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TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF SLAVERY IN MARYLAND (Final Report) 1999/12/31 MdHR 991422 MdHR 991422, Image No: 382 Print image (68K) |
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TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF SLAVERY IN MARYLAND (Final Report) 1999/12/31 MdHR 991422 MdHR 991422, Image No: 382 Print image (68K) |
| ; T" Isaiah Fassett (1844-1946) Civil War Hero Isaiah Fassett was bom into slavery in 1844 and was released from bondage by his owner, Sarah A. Bruff, on 11 November 1863, eleven months after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. (Since Maryland was a border state, the Proclamation did not pertain to it, so Bruff was not required to adhere to it.) The day of his manumission, Fassett enlisted in the 9th Infantry Regiment, the United States Colored Infantry, Company D. He fought at Wilderness, John's Island, South Carolina; Deep Bottom, Virginia; Fussell's Mills, Petersburg, and Richmond. After Richmond fell, he was promoted to the rank of corporal, and was discharged on 26 November 1866. Known as "Uncle Zear," Fassett was one of Maryland's "Boys of 61" to attend the 75th Battle Reunion at Gettysburg in July 1938. He was the next-to-last Civil War soldier in Maryland when he died on 24 June 1946. Source Worcester County, Maryland African-American Heritage Tourist Brochure. Worcester County Tourism Office. Howard E. Leonard S/Sgt. Army Air Corps Wilmore Brown Leonard Lt. Army Air Corps Howard and Wilmore Leonard grew up in Salisbury, Maryland. Howard had been a teacher in the high school for African-Americans in Salisbury before joining the Air Force. He was assigned to the 34th Aviation Squadron and was attached to Mitchell Field. Wilmore entered the Air Force in the fall of 1942. He was a graduate of Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia, and was a teacher at Accomack High School, Accomack, Virginia. In the Air Force he earned his wings as a pilot at Tuskegee Institute, the first Eastern Shore African-American to do so. In Europe he became part of the famous 332nd Fighter Group, the "Red Tails," and flew bomber escort missions for the 15th Air Force, strafed enemy positions in support of the ground forces, and engaged in air combat as far north as Berlin. Leonard was awarded seven Battle Stars. After the war, Leonard stayed in the Reserves and eventually reached the rank of major. He returned to Howard University, earned the Doctor of Dental Surgery, and taught at Howard University for 27 years. He died in 1978. Source Bradley, Sylvia. We Live Among Heroes: A Commemorative ofWicomico County's World War Two Veterans. Wiconrico County: Westside Historical Society, 1996. 111-12. 22 |