Yarrow Mamout

Yarrow Mamout (c. 1736 – January 19, 1823) [1][2] was a formerly enslaved African entrepreneur, and later 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]

Yarrow Mamout
Portrait of Yarrow Mamout (Muhammad Yaro), 1819 by Charles Willson Peale
Personal details
Bornc. 1738
DiedJanuary 19, 1823

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 Washington 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. 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. Wheeler, Candace (December 26, 2012). "The search for Yarrow Mamout". Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
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