William Goddard Emancipator

William Goddard

Emancipator

William Goddard, the Alexandria African American Emancipator, was born into slavery, his birth date unknown. After being sold to a Quaker for 80 pounds, he was able to buy his own freedom for 120 pounds three years later by paying in installments. He was emancipated in 1799. Throughout his life, he purchased/brokered the freedom of 22 enslaved people in Alexandria. He died in 1819.