[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 37 (Monday, February 27, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF HOWELL'S FIRST BLACK RESIDENT, ABRAHAM 
                                LOSFORD

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 27, 2023

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in honor of Abraham Losford, 
the first Black resident of Howell, Michigan--a brave man who escaped 
slavery and used the trade he learned while captive to build a life of 
freedom for his family and for generations to come.
  It was 1849 when Abraham Losford fled north with nothing but his 
clippers from Kentucky where he had been enslaved and served as a 
plantation barber. He was captured, escaped again, and after 
Emancipation, returned to free his children, Benjamin and Sally. The 
plan was to travel to Lansing, Michigan, via the Old Plank Road and 
open a barber shop, but when Losford stopped in Howell to change 
stagecoaches, he was convinced to stay in the small town. The people of 
Howell promised to keep him safe if he would stay and open up a barber 
shop, which they sorely needed. It was a deal both sides would forever 
uphold.
  Losford and his barber business both thrived in Howell, and he became 
a successful, respected businessman in the predominantly white 
community--no small feat for a former slave in the years following the 
end of the Civil War. Newspaper ads from the time boast of his salon 
offering ``Shaving, Shampooing, and Hairdressing'' for both men and 
women, and it was noted in the local press that when Losford fell ill, 
a band of 60 kids and adults joined together to bring him gifts and 
money in a show of support and affection for the beloved town barber.
  Abraham passed the trade to his son, who went on to open a barber 
shop of his own in the Town of Edmore, Michigan. Today, Ben's story--
and that of his father--are immortalized in the children's book 
``Benjamin Losford and his Handy, Dandy Clippers.'' It is the story of 
how skill equals freedom, and a potent reminder that we must all make 
the most of the tools we have been fortunate enough to receive.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  February 27, 2023, on page E156, in the first column, the first 
appeared: Abam passed the trade to his son, who went on to open a 
barber shop of his own in the Town of Edmore, Michigan. Today, 
Ben's
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: Abraham passed 
the trade to his son, who went on to open a barber shop of his own 
in the Town of Edmore, Michigan. Today, Ben's


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


  Abraham Losford died in 1897 and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in 
downtown Howell. His obituary states that quote, ``His presence, as 
well as his open, manly character, was a living reminder of the sin of 
slavery. Many winters will come and go before the name of 'Old Uncle 
Abe' is forgotten in the community.'' Mr. Speaker, I ask that his name 
and his accomplishments live forever in our hearts and minds.

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