Born on July 4, Louis Southworth journeyed from slavery to independence

Nearly two centuries after his birth on July 4, 1830, Louis Southworth is having a moment.

It’s not just his birthday that makes Southworth’s story worth remembering this Independence Day: Southworth, born in Tennessee, was an enslaved person when he first came to the Eugene-Springfield area in 1853.

Over the years, he earned the $1,000 (about $38,500 today) needed to buy his freedom — mostly through playing his beloved fiddle.

He eventually moved to Waldport, and worked as a musician, ferryman, farmer, horse trainer and more. He donated land and served on the school board — all at a time when Oregon law made it illegal for Black people to live in the state.

Southworth drew recognition from the Oregon Legislature in March, when the House of Representatives, without opposition, approved Oregon House Resolution 1.

The resolution reads, in part: “Louis Southworth lived in Oregon during a period in which the state’s exclusion laws made it nearly impossible for Black Oregonians to thrive, but after achieving his freedom, he built a life of prosperity for his family that would not have been possible during his days of servitude.”

That’s not the only recent honor Southworth has received, more than 100 years after his death on June 28, 1917.

He’s been honored in Waldport with downtown’s new Southworth Park.

And Lane County sculptor Peter Helzer has created a sculpture of Southworth that sits in Waldport outside the Alsea Bay Bridge Visitor Center.

That’s not the only connection between Helzer and Southworth: Southworth later moved from Waldport to Corvallis, where, Helzer says, “My great, great, great aunt lived just two blocks away.”

Helzer’s statue depicts Southworth delicately holding his fiddle. Southworth used the instrument to entertain at dances and other gatherings.

Not everybody was a fan of the fiddle: a Baptist church raised objections. As Southworth recalled:

“Was brought up a Baptist, but the brethren would not stand for my fiddle, which was about all the company I had most of the time. So I told them to keep me in the church with my fiddle if they could, but to turn me out if they must; for I could not think of parting with the fiddle. I reckon my name isn’t written in their books here any more; but I somehow hope it’s written in the big book up yonder, where they aren’t so particular about the fiddles.”

Nevertheless, the church turned him out.

To make the story more real, I visited his grave in Corvallis, and the inscription at the bottom of the tombstone says something about Southworth’s life: “A Bit of Heaven’s Music Here Below.”

From Corvallis, I drove to see the Helzer statue in Waldport. It’s still hard to imagine what Southworth overcame.

Jesse Dolin, a Waldport native who works with the Oregon Coast Visitors Association and has helped lead the effort to recognize Southworth, said “The amazing life of Louis Southworth almost reads like a novel, and is a story that deserves to be told.”

Zachary Stocks, executive director of the Oregon Black Pioneers, often talks about Southworth’s story to contemporary audiences. In an email, Stocks wrote, “The thing that audiences respond to most is how the community embraced Louis as one of their own. People loved him for his community service, his music and his storytelling. He was the only Black person in the region, but he was everyone’s ‘uncle’ regardless of racial differences.”

On this Fourth of July, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence, which says “all men are created equal.” But Southworth was not treated equally. It would take many decades and a Civil War led by Southworth’s hero, Abraham Lincoln to further turn that tide.

In spite of the obstacles, Southworth gained a measure of freedom through hard work and his joyful spirit. And through him we have another part of both our American and local history to celebrate on his birthday this Fourth of July.