In Also, a Brief Sketch of the Life of the Rev. David Conyou, of the A. M. E. C. and His Ministerial labors, published in 1850, Augustus R. Green writes the life story David Conyou, an enslaved man in Loudoun County who bought his freedom and became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. This narrative, along with other slave narratives, offer a composite portrait of authors’ self-styled personal stories. The amanuensis’ interests, lived experiences, and editing choices, as well as their social relations and expectations shaped the relationship and conversation with the authors. Although the narratives aren’t unmediated autobiographies, they are no less authentic and are just as fruitful a source for reconstructing historical experience.
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