"Five Black Lives is a collection of ex-slave narratives which spans 150 years in time, from 1729 to 1870, and some thousands of miles in geographical area from Africa to Connecticut.
The Autobiographies include the lives of Venture Smith, a native of Africa who ended his days as a resident of East Haddam, Connecticut
James Mars, born a slave near Norfolk, Connecticut in 1790, and freed at twenty-Five by state law
William Grimes, a native of Virginia, who became Connecticut\'s first known ru. "Five Black Lives is a collection of ex-slave narratives which spans 150 years in time, from 1729 to 1870, and some thousands of miles in geographical area from Africa to Connecticut