Jacob Stroyer

Jacob Stroyer was an African American minister and autobiographer who recorded his childhood under slavery in South Carolina. Sketches Of My Life In The South, Part 1 is the first published form of his memoir, issued by the Salem Press in 1879. Stroyer describes plantation family life, forced labor, punishment, religious customs, and the separation of relatives. He also recounts being sent as a teenager to Confederate positions on Sullivan’s Island and at Fort Sumter during the Civil War. After emancipation, he studied in Columbia and Charleston, moved to Massachusetts, attended Worcester Academy, and entered the African Methodist Episcopal ministry. Stroyer revised and enlarged the narrative several times; later editions appeared as My Life in the South. University and library collections treat the work as both autobiography and a primary account of slavery in South Carolina. Its successive editions reflect his continuing effort to preserve experience while supporting his education and ministry.