muhammad (USA)
In Dr. Barry Fell’s book Saga America, he reports that the southwest Pima people possessed a vocabulary which contained words of Arabic origin. Dr. Fell also reports that in Inyo County, California, there exits an early rock carving which stated in Arabic:"Yasus ben Maria" ("Jesus, Son of Mary"). Dr. Fell discovered the existence of Muslim schools in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Indiana dating back to 700-800 CE.
By 1312, Mansa Musa’s brother Sultan Abu Bakri II of Mali made his second expedition on the Atlantic ocean. In 1324 on his famous journey to Hajj, Mansa Musa reported in Cairo that his brother had left him in charge of Mali. Anthropologists have proven that the Mandinkas under Abu Bakri explored many parts of North America via the Mississippi and other river systems. At Four Corners, Arizona writings show that they even brought elephants from Africa to the area.
In 1492, Columbus had two captains of Muslim origin during his first voyage, one named Martin Alonso Pinzon the captain of the Pinta, and his brother Vicente Yanex Pinzon the captain of the Nina. They were wealthy expert ship outfitters who helped organize Columbus’ expedition and repaired the flagship Santa Maria. The Pinzon family was related to Abuzayan Muhammad III, the Moroccan Sultan of the Marinid Dynasty (1196-1465).
October 21, 1492, Columbus admitted in his papers that while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the northeast coast of Cuba, he saw a Mosque on the top of a beautiful mountain. Ruins of Mosques and minarets with inscriptions of Qur’anic verses have been discovered in Cuba, Mexico, Texas, and Nevada.
In 1527, the Spanish explorer Panfilo de Narva’ez left Spain for the Americas. In his fleet he had five ships and six hundred people in his company. The expedition met with many hardships. Several ships were destroyed by a West Indies, hurricane and a group of Indians killed a large number of the remaining members of the party. Afterward, when only a few members of the expedition were left, Cabeza de Vaca, the former treasurer of Narva’ez took up the leadership of the remaining members of the party with Estevanico being among them.
Estevanico was called an Arab Negro, a Muslim who came from Azamore on the Atlantic Coast of Morocco. He was among the first two persons to reach the west coast of Mexico in an exploring overland expedition from Florida to the Pacific Coast. It’s reported that Estevanico acted as a guide and it took them nine years to reach Mexico City where they told stories of their travels.
In 1538, Estevanico lead an expedition from Mexico with Friar Marco, in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibolia, in which time he discovered Arizona and New Mexico. He was the first member of a different race reported to have visited the North Mexican Pueblos. He was killed in the city of Cibolia, one of the Seven Cities of the Zuni Indians, which is now New Mexico. Friar Marco, while following Estevanico’s trail to Cibolia, learned of his murder from an Indian messenger.
In the 1550s Nassereddine, the Egyptian, settled near the Hudson River in the Catskills region of upstate New York. He was called Prince Nassereddine. He fell in love with a Native American princess named Lotwana, who married someone else of her choice and tribe. The report has it that he poisoned Lotwana on her wedding night by giving a gift with a poison snake inside. The warriors of the Mohawk tribe captured him and burned Nassereddine at the stake.
In Puerto Rico, found in the 1500 era ‘Fort of the Moors’ Arabic writings are found on one of the walls of the fort. Even in downtown old San Juan we found a restaurant storefront decorated in Arabic tiles, centuries old.
From 1566-1587 Spain kept and maintained a military outpost and settlement called Santa Elena on the southern tip of Parris Island, SC. Portuguese were known to be among the Spaniards at Santa Elena. In Spain 1568 the Alpujarra uprising of the Moriscos (Muslims’ who were forcibly converted to Catholicism) gave cause to another wave of Portuguese Moriscos to leave Spain.
In 1586 the English pirate Sir Francis Drake proceeded to raid his Spanish and Portuguese enemies on the coast of Brazil. During the raid Drake liberated or captured 400 Portuguese and Spanish held prisoners, including an estimated 300 Moorish and Turkish galley slaves who were captured in Mediterranean Sea battles, as well as several dozen South American Indians, a smaller group of West African Muslims, and a few Portuguese soldiers. Drake had planned to arm and release the Turks and Africans on Cuba, but heavy storms forced them to continue up the coast of North Carolina. Drake finally landed on Roanoke Island, North Carolina where he met some stranded English settlers pleading for a ride home. Reports have it that he left at least 200 of the Moors, Turks, West Africans, Portuguese soldiers, and South American Indians there on the Island.
The word Melungeon has both Arabic and Turkish roots, meaning ‘cursed soul.’ In Portuguese ‘Melungo’ means shipmate. In Arabic ‘Mudajjan’ ‘Melun’ means one that carries bad luck and ill omen, and “Can” in the Turkish language means soul. In the Turkish language “Melun-can,” means one whose soul is a born loser. The Melungeons lived in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. In William Harlen’s report “Surviving Indian Groups of the Eastern United States: Annual Report Smithsonian Institution,” he states that the principal family names of the Melungeons of Virginia and Tennessee are Adams, Adkins, Bell, Bolen, Collins, Denham, Fields, Freeman, Gann, Gibson, Goins, Gorvens, Graham, Lawson, Maloney, Mullins, Melons, Noel, Piniore, Sexton, and Wright. The Melungeons operated rich silver mines in the Straight Creek area in the Cumberland Plateau near Pineville, Kentucky. They minted silver coins in the area for their own use. By the time Kentucky joined the Union the independent and secretive life of the Melungeons came to an end.
In 1600, the first Melungeons were reported in the southern Appalachian valleys. As English and Scotch-Irish settlers moved in, they pushed the Melungeons into the mountains of North Carolina, and into Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. The Melungeons were the first people, aside from Native Americans to penetrate so deeply into the Appalachian region. Many of the Melungeons were of primarily Portuguese ancestry, with North African and Indian traits. Among the early Portuguese were the Moriscos of Spain who were escaping persecution. Today there are still some Melungeons living secretively and many have assimilated into the American culture.
The Melungeons had operated rich silver mines in the area of Straight Creek in the Cumberland Plateau, near Pineville, Kentucky. They minted silver coins in the area for their own use. By the time Kentucky joined the Union and became a Commonwealth, the independent secretive life of the Melungeons came to an end.
In 1600, The Indians told Jamestown residents that with only a six-day walk to the west, there were"people like you," who wore their hair short and built log houses.
In 1638 Anthony Janszoon van Salee(1607-1676) was an original settler of and prominent, ealthy landholder, merchant, and creditor in the New Netherlands colony. Anthony was Jan Janszoon's fourth child, born in 1607 in Cartagena, Spain, from his second wife. In 1624 Anthony was in Salè with his father, and by the 1630s had immigrated to New Netherlands, purchasing a farm on the island of Manhattan in 1638, and becoming one of the original settlers.
Following numerous legal disputes, including with the church (he was a Muslim), Anthony was ordered to leave New Netherlands, but on appeal to the Dutch West India Company, allowed him to settle on 200 acres in what would become New Utrecht and Gravesend. In 1643 he purchased a house on Bridge Street in New Amsterdam, in defiance of the court order restricting him. He would go onto become a successful merchant and creditor in New Amsterdam, while owning several properties throughout the region. He married Grietse Reyniers Grietse died in 1669, and Anthony married Metje Grevenraet, before dying in 1676. He had four daughters with Reyniers.
Anthony's appearance and race was always the subject of much debate. He was of a mixed-ethnic background, and he was incredibly tall with superior strength. Other descriptions of him was that he was a "former black slave who was a "mulatto”; others said he was "half-Moroccan", "Turk", or a "Berber."
Anthony was considered "European" enough to be credited, in 1862 for building the first "European" settlement in New Utrecht. He had four daughters who married into respectable, colonial New Amsterdam families of European origin.
Anthony’s father Jan Janszoon van Haarlem (1570-1641) was the first President and Grand Admiral of the Corsair Republic of Salè, from 1619-1627, Governor of Oualidia, from 1640-1641 when he died. He was once a Dutch pirate who was considered one of the most notorious of the Barbary pirates from the 17th century; the most famous of the "Salè Rovers".
Jan Janszoon van Haarlem was born in Haarlem, North Holland, Netherlands in 1575. Little is known of his early life, except that he married young and had a child, Lysbeth Janszoon van Haarlem. His surname was toponymic, indicating his family was from the upper class.
Janszoon was captured in 1618 at Lanzarote (one of the Canary Islands) by Barbary corsairs and taken to Algiers as a captive. There he turned "Turk", or Muslim, after Janszoon's conversion to Islam and the ways of his captors, he sailed with the famous corsair Sulayman Rais, also known as Slemen Reis (originally a Dutchman named De Veenboer). After Sulayman Rais was killed by a cannonball in 1619, Janszoon moved to the ancient port of Salé and began operating from it as a Barbary corsair himself.
In 1639, The First black recorded by name on the Delmar va Peninsula was called Anthony. He was delivered near present day Wilmington. He was often described as"an Angoler or Moor," and called"Blackamoor." From the"Delaware’s Forgotten Folk" The Story of the Moors & Nanticokes by C.A. Weslager In 1654, English explorers from Jamestown reported finding a colony of bearded people"Moors" wearing European clothing, living in cabins engaging in mining, smelting silver and dropping to their knees to pray many times daily in the mountains of what is now, North Carolina.
In 1670, Virginia General Assembly 1670 Act declared who will be slaves, excluding Turks & Moors, whose countries were in amity with the King of England. Page 491 of Virginia General Assembly 1733 and 1752 records.
In 1684, Moors are reported to have arrived in Delaware near Dover, and in Southern New Jersey near Bridgeton.
The descendants of many of the Muslim visitors of North America are members in many of our present day Indian tribes. Some of the tribes are the Alibamu tribe of Alabama, the Apaches, Anasazi, Arawak, Arikana, the Black Indians of the Schuylkill River area in New York, the Cherokees, Creeks, the Makkahs, Mahigans, Mohanets, the Nanticokes, the Seminoles, the Zulus, and the Zuni.
Many other Muslims and their descendants came to America’s shores after being marooned, such as the Moors of Delaware near Dover, and of Southern New Jersey near Bridgeton, and in parts of Southern Maryland; the Melungeons of Tennessee and Virginia; the Guineas of West Virginia; the Clappers of New York; the Turks of South Carolina; and the Laster Tribe near Hertford, NC. in Perquimans County. It is reported that the Laster Tribe was descendants from a Moorish captain who married a white woman and settled in the area. They are known to be a mixed tribe who has a tradition and heritage from a Moorish sea captain who married a white woman and settled in the area. The Laster’s principal family names are the Coe Clan, Pools, Slaughters, Van Guilders, Goins, and Maleys.
According to William Harlen in “Surviving Indian Groups of the Eastern United States: Annual Report Smithsonian Institution” other known groups were the Arab’s of Summit, in Schoharie County, New York, The Mecca Indians, the Hassanamisco Nipmug of Massachusetts, the Turks of South Carolina, the Brass Ankles of South Carolina, and the Seminoles of Florida, who were among the many different groups found here in America.
History shows that some of the descendants of the early Muslims married and lived among Native American Indians like the Alibamu of Alabama, Apaches, Anasazi, Arawak, Arikana, Blackfoot, the Black Indians of the Schuylkill River area in New York, Cherokees, Creeks, Kickapoo, Lenapi, Makkahs, Meccans, Mahigans, Mohanets, Mohegan’s, Nanticoke’s, Seminoles, Zulus, and the Zuni Indians.
The early Moors were inhabitants of Dover, Delaware; Bridgeton in Southern New Jersey; Sumter, South Carolina, and in parts of the Delmarva area of Maryland. The Melungeons lived in parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia, the Guineas lived in West Virginia, the Arab Clappers lived in upstate New York, the Laster Tribe lived near Hertford, North Carolina, and the Ben Ishmael Tribe lived in Kentucky, parts of Illinois and Indiana.
In the book Pirate Utopias’ Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes, by Peter Lamborn Wilson, he sites that in 1627 Muslim pirates from as-Sali, Morocco in the Barbary Coast attacked Baltimore, Ireland and held it for 68 days. At the time the southern and western parts of Ireland were infested with pirates just as the Barbary Coast. A poem was also written about it called “The Sack of Baltimore.” There was also a famous woman pirate named Grace O’Malley who ruled her own little kingdom in Mayo. In B. Quinn’s book he points out that pre-Celtic tribes of Munster were called the Hibernii. They were assumed to be a branch of the Iberii from Spain.
The reason why I mentioned the Muslims in Ireland is because of three things; The Muslims from As-Sali Morocco, as well as the one’s found living in South Carolina, the fact that many African-Americans during slavery and right after slavery who married Irish indentured servants, including my own African enslaved ancestor. Lastly, we found more than a dozen people in the US 1850 census that came from Ireland with Islamic last names such as Islam and Mohamed.
There are more than 500 names of places, villages, streets, towns, cities, lakes, rivers, etc . . . in the United States in which there name are derived from African, Islamic, and Arabic words. Places like Mecca, Indiana; Morocco, Indiana; Medina, NY; Medina, OH; Medina, TX; Toledo, OH; Mahomet, IL; Mahomet, Texas; Yarrowsburg, MD; Islamorada, FL, and Tallahassee, FL are found throughout America. There are at least two cities in Illinois named after Nubian Cities Argo and Dongola, Illinois.
Other cities with possible Islamic and African root names are Allakaket, Alakanuk, and Soloman, Alaska; Ali Chuk, Ali Molina, Ali Oidak, Arizona; Cushman, Arkansas; Alameda, and Malcolm X Square, California; Abeyta, and Medina Plaza, Colorado; Liberia Historical, Connecticut; Medulla, and Sallee Heights, Florida; Mecca Historical, Tallulah Falls, and Zaidee, Georgia; Aliamanu, and Maili Hawaii; Hagerstown, Samaria, and Syria, Indiana; Cairo Junction, Egypt Shores, Egyptian Hills, Egyptian Acres, Hagarstown, Media, Medinah, and Shabbona, Illinois; Mingo, Ollie, Palestine Historical, Sabula, Salem, Tama, Makee, and Malak, Iowa; Assaria, Kansas; Gamaliel, Kentucky; Jordan Hill, and Tallulah, Louisiana; Hagerstown, and Yarrowburg, Maryland; Egypt Beach, Massachusetts; Almira, Hagar Township, and Zilwaukee, Michigan; Amiret, Amor, Isanti, Mesaba, Kanaranzi, Quamba, and Suomi, Minnesota; Egypt Hill, and Itta Bena, Mississippi; Ameera Historical, Ebo, Egypt Grove, Egypt Mills, Sabula, and Yarrow, Missouri; Madrid, Nebraska; Alhambra Historical, New Mexico; Cairo Junction, Hague, Nunda, Salem, Salamanc, and Unadilla, New York; Babylon Historical, Nevada, Amenia, North Dakota; Ashtabula, Damascus Historical, Kalida, Sabina, and Toledo, Ohio; Damascus Heights, Jordan Creek, Jordan Valley, and South Lebanon, Oregon; Aliquippa, Egypt Corners, Egypt Mills, Jordan Valley, and Media, Pennsylvania; Jordan Village, Utah; Bagdad Historical, Cairo Bend, Isham, Palestine Historical, and Zu Zu, Texas; Ahmedabad, Egypt Bend Estates, and Jordan Springs, Virginia; Bagdad Junction, Illahee, Shuwah, and Yarrow Point, Washington; Algeria Historical, Egypt Historical, Jordan Run, and Jumbo, West Virginia; Medina Junction, and Mecan, Wisconsin, and Holy Islamville, South Carolina.
The 1700's
In 1713, the Reverend John Sharpe reported from New York the existence of what he called "Negro marriages" he described a situation familiar to New Englanders. The marriages of the blacks, he explained, "are performed by mutual consent without the blessing of the Church," Some slaves, he went on, were kept from Christian marriage "because of polygamy contracted before baptism where none or neither of the wives will accept a divorce.
In 1719 The Reverend Peter Thatcher of Milton, Massachusetts complained about his slave woman Hagar sexual life. She was a slave that was married to Sambo, a slave of Mr. Brightman of Boston, in 1716. She apparently had another child after Sambo’s death or departure from the area by 1719. Hagar had three children Sambo, Jimmie, and Hagar.
From Black Kings and Governors of New England.
In 1730 Ayuba (Job) Suleiman Diallo, a well educated Muslim merchant was kidnaped and enslaved from 1730-1733. Job ibn Solomon Dgiallo (Jallo) came from Bundu, Senegal. He was captured in 1730 in Gambia and brought to Annapolis, MD in 1731, where he was delivered to Mr. V. Denton, factor to Mr Hunt. Mr Denton sold Job to Mr. Alexander Tolsey in Kent Island in Maryland. He was a Fulani who lived near the banks of the Gambia river in Senegal. Job was one of the first Muslims written about in America. While in Maryland Job wrote a letter to his father, which came to the attention of James Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, who helped purchase his freedom and sent him to London where he was finally set free and sent back home to work for the Royal African Company of London in his homeland. While in London Job wrote down three copies of the Quran from memory.
In 1730 Lamine Jay came from Futa-Toro, Senegal. He was captured along with Job ibn Soliman ibn Dgiallo (Jallo) trading on the lower part of the Gambia river. Lamine was also brought to Annapolis, Maryland where he became known as a Linguist. In less than five years Jay was able to win his freedom and return home with the help of his friend Job.
In 1737 a Muslim child named Bakir Turro 1729-1805 spelled in America as Broteer Furro came from Dubreka spelled (Dukandarra) Futa Torro, in present-day Guinea. He was born around 1729. He was born with the name Bakir Torro (Broteer Furro). In his narrative of his life he recalled being from Dukandarra, which is today called Dubreka named after the famous ABubakar Sire of the 1716. Venture (Bakir) tells in his narrative that his father had three wives and his name was “Saungum Furro” which is Sambegu Torro the Prince of Dubreka, Guinea, meaning his father was the son of the King. This area was part of the great Mali Empire of the Muslims in Futo Jalon and Futo Torro areas. This is the same area where Ibrahima Sory Sambegu came from.
Bakir (Broteer) was captured and enslaved at the age of 8 in 1737; he was given the named Venture by Robert Mumford because the youngman was a business venture to him. Venture in his narrative tells of being brought Rhode, Island then to Fishers Island in Connecticut by Mr. Mumford for 13 years and at the age of 22 he married a woman name Meg within 1752 they had a daughter named Hannah about a month later Venture and his master had a disagreement and Venture tried to run away. The Irish indentured servant Heddy and Venture ran away together when Heddy rob some food in Long Island because of Venture moral character he turned Heddy in and was returned to his master.
Venture was then sold to a Thomas Statonan who leave in Stonington, Connecticut about year and a half later Mr. Stanton brought Venture’s wife and daughter Hannah. In 1756 they had a son named Solomon and one named Cuff in 1758.
In 1760 Venture (Bakir) had another problem with his slave master and was sold twice. He finally ended up with a man named Colonel Oliver Smith who had agreed that Venture could buy his freedom and in 1765 at the age of 36 Venture brought his freedom and became known as Venture Smith. In 1769 he purchase the freedom of his sons Solomon and Cuff. Venture also brought a slave for sixty pounds, but the man ran away before off his debt. In 1773 Venture purchase his wife Meg who was pregnant by Thomas Stanton and in 1775, he purchase his daughter Hannah freedom. Venture was known as a good businessman he would cut wood, hire out to fish, farm, and selling items from his garden. Venture was known for shunning alls material vises and not drinking. In 1776 Venture brought some land in Haddam Neck, Connecticut. Near the ending of his life in 1798 he stated that he owned more than 100 acres of land, three houses, and that his freedom is a privilege which nothing else can equal, and that he was thankful for having a good character.
In the winter of 1741 in New York City, three Moorish crewmembers of a captured Spanish ship were sold into bondage and protested their condition, swearing revenge. After several fires flared across town during March and April of 1742, hysterical residents feared that a slave revolt was imminent and suspected that the Spanish Negroes "Moors" were deeply concerned and active in the protest. The episode ended with the public executions of twenty-three people and the exile of seventy-one others.
From the Seaport New York’s History Magazine.
In 1750, true to legend, the Melungeons were already in the area of Knoxville, TN; Camden, SC; and Marion, NC when the first Europeans arrived.
Mahomet Tombstone
In 1750 in the royal burial ground of the Mohegans Indians in Norwich, CT one of the memorial state’s "In memory of Elizabeth Joquib, the daughter of Mahomet, great-grandchild to the first Uncas, great sachem of Mohegan, who died July 5th, 1740 at 38 years old. Mamohet was the rightful heir of Qwenoco but Ben, the youngest son of Uncas, of illegitimate birth, succeeded Caesar, the successor as sachem after Owenoco.
From Indian Races of America / The New England Coast.
March 3, 1753 Muslims from North Africa, appear in the records of South Carolina. In the South Carolina Council Journal, No. 21, Pt. 1, pp. 298-299. Two men by the name Abel Conder and Mahamut (Mahomet) petitioned the South Carolina royal authorities in Arabic for their freedom. They came from Asilah (Sali) on the Barbary Coast of Morroco. Their story is that they were in a battle in 1736, with the Portuguese when they lost the battle and was captured. An officer named Captain Henry Daubrib, asked them would they be willing to serve him for five years in Carolina. When they arrived in South Carolina they were transferred to Daniel LaRoche, who then enslaved them for fifteen years until 1753.
From Carologue a publication of the South Carolina Historical Society 93 Muslim Slaves, Abducted Moors, African Jews, Misnamed Turks by James Hagy.
In 1767, Kunta Kinte was captured and enslaved. Kunta Kinte was a Muslim born in 1750, in the village of Juffure in Gambia. He was shipped to Annapolis, Maryland on the ship Lord Ligonier and sold to a Virginia planter. Kunta Kinte fought hard to hold on to his Islamic heritage. Having learned the Qur’an as a boy Kunta scratched Arabic phrases in the dirt and tried to pray every day after he arrived in America. Kunta Kinte was Alex’s Haley Mandingo forbearer, who he talks about in his book Roots.
In 1768 a Muslim named Charno, living in South Carolina, wrote four Surahs from the Quran. He was the slave of Captain David Anderson. There are at least nine different people reported to have written Arabic text during this period.
In 1769 Savannah Georgia Gazette advertises for three runaway Muslim women from Guinea by the names of Jamina, Belinda, and Hagar.
From 1769 –1790s more than a dozen Muslim names appear in runaway slave advertisement ads like Jamina, Hagar, Mahomet, Armer, Osman, four Sambo’s, Quamie, Ishmael, Mingo, Mustafa, and others who were described as of the Moorish breed or from a Moorish country.
In 1770 the Wahhab brothers were shipwrecked on the coast of North Carolina. Once there they settled, married, and started a farm. Their descendents had owned one of the largest private hotel chains in Ocracoke Island, off the North Carolina coast.
In the late 1770s Salim the Algerian was a Muslim from a royal family of Algiers. He was captured by Spanish men of war and later sold into slavery to the French in New Orleans. He eventually got his freedom after running away from slavery. He lived a while among the Native American Indian tribes and settled in Virginia. Salim eventually met Thomas Jefferson, attended the 1st Continental Congress, and died an insane man after having given-up his family and religion for America.
From 1774-1775 many runaway slave advertisements were of Muslim runaway slaves. Like the one in the Savannah Georgia Gazette, in September 7, 1774 for a runaway Negro fellow named Mahomet.
On June 17, 1775, Peter Salem (Saleem) born (1750?-1816) a former slave who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. The battle was fought at Breed’s Hill according to one story, the colonial troops were near defeat, and British Major John Pitcairn ordered them to surrender. Salem then stepped forward and shot Pitcairn. Pitcairn later died of the wound. Peter Salem got awarded for fighting in the Revolutionary War, and he also fought at Lexington. Peter Salem and Salem (Saleem) Poor were honored for their bravery.
Peter Salem was born a slave in Framingham, Massachusetts. He had at least two owners in his lifetime. The first owner was Jeremiah Belknap. Belknap sold him to Lawson Buckminister of Framingham. Buckminister allowed Salem to enlist in the colonial army. In exchange for enlisting in the army, Salem received his freedom.
After receiving his freedom "Peter Buckminister" changed his name to Salem. He was also known as "Salem Prince." Local legend has it that the name Salem came from a Massachusetts privateering port where all of the sailors went during the Revolutionary War when people were fighting on their boats. History reports that an old Jewish man told the people that the word was like "shalom" which means peace. The name for peace in Arabic is Salaam and Saleem in Arabic means one who is peaceful.
Salem (Saleem) remained in the army for several years, long enough to fight in the battles of Saratoga and Stony Point. After the war he settled in Leicester, Massachusetts where he barely earned a living weaving cane seats for chairs. He died in the poor house in Framingham in 1816. Postage stamps have been made of Peter Salem and Salem Poor as American Revolutionary war heros.
From 1774–1783 there were at least six people with Islamic names who fought in the Revolutionary War as colonial soldiers. One of them was Yusuf Ben Ali, also known as Joseph (Benenhali) Benhaley, who fought with General Sumter in South Carolina. After the war, General Sumter took Joseph Benhaley with him inland to Stateburg where they settled down. Joseph Benhaley’s name appeared in the 1790 census of Sumter County. Revolutionary records also show that there was a Bampett Muhamed who was a Corporal in the Revolutionary Army, from 1775-1783 in Virginia. Francis Saba was listed as a sergeant with the Continental Troops in roll 132, 1775-1783, and Joseph Saba was listed as a Fifer in the Continental Troops roll 132, 1775-1783.
In 1777 Morocco becomes the first country to acknowledge America’s independence as a new country.
In 1784 Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams was commissioned to negotiate a treaty with the Emperor of Morocco.
In 1786 Morocco became the sixth and the first Muslim country to sign a Peace Treaty with the United States in 1786. Algeria in 1795, Tripoli in 1796, Tunis in 1797, and Muscat (Oman) in 1833 followed.
In 1786 two Muslim men appeared in Charleston, SC "dressed in the Moorish habit" and aroused a great deal of suspicion by their strange ways. An officer of the law attempted to question them and found they were Moors who did not speak English. They were taken to an interpreter who found out they came from Algeria and sailed to Virginia were they had been arrested. Then they traveled overland to South Carolina.
From Carologue a publication of the South Carolina Historical Society 93 Muslim Slaves, Abducted Moors, African Jews, Misnamed Turks by James Hagy.
In 1788 Abrahim Abdul Rahman ibn Sori (1762-1829) born in Timbo, West Africa (In present day Guinea) was captured. He was known as the "Prince of Slaves." He was a Fulbe from the land of Futa Jallon. Abrahim was captured by warring tribes and sold to slave traders in 1788 at the age of 26. He was bought by a Natchez, Mississippi cotton and tobacco farmer, where he eventually became the overseer of the plantation.
In 1788-1789 The Sultan Mohammed III and President George Washington exchanging letters about peace and asking the Sultan to intercede with authorities in Tunis and Tripoli to obtain the right of free navigation for American ships in the Mediterranean.
August 20, 1789 the Savannah Georgia Gazette, runs an advertisment for a Muslim women runaway describing her as "A Young Negro Wench, named Hagar, has on oznabrig clothes, and wears a handkerchief on hear head. She has been seen a day or two ago selling watermelons near town."
In 1790 in South Carolina a group of "Moors" by the names of Francis, Daniel, Hammond, and Samuel, along with their wives four Muslim women named Fatima, Flora, Sarah, and Clarinda, asked the South Carolina House of Representatives to treat them as free whites. They stated that while they had been fighting for the emperor of Morocco against an African King they had been taken prisoners. A Captain Clark had the Moors delivered to him on the promise he would take them to England where the Ambassador from Morocco would purchase their freedom. Instead, Clark brought them to South Carolina where he sold them as slaves.
In 1790 Joseph Benenhaly or Yusef Ben Ali from North Africa appears in the 1790 census in Sumter, county. General Thomas Sumter recruited Benenhaly, of Arab descent, and another man known as John Scott to fight with him in the American Revolution. Originally, it is believed that they were pirates. After the war, Sumter took them inland with him to near Stateburg where they settled down and many of their descendents have remained. His dark-skinned descendants, became known as the Turks of Sumter County because of their Moorish background.
In 1792 the South Carolina legislature passed a law, which stopped the importation of slaves in the state. One provision stated that Moors could not be brought into South Carolina from other states in the Union either by land or sea.
In the 1790 census there were 59,000 free blacks in the United States. There were slightly more than 27,000 in the Northern states and 32,000 in the Southern States.
In the closing of the 1700s two groups of people are found, the Guineas and Males of West Virginia. Some of them lived in northern Barbour and southern Taylor counties. Many of them have the last names of Adams, Collins, Croston, Dalton, Kennedy, Mayle, Newman, Norris, and Prichard. Prior to 1800s the names Male, Norris, Dorton, Harris, Canaday, Newman, and Croton were the most common. Some reports say the name Males comes from the infusion of Mali blood into the area. By 1810 the degree of non-white mixture was so great that the census records record the Males and Guineas as Mulattos or mixed race.
The 1700s saw the arrival and appearance of at least nine Muslims Ayub (Job) Ibn Djallo 1730, Lamine Jay 1730, Venture Smith (Bakir) 1737, Kinta Kinte 1767, Charno in 1768, Yusuf Ben Ali and Bampett Muhamed 1774, and Abel Conder and Mahmout 1753.
Soon after the formation of the United States, privateering in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean from the nations of the Barbary Coast prompted the U.S. to form a series of so-called "peace treaties", collectively known as the Barbary Treaties. Individual treaties were negotiated with Morocco in (1786), Algeria in (1795), Tripoli in (1797) and Tunis in (1797).
In 1792 the South Carolina legislature passed a law which stopped the importation of slaves in the state. One provision stated that Moors could not be bound for terms of years of service and could not be brought into South Carolina from other states in the Union either by land or sea.
From Carologue a publication of the South Carolina Historical Society 93 Muslim Slaves, Abducted Moors, African Jews, Misnamed Turks by James Hagy.
Yarrow Marmood
In 1796 Brooke Beall’s inventory listed Yarrow’s age at about 60 years old. Yarrow (Mamout) Marmood 1736-1844 was enslaved and brought from Guinea, Africa before the Revolutionary War.
In 1797 the Treaty of Tripole in Article 11 reads: Article 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
The treaty was signed at Tripoli on November 4, 1796 and at Algiers on January 3, 1797, finally receiving ratification from the U.S. Senate on June 7, 1797 and signed by President John Adams on June 10, 1797.
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