Frederick Douglass mistaken for Horace Greeley on the streets of Louisville, Kentucky

On several occasions across different states, cities, towns, time zones, hemispheres and decades Frederick (Bailey) Douglass was a victim of mistaken identity. We recently came across a story we’d never heard before — Douglass being mistaken for the esteemed, and deceased, newspaper publisher and failed presidential candidate Horace Greeley.

Do you see a resemblance? Reportedly some folks in Louisville apparently did …

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Frederick Douglass recently paid a visit to the Louisville, Kentucky. The Planet, speaking of his visit, gets off the following:

THE DEAD ALIVE.

During the visit of Frederick Douglass in our midst, while he chanced to be walking up Market Street, he passed a crowd of boot-blacks and his peculiar appearance so attracted their attention that one looking up into the face of the venerable man gave vent to the following exclamation, “J-e-s-u-s C-h-r-i-s-t; H-o-r-a-c-e G-r-e-e-l-e-y.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

We share our historic footnotes when coins are forthcoming.