Hilary Teage
Liberian politician (1802–1853)
Hilary Teage (1805 – May 21, 1853), sometimes written as Hilary Teague, was an Americo-Liberian politician, journalist, Baptist minister and merchant who is considered a founding father of the West African nation of Liberia.
Born into an enslaved family in Virginia, Teage moved to Africa as a colonist under the auspices of the American Colonization Society (ACS) as a teenager. He became a leading citizen of Monrovia as a Baptist pastor, merchant, editor and owner of Liberia's leading newspaper, and the founder of the Liberia Lyceum. He also held several political offices in the ACS-administered colony. Teage became a leading advocate for Liberian independence from the ACS, drafting the Liberian Declaration of Independence in 1847 and serving on the convention to draft Liberia's first constitution.
After independence, Teage held several offices in the new republic, serving as a senator, the first Secretary of State and attorney general in the years that followed. After a period of ill health, he died in 1853. Due to his extensive published writing and speaking, as well as his involvement in Liberian independence, he is considered one of the most influential people in early Liberian history.
Biography
Early life and education
Teague was born into an enslaved family in Goochland County, Virginia, United States, in 1805. His mother was Frances Teage and his father was Colin Teage.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5761089. VIAF identifies the subject as 63921815. The Library of Congress control number is nr98023387. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1805, 1853 and 1847.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hilary Teage” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.