Hilary Teague

Hilary Richard Wright Teague was born free in 1805 in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Rev. Collin Teague. In 1821, the family emigrated to West Africa via Sierra Leone, settling in the newly founded Monrovia settlement.

As editor of the Liberia Herald for two decades, Teague was the colony's leading intellectual and orator. In July 1847, as delegate to the Constitutional Convention, he drafted the Liberian Declaration of Independence—a soaring indictment of racial slavery in America and an affirmation of African human dignity. He also penned the national hymn, served as Secretary of State, and was a prominent Baptist theologian.