Yarrow Mamout

Portrait of Yarrow Mamout (Muhammad Yaro), 1819 by Charles Willson Peale

Yarrow Mamout (c. 1700 – January 19, 1823)[1][2] was a former slave, entrepreneur, and property owner in Georgetown, Washington, DC.[3] Mamout has been described as a brickmaker, a jack of all trades, a charcoal maker, a ship loader, and a basket weaver.[3]

Background

Mamout was enslaved and taken to Annapolis from Guinea in 1752. He was originally from West Africa of the Fulani people and spoke the Fula language and rudimentary English.[4] Because he could read and write in Arabic and could also write his name in English,[3] historians believe he came from a wealthy Muslim family.[5]

Samuel Beall and his son kept him in slavery. Beall owned a plantation in Takoma Park.[3]

After 44 years of being slave, Mamout gained freedom at the age of 60.[3]

He made enough money to purchase 3324 Dent Place NW in the early 1800s[5] and was a financier who lent funds to merchants. He also owned stock in the Columbia Bank of Georgetown.[3]

There are two known portraits of Mamout, painted by James Alexander Simpson and Charles Willson Peale.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "A man's true worth". OUPblog | Oxford University Press's blog. May 18, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Portrait of Yarrow Mamout (Muhammad Yaro)" (PDF). Philadelphia Museum of Art.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 King, Colbert I. (February 13, 2015). "Yarrow Mamout, the slave who became a Georgetown financier". Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  4. ↑ Vellotti, Ramin (July–August 2016). "Yarrow Mamout: Freedman". AramcoWorld. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Wheeler, Candace (December 26, 2012). "The search for Yarrow Mamout". Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
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