"S" is for Stroyer, Jacob (ca. 1846- ca. 1908). Clergyman, author. Stroyer was born and raised a slave in antebellum South Carolina. After emancipation, he authored an engrossing autobiographical narrative, My Life in the South, first published in 1879. Subsequently revised and expanded, the book is a collection of incidents that provides an intimate view of Stroyer’s life as a slave. In 1870 he moved to Worcester, Massachusetts where he studied at Worcester Academy. During this time he was a licensed preacher of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and he later was ordained as a deacon. Soon thereafter he was sent to Salem, Massachusetts, where he remained to “preach the gospel.” During this period, Jacob Stroyer became a much sought-after speaker regarding his life as a slave, and he was encouraged to write and publish these accounts.