Owen Lun West Smith: AME Zion Leader and U.S. Diplomat
By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Owen Lun West Smith was born into slavery on May 18, 1851, in Giddensville, Sampson County, North Carolina. At the age of at most 14 he initially followed the Confederate Army as a personal servant. As the war drew to a close, Smith's path changed dramatically when he left his mother and joined General William T. Sherman's Union forces on their return north. He was