Peter Farley Fossett (June 5, 1815 – January 3, 1901) was an enslaved laborer at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation, who after he attained his freedom in the mid-19th century, settled in Cincinnati where he established himself as a minister and caterer.

Trained by a French specialist in New Orleans, she was a hairdresser to the elite women of Cincinnati's society.

She was brought to Cincinnati by Abraham Evan Gwynne, the father of Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt.

[2] Unlike most slaves who were field laborers, he learned to read and write and had less physically demanding work.

Under threat of whippings, Peter continued these practices, and taught fellow slaves to read and write, but hid those activities.

Mrs. Jones offered lodging to preachers of any faith who traveled through the area, who made an impression on Fossett.

[3] He worked to buy his family out of slavery, but Peter's owner, John Jones, would not sell him until the second time he escaped.

Ohio History Center states: "There is reason to believe that he excelled at French cooking, as his mother received extensive training in this form of food preparation while a slave at Monticello.

Conductors risked their lives when they brought fugitive slaves into their homes and helped them to the next stop on the railroad.

[11] Fossett lobbied for prison reform and sat on the school system's board of directors.

[3] When he arrived in Cincinnati, Fossett joined the Union Baptist Church and was a trustee and clerk.

He was ordained as a minister in 1870 and formed his own church,[3] the construction of which was paid in large part by Fossett.

[10] He is held in great regard by colored people and is loved by all the white ministers of Cincinnati, who know him well and esteem him highly.He wrote his remembrances in the book Once the slave of Thomas Jefferson in 1898.

[1] Captain Peter Fossett served with a unit of African Americans called the Black Brigade of Cincinnati.

[14][4][15] "Through their influence she secured entry in its exclusive group and had no superior in her profession," as quoted in The History of Black Business in America.

Like her husband, she was active in the community, including the First Baptist Church of Cumminsville, orphanages in Cincinnati, and assisting enslaved people on the Underground Railroad.

[12][13] In 1900, believing that he was not going to live much longer, he traveled to Monticello with the help of friends, where he was allowed to stay as long as he wished.