Caption from poster__ 

ROBERT SMALLS

Smalls was born April 5, 1839, in the small town of Beaufort in South Carolina. His mother was held as a slave by Henry McKee, and she was a descendant of the Lowcountry Gullah people of the coastal Sea Islands. As a preteen, Smalls was leased out in the town of Charleston as a street worker and hotel employee. His desire to be near the sea, however, led him to working on the docks.  As a dockworker, Smalls learned the trade swiftly and eventually became a wheelman (another name for pilot, although the White sailors were reluctant to give Blacks the title) for the “CSS Planter” ship.

Smalls knew the Charleston Harbor region well, and he eventually married hotel maid Hannah Jones. A proud man who desired freedom, he asked their owners to allow them to live with each other in Charleston.

Although he would receive his wish to live in the same house as his wife and children, Smalls contended with the fact that he was still a slave.

Smalls attempted to buy his family’s freedom, but it would cost him $800 to do so and he only had $100 to his name.