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THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA PRESENTEDBY Kevin Cherry CpB K25w — Markerproposal Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley wasbom in Dinwiddie Court House. Virginia, around 1820 Documents listing herageprovide birth years ranging from 1818 to 1824 Her motherwas Agnes Hobbs. a slave in thehousehold ofColonel .Armistead Burwell The mansheknewas her fatherwas George Pleasant, owned byadifferent masterand allowedtovisit his family only twiceayear Laterin life. AgnesHobbstold Keckley that herreal fatherwasactually Col Burwell. Col Burwell loaned Keckleyto his son. the Rev Robert Burvvell who movedto Hillsborough with his family in 1835 uponacceptingthepastorateofHillsborough PresbyterianChurch. Keckley"s memoir. BehindtheScenes, or Thirty YearsaSlaw, and Four Yearsmthe WluteHouse recordsbrutal treatment atthehandsofBurwell aand William Bingham, "thevillage schoolmaster" who was amemberofBunnell"schurch Shegives abriefand mysteriousaccountofafour-yearabusive"seduction" byanother Burwell neighbor This relationship resulted in hergivingbirthto ason. theonly child shewould have Inthebook she does not mention oreven alludetotheidentityofthe white man. but after shepurchased herand herson's freedom in 1855. her son. George assumed the last name ofKirkland GeorgeKirklandjoined aUnion regiment in Missouri as awhite man in 1861 and was shortly killed Shewould laterclaim on a federal pension applicationthat in 1840 herowner. Hugh Garland atthat point, performed a marriageceremonyuniting herand .AlexanderKirkland WTiilethe marriage is notlikely, given that .AlexanderKirkland wasalready married atthetime, it is presumedthat Kirkland wasthe fatheroiherson. Themarriagewaspresumably Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/markerproposalelOOwegn fabricated in ordertomake herpension application, asa"widow" with no surviving sons, moreacceptable Shedid, in tact, receiveapension of$8 per month, laterraised to $12. Shortly afterGeorge'sbirth, theold Col Burwell brought Keckley and her otYspring back to Virginia, givingthem to hisdaughterAnna, who had recently married Hugh Garland Garland moved his family to St Louis, Missouri, seeking financial stability, but Keckley records in herbookthat, at thetime, hersewing supportedthe — entire household seventeen people. Around 1852, Elizabeth married James Keckley, a slavewho had misrepresented himselfasafreedman Mrs. Keckley'sreputationasa seamstressgrew, and, in 1855 shewasableto purchase freedom for herselfand herson. TheSi,200 had beenagift from devoted clients, but Keckleyrepaid the sum with her earningsas soonaspossible. In 1860, afterseeingGeorgeoffto collegeat Wilberforce University. Keckley left heralcoholic husband and moved toWashington, DC. There sheestablished adressmaking business, cateringtothe wives ofprominent politicians suchas StephenDouglasand Jefferson Davis. Afavoredclient recommended Keckleyto thewifeofthe newly elected president, andon March 3, 1861, MaryTodd Lincolnhired her Thetwowomen developedaclose friendship (Mary Todd Lincoln oncewrotein a letterto Keckley, ""you are my best andkindest friend"), and Keckley evencameto assist the President withhis clothes and hairbefore public appearances. In 1862 Elizabeth Keckley, with fortywomen from herWashington church, organizedtheContraband ReliefAssociationtoaidblackreftigees Sheraised moneyfor thegroup through herpolitical connectionsand hertravelswiththe First family This organization evolved intothe National Association forDestituteColored Womenand Children, fromwhomKecklev. herself was reducedto seekingaid in her latervears. It is believed that Keckley wrotehermemoirsBehindtheSceneswith the assistanceofaghostwriter Atthetime Keckley reportedthatshewrotethebook in order to help raise money forher friend, Mrs Lincoln, and to help neutralize harsh criticism of theformer First lady. BehindtheScenes, which included an appendixofpersonal correspondence from Mary Todd Lincoln, was published in 1868 Robert Lincolnwas so angered by the contentsofthebookthat heattempted tosuppress itsdistribution and successftilly ended all contact between Keckleyand his mother Thetwo would never meetagain. Elizabeth Keckley died in WashingtonMay26, 1907. The authenticity ofBehindtheSceneshas neverbeenquestioned It hasbeen extensivelycited byLincoln biographers(both Abraham and MaryTodd) Adressthat Elizabeth Keckleycreated forMrs. Lincolnis ondisplayatthe Smithsonian Institution Sources: ElizabethKeckley, BehindtheScenes, or ThirtyYearsaSlaveandFour Yearsinthe mme House, 1868 GertrudeWoodruffMarlowe, "Keckley, Elizabeth Hobbs." mAmericanNational Biography, 1999. MaryClaireEngstrom. "Burwell, Roben .^rmistead," inDictionaryofNorthCarolina Biography, 1979 Neil Scott. "Onewoman's rise from slavetoLincolns' confidante,"' The Washington Times. March 29, 1997 — **this book is expected Spring 2003 JenniferFleishner,Mrs. LincolnandMrs. Keckly (The spelling ofKeckley varies somewhat, butthe spellingwiththe"e"" iswhat wasused for herown publication.) UNIVERSrTYOFNCATCHAPELHILL 00035490370 FORUSE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION ^M€'.^Mm