My birth place was Fut TÛr, [?(Fouta Toro,)] between the two rivers, (Mesopotamia in Africa?) I sought knowledge under the instruction of [?a] Sheikh called Mohammed Seid, my own brother, & Sheikh Soleiman Kembeh, & Sheikh Gabriel Abdal. I continued my studies twenty five years, & then returned to my home where I remained six years. Then there came to our place a large army, who killed many men, & took me, & brought me to the great sea, & sold me into the hands of the Christians [?who bound me] & sent [?me] on board a great ship & [?we] sailed upon the great sea a month & a half, when we came to a place called Charleston in the Christian language. There they sold me to a small, weak, & wicked man, called Johnson, a complete infidel, who had no fear of God at all. Now I am a small man; & unable to do hard work so I fled from [?the hand of] Johnson & after a month came to a place called Fayd-il (Fayette-ville?). Here I saw some great houses (churches). On the new-moon I went into a church to pray. A lad saw me & rode off to the place of his father & informed him that he had seen a black man in the church. A man named Handah (Hunter?) & another man with him on horseback, came attended by a troop of dogs. They took me & made me go with them twelve miles to a place called Fayd-il(?) where they put me into a great house from which I could not go out. I continued in the great house (which, in the Christian language, they called jail) sixteen days & nights. One Friday the jailor came & opened the door of the house & I saw a great many men all Christians, some of whom called out to me, “what is your name? Is it Omar or Seid?” I did not understand their Christian language. A man called Bob Mumford took me [?& led me] out of the jail, & I was very well pleased to go with them to their place. I staid at Mumford’s four days & nights, & then a man named Jim Owen, son in law of Mumford, who married his daughter Betsey, asked me if I was willing to go to a place called Bladen, (B. Co. N.C.). I said, Yes, I was willing. I went with them & have remained in the place (house?) of Jim Owen until now.

Before (after?) I came into the hand of Gen. Owen a man by the name of Mitchell came to buy me. He asked me if I were willing to go to Charleston City. I said “no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I not willing to go to Charleston. I stay in the hand of Jim Owen.”

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O ye people of N. Carolina, O ye people of S. Carolina, O ye people of America, all of you; have you among you any two such men as Jim Owen & John Owen. These men are good men. What food they eat they give to me to eat. As they clothe themselves they clothe me. They permit me to read the gospel of God, our Lord, & Saviour, & King; who regulates all our circumstances, our health & wealth, & who bestows his mercies willingly, not by constraint. According to my power I open my heart, as to a great light, to receive the true way, the way of the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Before I came to the Christian country, my religion was the religion of “Mohammed, the Apostle of God—may God have mercy upon him, & give him peace.” I walked to the mosque before day-break, washed my face & head & hands & feet. I prayed at noon, prayed in the afternoon, prayed at sun-set, prayed in the evening. I gave alms every year, gold, silver, seeds, [illegible word], cattle, sheep, goats, rice, wheat, & barley. I gave tithes of all the above-named things. I went every year to the holy war against the infidels. I went on pilgrimage to Mecca, as all did who were able.——My father had six sons & five daughters, & my mother had three sons & one daughter. When I left my country I was thirty seven years old;—I have been in the country of the Christians twenty four years.——Written A.D. 1831—

[?Written in year one thousand eight hundred and one and thirty of Jesus the messiah]

O ye people of N. Carolina, O ye people of S. Carolina, O all ye people of America—the first son of Jim Owen is called Thomas, & his sister is called Masa-jein (Martha Jane?) This is an excellent family.

Tom Owen & Nell Owen have two sons & a daughter. The first son is called Jim & the second John. The daughter is named Melissa.

Seid Jim Owen & his wife Betsey have two sons & five daughters. Their names are Tom, & John, & Mercy, Miriam, Sophia, Margaret & Eliza. This family is a very nice family.