Bemo, John

Bemo, John a Seminole Indian, converted to Christianity, and afterward instrumental in great good to his tribe. He was born in the year 1825, in Florida. When quite young he was brought to St. Augustine by his father, who perished there through the brutality of the whites. Bemo was kidnapped by a ship's crew, and carried on a several years' voyage, visiting Europe, Asia, and Africa. During this voyage he was thoroughly converted, through the agency of a pious sailor. After other voyages he attended school a year with the "Friends" in Philadelphia, and then commenced laboring with great success among his people, at their new location in the West, and by his appeals in the Eastern cities he kept them alive when threatened with starvation. Further facts are wanting. He was a greatly wronged boy, but an apostolic and blessed man. — Thomson, Biographical Sketches, p. 133.