James Monroe Jones

James Monroe Jones (1821/22–1906), born enslaved in North Carolina, purchased his freedom and was eventually able to graduate from Oberlin. He was a gunsmith and engraver with a profitable shop in Chatham, Ontario, where he served as a justice of the peace.^[1] He was the only African-American gunsmith in Canada. He prepared a presentation set of derringers for the Prince of Wales during the latter's visit to Canada, but they were never presented because the organizers learned of his skin color.^[2]

In his final years he moved to his son's home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he died aged 85.

^ Lubet, Steven. John Brown's Spy. The Tragic Life and Tragic Confession of John E. Cook. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780300180497.
^ Smith, Philip (2018), One of the Best Old World Gunsmiths, You’ve Never Heard Of, Ammoland

[1] Lubet, Steven. John Brown's Spy. The Tragic Life and Tragic Confession of John E. Cook. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780300180497.

[2] Smith, Philip (2018), One of the Best Old World Gunsmiths, You’ve Never Heard Of, Ammoland

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