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Lewis Southworth, also identified as Louis Southworth (1830–1917), was a pioneer and freed slave who settled a donation land claim in 1880 near Waldport in the U.S. state of Oregon. Born in Tennessee, he was brought to the territory by his "master", from whom he bought his freedom with cash earned chiefly from his expertise with the fiddle or violin. Southworth lived or worked near Monroe, Jacksonville, and Buena Vista before settling along a small tributary of the Alsea River, where he farmed and engaged in other enterprises and civic undertakings. After his wife died in 1901, Southworth bought a house in Corvallis, where he lived for the rest of his life. Southworth was the first African-American member of the Oregon militia. Southworth Creek, a small tributary of the Alsea River, is named in his honor. ==Slave== In 1853, James Southworth, a Tennessee slave owner, had brought Southworth to the Oregon Territory as property. Slavery was not legal in the territory, and African Americans were prohibited from settling there. Efforts to discourage former slaves and their descendants from moving to Oregon continued through at least 1926, when a clause in the state constitution that made it illegal for African Americans to live in Oregon was repealed. Despite restrictions, James Southworth brought Lewis to Oregon and continued to regard him as his property. In 1854 Lewis Southworth settled on an abandoned donation land claim near Monroe, in Lane County. Another pioneer, Benjamin Richardson, allowed him to live there on a claim that Richardson’s son no longer wanted.〔 According to an article in ''The Old Time Herald'', James Southworth, thought to be cash-poor, lived with Lewis on the Richardson claim.〔 Shortly thereafter, Lewis traveled to the gold fields near Jacksonville, where he earned $300 that he remitted to James in partial payment for his freedom.〔 While returning from Jacksonville to Monroe, Lewis encountered soldiers fighting in the Rogue River Wars who threatened to confiscate his rifle. To avoid proceeding unarmed through dangerous places, Southworth joined the militia but was subsequently wounded in a skirmish in 1856.〔 He was the first African-American member of the Oregon militia. Soon the James Southworth family moved again, this time to California to try gold mining, taking Lewis with them. While mining in Yreka, Lewis found fiddle playing more lucrative than looking for gold, and he subsequently taught violin and played for dance schools in Yreka and in Virginia City, Nevada.〔 In this way, Lewis earned enough to pay James Southworth another $700 to be set free in 1858 or 1859.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lewis Southworth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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