The New York Public Library, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, General Research Division

Ralph R. Gurley, Life of Jehudi Ashmun, Late Colonial Agent in Liberia (New York: Robinson & Franklin, 1839)

Jehudi Ashmun (1794-1828), a minister born in Champlain, New York, was appointed by the American Colonization Society as agent in Liberia. He arrived in 1822, along with thirty-five African-American emigrants, only to find the colony with few supplies, rampant health problems, and a hostile local population. Ashmun is often credited with bringing some stability to the young colony.