Caroline Kerfoot

1800s

19th-Century Woman of Belief

Described as being the daughter of an African chief, captured shortly before the Civil War.

May have been one of the last persons imported for slavery in America.

Stories say that she rose before dawn to pray and then prayed multiple times during the day using words unfamiliar to others. If you sound out the syllables she is said to have repeated, they sound similar to portions of Muslim prayers.

A deeply religious woman of great strength and character, she continued to publicly practice her faith in a foreign land, amidst a majority of the town not of her faith.