William Wells Brown was the first black novelist. He was also a Negro reformer and historian. According to who you talk to, his birth varies from 1814,1815, and 1816. Brown was born in Lexington Kentucky. His mother was a slave and his father is said to be one George Higgins, a white slaveholder. As a youth, Brown worked on steamships, but was later employed in a print-shop owned by Elijah P. Lovejoy, then editor of the St Louis Times. Working in this capacity, Brown got his start in education. Soon he was returned back to working on steamboats. In 1834, he escaped into Ohio, intending to cross Lake Eire into Canada. On the way he was sheltered by a Quaker, Wells Brown, whose name he assum