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Established in Trenton (Edgefield County) in 1881 by the Reverend Alexander Bettis, this school provided former enslaved African Americans and their children with a basic education of reading and writing as well as skills and trades. A former slave who could neither write nor read, Bettis organized the Mt. Canaan Missionary and Educational Union to raise the $300 used in purchasing the land for the boarding school. While there was an emphasis on teacher education, the school’s primary focus was on industrial training.

SUMMARY William Lee was the enslaved valet of George Washington for nearly two decades. Purchased by Washington in 1768, when he was at least sixteen years old, Lee was assigned to household work at Mount Vernon and accompanied Washington when he traveled, including during the American Revolution (1775–1783). The war made Lee, who often rode alongside Washington, well-known to both American and British soldiers. Although Lee was initially taken to New York at the start of Washington’s first presidential term in 1789, old injuries to his knees limited his mobility. Lee appears to have marr...