But, notwithstanding the state of almost instinctive ignorance in which slavery held the Negro, there were those who occasionally astounded the world with the brightness of their intellectual genius.  There were some Negroes whose minds ran the gauntlet of public proscription on one side and repressive laws on the other, and safely gained eminence in astronomy, mathematics, and medicine.

BANNEKER THE ASTRONOMER.

BENJAMIN BANNEKER, the Negro astronomer and philosopher, was born in Maryland, on the 9th of November, 1731.  His maternal grandmother was a white woman, a native of England, named Molly Welsh.  She came to Maryland in a shipload of white emigrants, who, according to the custom of those days, were sold to pay their passage.  She served her master faithfully for seven years, when, being free, she purchased a small farm, at a nominal price.  Soon after she bought two Negro slaves from a ship that had come into the Chesapeake Bay, and began life anew.  Both of these Negroes proved to be men of more than ordinary fidelity, industry, and intelligence.  One of them, it was said, was the son of an African king.  She gave him his freedom, and then married him.  His name was Banneker.[612] Four children were the fruit of this union; but the chief interest centres in only one,—­a girl, named Mary.  Following the example of her mother, she also married a native of Africa:  but both tradition and history preserve an unbroken silence respecting his life, with the single exception that, embracing the Christian religion, he was baptized “Robert Banneker;” and the record of his death is thus preserved, in the family Bible:  “Robert Banneker departed this life, July ’ye 10th 1759.”  Thus it is evident that he took his wife’s surname.  Benjamin Banneker was the only child of Robert and Mary Banneker.

Young Benjamin was a great favorite with his grandmother, who taught him to read.  She had a sincere love of the Sacred Scriptures, which she did not neglect to inculcate into the youthful heart of her grandson.  In the neighborhood,—­at that time an almost desolate spot,—­a school was conducted where the master admitted several Colored children, with the whites, to the benefits of his instructions.  It was a “pay school,” and thither young Banneker was sent at a very tender age.  His application to his studies was equalled by none.  When the other pupils were playing, he found great pleasure in his books.  How long he remained in school, is not known.

His father purchased a farm of one Richard Gist, and here he spent the remnant of his days.

When young Banneker had obtained his majority, he gave attention to the various interests of farm-life.  He was industrious, intelligent in his labors, scrupulously neat in the management of his grounds, cultivated a valuable garden, was gentle in his treatment of stock,—­horses, cows, etc.,—­and was indeed comfortably situated.  During those seasons of leisure which come to agriculturists, he stored his mind with useful knowledge.  Starting with the Bible, he read history, biography, travels, romance, and such works on general literature as he was able to borrow.  His mind seemed to turn with especial satisfaction to mathematics, and he acquainted himself with the most difficult problems.