Tag Archives: black-history

Nancy Fletcher | Widowhood

James Stewart (Jr) and his wife, Ann (Nancy) Fletcher, liberated themselves during the Civil War from their enslavement in Prince George’s County. Nancy was enslaved by Marsham Waring and his heirs, while her husband was enslaved by Waring’s brother-in-law, Benjamin Lee. Both Waring and Lee were large landowners along the Western Branch in Queen Anne District. 

Following the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia in 1862, neighboring enslaved individuals seized an opportunity for freedom. Despite monitored roads and patrols, many fled their bondage and headed toward the District. Barbara Jeanne Fields highlighted in her book, Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground that “Many an ex-fugitive later reported having left Maryland for the District during or after the spring of 1862. Families packed up such of their possessions as could be compactly assembled and departed, sometimes appropriating means of transportation from their owners.” (111)

Camps emerged in and around the District to accommodate these incoming refugees from slavery. One such camp, Camp Springdale, comprised of tents on the grounds of the “Arlington Estate,” owned by Robert E. Lee’s wife. James and Nancy Stewart were recorded as residents of Camp Springdale in 1864 along with their three children: John (Henson), George (Anthony), and Frances. During this time, Nancy was a new mother, taking care of her infant daughter and her older sons. 

Freedmans village–Greene Heights Arlington, VA. | loc.gov

Post-War Life

1870

James and Nancy survived the war with their sons. After the war, they are living in the District, as recorded by the 1870 Census. Living in Ward 5, James is working as a scavenger while Nancy is “keeping house”. Scavenger is a euphemism, like night-soil man, for a person who collected human waste from households and transported the waste away from residential areas. The Evening Star reported in 1869, that because there was no designated place for depositing the “night soil”, it was dumped into the Potomac, the Tiber creek and the Canal. 

The 1870 Census did not record addresses or street names (like in later census records), however, by comparing names in the Census to the City Directories, a more precise location can be determined. The Stewart Family is enumerated immediately after Benton Russ, a guard at the Jail; in the City Directory, Benton Russ is recorded as living at 2d and A NE, near the location of another refugee camp, Duff’s Green Row. 

1880

By 1880, the family appears to have been split up by economic necessity. Three separate census records have been identified that appear to represent the family based on the geographic proximity to their 1870 address of 2d and A NE. Nancy is living at 107 2nd NE while Ella and John Henson are working as servants at nearby addresses.  George Anthony has yet to be found. 

Nancy Stewart is enumerated in her household, a widow. Ella, age 12, is working as a servant at 18 2nd Street NE in the household of Isaac Bassett, a doorman at the Capitol Building. Both addresses are clustered around the intersection of A St NE and 2nd St NE.

(John) Henson Stewart is working in the household of Mary J Wheeler, who lived at 136 Pennsylvania Ave SE, which was at the the intersection of Independence Ave SE (then B St SE) and 2nd St SE. Essentially, Nancy and Ella lived by the Supreme Court and John Henson Stewart lived by the Library of Congress, a few short blocks away with East Capitol Street separating them. 

On the other hand, George (Anthony) is much more elusive. George Stewart was a common name and several men with the name were working as servants in city; none were near George Anthony’s family members. In 1885, a city directory entry records Anthony Steward living as a laborer at Bassett Alley NE, which is one block north of where Nancy Stewart was living in 1880. 

1900

By 1900, Nancy Stewart has moved east of Lincoln Park and is living at 15 Fitzhugh Court, SE with her two sons: John and George A. She is living with Mary Jones, who is listed as her sister in the census record. 

Although the census lists inaccurate ages for them, shaving decades off of their ages, the address aligns with other records that suggest the high probability that this is the same family. The following records support this connection:

  1. 1907 City Directory entry for Nancy Stewart, wid. James, residing at 15 Fitzugh Court SE
  2. 1910 Census Entry for Nancy Stewart and John at 15 Fitzhugh Court, the age of Nancy is 71, aligning more closely with previous records. 
  3. 1919 Death Record for a widowed Nancy Stewart living at 15 Fitzhugh Court, with burial in Mt. Olivet, a Catholic Cemetery

Jane Colbert | Kendall Green

In May 1862, shortly after the emancipation of enslaved people in the District of Columbia, a large groups of enslaved people made their way to the District in order to be free. The newspapers are filled with reports with descriptions of men carrying and baggage from Loudoun County, Virginia, and armed groups coming for the District carrying weapons. On May 7, 1862, the Evening Star reported “the first arrests under the emancipation law were made this morning” when police arrested “two slaves who had run away from their masters in Prince George’s County, were on their way to the city and had crossed the District Line”.

Jane Colbert‘s husband, Daniel Colbert (Calvert) was named in affidavit seeking his return by James Waring, along with others from his estates. The people named, like Daniel had wives and partners living on other estates who were not named, and were likely part of the group that sough freedom in the district.

Their marriage was recorded by agents working for the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1867. They noted along with hundreds of other freedmen marriages and partnerships. Daniel Colbert and Jane Dorsey were married in 1859 by a Jesuit Priest named Bague and had two children. In 1862, 5 months prior to their escape, they had their son, George W Colbert, baptized by the Jesuits at White Marsh.

Daniel Calvert was most likely born enslaved to Marsham Waring in Prince George’s County, the son of George Calvert and Amelia Jones.  He was enslaved on Waring’s Chelsea estate and while Jane Dorsey was likely enslaved by the Hall family on their nearby estate.  Both slaveholding families were Catholic and multiple people they enslaved were married by Jesuit Priests and had their children baptized.

On 20 January 1868, “Jane Colbert” is recorded in the Freedmen’s Bureau records as living in the Kendall Green Barracks and receiving supplies.  Her age and relationship to others is not noted in the document.  The Barracks had suffered a fire in mid January, as reported by the Daily Morning Chronicle. 

The names Mary Dorsey and Malvina Jones are also recorded on the list, suggesting the possibility that there may be a connection between Jane Colbert and the larger Calvert-Dorsey-Jones kin group. While Mary Dorsey has an extremely common given name, Malvina is a more unusual given name and may be used to show a connection between the individuals at Kendall Green and the kin group. 

Malvina Jones, age 34, was claimed by Miss Mary Cornelia Wilson, the daughter of Joseph H. Wilson,  in the 1867 Compensation Lists.  The Wilsons owned land near Marsham Waring, who enslaved Daniel Calvert.  Waring and Wilson enslaved other people who partnered, e.g., John Woodward and Sallie Jones.  

Two children of Malvina Jones were baptized in the 1850s. In 1854, Cornelia “Johns”, daughter of Will. Johns and Livana “Ahlens”, “property of Jos. Wilson”, was baptized by the priests of White Marsh.  In 1859, Richard Jones, son of William and Livinia Jones, was baptized by the priests of White Marsh; no enslaver was noted.  William Jones, named in the baptismal records, is a brother of Amelia Jones, Daniel Colbert’s sister. 

Like Daniel, Waring listed him in the 1862 affidavit. In 1864, William Jones, age 45, is listed in the Freedmen’s Bureau Records as a refugee from Prince George’s County living in Camp Springfield with multiple other names from the 1862 affidavit.  In 1870, William Jones and his wife Malvina Jones were enumerated living in Ward 6, which is on the eastern side of the City near Kendall Green.  While the 1870 Census does not lists specific street addresses, the Jones family was enumerated at DN 1533; Ignatius Tabbs was enumerated at 1538 and was also listed in the 1871 City Directory as living at 324 15th NE, near Howard’s Row and Tennessee Avenue.  This connects with an 1872 address for Daniel Colbert. Daniel Colbert is listed in the City Directory (66 Howard’s Row NE), living close to William and Malvina Jones’ inferred address.  Daniel Calvert is not listed in the 1870 census in their neighborhood.  

Both Sallie Jones Woodward and William Jones are inferred siblings of Amelia Jones, the mother of Daniel Calvert and were enslaved by the Warings, like Daniel.  The presence of both Malvina Jones and Jane Colbert on the same list suggests that Jane may be Daniel Calvert’s partner, and suggesting that she too escaped to DC.