Biography of a p abourne

Alexander P. Ashbourne was an early inventor. He was born into slavery in Philadelphia around 1820. There are very few documented facts about his personal life. He grew up cutting wheat alongside his family members.

In his youth, Ashbourne began to think of more efficient ways to cut wheat mainly to make harvesting easier for himself and other enslaved people.

Biography of a p abourne smith

He approached his owners with these ideas but they refused to adopt them.

Since Ashbourne was born after the Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act was passed in 1780, he was not subject to a lifetime of enslavement. Although the exact date of his emancipation is unknown, by 1847 all enslaved people in Pennsylvania had been freed.

Ashbourne disappeared from the public record until 1863, when he reemerged working as a caterer. By this time, he was well known and respected in the city. He catered weddings and buffets of the wealthy elite in Philadelphia, and was selected as one of a handful of local caterers for the 1863 Emancipati