[RELIGION]. Portrait of an unidentified Af. American clergyman, poss. AME Bishop Jabez P. Campbell.

5 3/8 x 7 3/8 in. oval albumen enlargement on larger oval mount, framed to approx. 12 x 14 in. (toning and soiling to print and mount, not examined out of the frame; frame with few splits/cracks and some surface wear). The clergyman stands with his hands clasped, resting one forearm on the back of a velvet chair positioned next to him. A top hat and book rest on a table to the viewer's left. The unidentified subject bears some resemblance to Bishop Jabez Pitt Campbell of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Jabez Pitt Campbell (1815-1891) was the grandson of two Revolutionary War soldiers, and the son of a Methodist preacher. Campbell was sold as a slave after his father used him as collateral for a mortgage. He was enslaved for 4 1/2 years before purchasing his freedom at the age of 18. He became an accomplished preacher and teacher in the years leading up the Civil War, being elected the eighth bishop of the AME church in 1864. He had interesting views on the major goings-on related to slavery, emancipation, and the Civil War, denouncing John Brown's raid as reckless, and criticizing Lincoln for his slow approach to emancipation once the Civil War ended. He was, notably, elected vice president of the American Colonization Society in 1876, being a proponent of returning free African Americans to Africa.

This lot is located in Cincinnati.