Bold Solutions

The story of Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori is one of the most remarkable and well-known stories to come out of the Natchez-Adams County area. Born and raised in West African, Ibrahima was a Muslim prince who spent 40 years enslaved on the Thomas Foster plantation just outside of Natchez, Mississippi, before he gained his freedom in 1828.

Ibrahima’s story is told in Dr. Terry Alford’s book, “Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American South” (Oxford University Press, 1977).

He came from Timbo

Ibrahima was a Muslim prince who was born in 1762 in Timbuktu, a city in the current western African country of Mali. Ibrahima grew up in Timbo, Guinea, West Africa. His father was a king who ruled as a political and religious leader in the Futa Jalon highlands of Guinea.

Ibrahima was only 26 when he served as a colonel in his father’s army. However, his military service was cut short. In 1788, he and his soldiers were returning home to celebrate a victory after a battle when they were ambushed by the Hebohs, a rival ethnic group. Ibrahima was captured and sold to slave traders.

Sold to Thomas Foster

Ibrahima arrived in Natchez in August 1788 by boat at the site that is now known as Under-the-Hill. On Monday, August 18, 1788, he was sold to a farmer named Thomas Foster in an agreement signed at the fort in the presence of Don Carlos de Grand-Pre. Today, the site of the fort is known as “the Earthen Ruins of Fort Rosalie.” Foster purchased Ibrahima and his friend, Samba, for a total of $930. That amount in 2025 would be $32,967.25. 

Ibrahima proved to be a good worker and was made an overseer at Foster’s plantation.

In 1791, Foster purchased a woman in her early 20s named Isabella. She and Ibrahima married on Christmas Day of 1794. The two of them would raise nine children: five sons and four daughters.

In 1803, the prince met newspaper editor and printer Andrew Marschalk, who is today known as the “Father of Mississippi Journalism.” He would play a significant role in Ibrahima’s life.

Unexpected meeting

One summer day in 1807, the prince visited the market in Washington to sell sweet potatoes when he saw Dr. John Coates Cox, a friend from his past. Cox, an Irishman, had sailed to West Africa in 1781. After going ashore, he became lost and later collapsed. He was rescued by the Fulani people and taken to Timbo, where Ibrahima’s father cared for him until his health was restored.

In the book, “Prince Among Slaves,” Dr. Terry Alford narrates this chance encounter in dramatic fashion.

Alford writes that on that day in Mississippi, Ibrahima asked Cox if he wanted to buy some potatoes. Cox studied his face and asked where he was from. Initially, Ibrahima mentioned Foster’s planation, but when Cox asked if he was “raised in this country,” he said he came from Africa.

Alford shares the rest of the encounter as follows:

“You came from Timbo?” [asked Dr. Cox]

“Yes, sir.”

“Is your name Abduhl Rahahman?”

“Yes, that is my name.”

“Do you know me?” the [horse] rider asked.

“Yes,” Ibrahima replied, “I know you very well. You be Dr. Cox.”

“When the doctor said his name, Ibrahima felt as if he had been hit by something. His body could not handle its emotions. Some say he bowed to the doctor, others that he danced or jumped or threw a watermelon high into the air. One thing was for certain. He was smiling now. The one white man in the world who owed him a great favor was there in the street before him. It was wildly improbable, it was fanciful, it was insane, but it was happening.

“Springing from his horse, Cox seized Ibrahima and embraced him violently. What was he doing here? How had he come to this country? The questions poured forth, for Cox was no less shocked than Ibrahima.”

After Ibrahima and Cox recognized each other at the market in Mississippi, the doctor tried for many years to buy his freedom, but Foster refused to sell him. Cox died in December 1816. His chance meeting with Ibrahima validated the prince’s story and generated fame for both of them. The fame led to Ibrahima’s freedom with the help of Marschalk.

Letter-writing Campaign

In the early 1820s, Ibrahima began visiting Marschalk’s print shop, which was right beside Marschalk’s home on the corner of Wall and Franklin streets in downtown Natchez. On one of his visits, Ibrahima picked up a book and began reading the text that was printed in Arabic, which surprised Marschalk. Later, Ibrahima expressed an interest in writing a letter to his home country, and Marschalk agreed to help him. However, it would be a few years later before Ibrahima wrote the letter.

Once it was written, Marschalk launched a letter-writing campaign to help free the prince. In 1828, he succeeded with the help of U.S. Secretary of State Henry Clay in President John Quincy Adams’ administration. Clay authorized Marschalk’s efforts to obtain Ibrahima’s freedom.

Free at Last!

On Friday, February 22, 1828, Foster delivered Ibrahima to Marschalk’s printing office along with a deed in trust for Ibrahima. “Thomas signed the deed and left the office.” Ibrahima was 66. Isabella’s freedom would be purchased later for $200. This amount in 2025 would be $6,641.96. 

On April 8, 1828, Ibrahima and Isabella traveled with their family to the dock under the hill. They boarded the Neptune and waved goodbye to their children, who remained enslaved. For several months after leaving Natchez, Ibrahima travelled to Washington, D.C., and Connecticut, among other places, on a fundraising campaign to help free his children. However, he came up short.

Sailing to West Africa

In February 1829, he and his wife sailed to Monrovia, Liberia, which the American Colonization Society had created as a home for formerly enslaved Africans. During their stay in Liberia, Ibrahima contracted a fever and died on July 6, 1829, at the age of 67. He never reached his homeland. His wife remained in Liberia. Two of her sons later joined her.