The story of how this adorable couple met is an incredible Civil War story.
On the left is former slave Samuel Ruth. He was born to Africa-born slave Leah Ruth and white slave owner Robert Ruth who sold him away from his mother in 1857 when he was just seven years old.
On the right is free-born Virginian-turned-Pennsylvanian Louisa Pinn, the daughter of abolitionist Reverend Robert Pinn.
The 54th Massachusetts rescued Samuel from slavery while they were in Savannah, Georgia. He served as a personal assistant to Lieutenant Stephen Swails (one of the first men of color to become an officer in the US Army) and a water boy to the regiment, and was fostered by Corporal Walter Samuel Pinn's family after the war.
It was in Burlington, New Jersey with the Pinn family where he met his future wife, the youngest daughter of the Pinns: Louisa Pinn.
I wanted to share this photo of Samuel Ruth and Louisa Pinn with the community.
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