http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h16.html
Yarrow Mamout was born in Africa around 1736 and was a teenager when enslaved and brought to America, apparently no later than 1752. His African homeland and ethnicity are unknown, and although he was brought to the Virginia-Maryland area, little is known about his early years in America. He ultimately lived in Washington D.C. and during his old age was well known in the Georgetown area, where he was manumitted from slavery in 1797. He was known as a devout Muslim and hard worker, and was able to accumulate some property. He lived the rest of his life in Georgetown, where he died in 1823 at the age of about 88.
Now this is what leads me to think he might be Somali.....
1) The guy in the picture doesn't look like your average West African. Remember this guy was brought from Africa so there is no admixture in his ancestry. He has a long slim nose, high cheek bones, his hair isn't that nappy, and his skin color is brown. Most slaves from West Africa look nothing like that.The guy is DEFINITELY East African in origin.
2) He is a devout Muslim. This eliminates the chance he's Habesha or Oromo (mostly).
3) And most important of all his NAME...........Yarrow is a Somali name
BTW this was inspired by the "somali slaves in Saudi Arabia" thread
