Richmond Virginia

Richmond Virginia, an independent city, serves as not only the capital of the Commonwealth but also as a pivotal site in American history. Established in 1737 and designated as the state capital in 1780, Richmond’s strategic location on the James River facilitated its early growth and significance, particularly in the tobacco trade. The city’s name is attributed to the view of the James River which was reminiscent of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in England, hence naming it after Richmond upon Thames. Throughout its history, Richmond has played a central role in various critical periods, notably as the capital of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, a fact that has left an indelible mark on its historical landscape and cultural heritage. Richmond’s geographical setting, with rolling hills and a significant river, adds to the urban charm that makes Richmond a unique amalgamation of historical legacy and contemporary vitality.

Biographical Sketch of Arthur J. Taylor

ARTHUR J. TAYLOR. – The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears herein, was born in Staffordshire, England, on the 18th of August, 1857 When but two years of age his parents brought him to America, locating at Richmond, Virginia. Their residence there was but brief, as they soon removed to Halifax, Nova Scotia, perhaps anticipating the political troubles of the next few years. When but a boy of twelve, Arthur came West, upon his own responsibility, to the Red River of the North, where he lived until 1884. His next move, in April of that year, made him a … Read more

Slave Narrative of Liza Smith

Person Interviewed: Liza Smith Location: Muskogee, Oklahoma Age: 91 Both my mammy and pappy was brought from Africa on a slave boat and sold on de Richmond (Va.) slave market. What year dey come over I don’t know. My mammy was Jane Mason, belonging to Frank Mason; pappy was Frank Smith, belonging to a master wid de same name. I mean, my pappy took his Master’s name, and den after my folks married mammy took de name of Smith, but she stayed on wid de Masons and never did belong to my pappy’s master. Den, after Frank Mason took all … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Aldrich, P. Emory

Aldrich, P. Emory, was born in New Salem, Franklin County. His ancestors came from England in 1635, residing at first in Dorchester and Braintree, and afterwards settling in Mendon, Worcester County. After obtaining his early education at the public schools, he fitted for college at the Shelburne Falls Academy, and in private study mastered a collegiate education. He studied law while engaged in teaching at the South, and later attended the Harvard law school. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar in Richmond, Va., but the following year returned to Massachusetts, and after studying for six months with Chapman, … Read more

Biography of C. B. Reinheardt

C. B. Reinheardt, one of the representative agriculturists of Nowata County, who is farming four hundred acres of valuable land, one and one half miles east of Coodys Bluff, was born at Coodys Bluff on the 18th of January, 1893, a son of C. H. and Kennie (Couch) Reinheardt. His father is numbered among the pioneer citizens of this community and was for some time engaged in the oil producing business in Nowata county, achieving gratifying success. His fine farm here is now being operated by his brother, W. A. Reinheardt, it being located some four miles south of Coodys … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles Ellis

Charles Ellis, of Virginia, married his cousin, Nancy Ellis, and they had Thomas, Polly, Stephen, Elizabeth, Nancy, Charles, Joseph, Martha, James M., and Susan. Mr. Ellis removed from Richmond, Va., to Shelby Co., Ky., in 1815. Stephen married Mary Young, of Kentucky, and settled in Warren Co., Mo., in 1826. In 1847 he removed to St. Charles County, where he died. His children were James, Charles, Nancy, Sarah C., Martha F., Mary H., and William T. Joseph Ellis was married twice; first, to Nancy Netherton, by whom he had Henry C., Mildred C., Charles M., Ann E., Lucy B., Paulina, … Read more

Biography of Mrs. C. B. Cary

MRS. C.B. CARY. – This refined woman and intelligent lady, one of our earliest pioneers, comes of one of the old Virginia families of English or Cavalier origin; whose members, in the early days of the Old Dominion, took and held an advanced social position. She was born at Richmond in 1815, and at the age of four moved to Kentucky with her father, William Taylor. In 1831 she was married to Miles S. Cary, one of the pioneer sons of Kentucky, with his full share of southern chivalrousness and western energy. In 1835 they moved to Missouri, and were … Read more

Slave Narrative of Walter Calloway

Walter Calloway was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1848. Calloway and his mother and brother were purchased by John Calloway, who owned a plantation ten miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. By the time he was ten years old, Walter Calloway was doing a grown man’s work. The white overseer used a black hand to administer the whippings; Calloway recalls seeing one thirteen-year-old girl whipped almost to death. Calloway also tells of worshipping in a brush arbor, the outbreak of the Civil War, and federal troops ransacking the plantation at war’s end. He is pictured sitting on the front steps of his home in Birmingham, Alabama, where he worked for the city street department for twenty-five years.

Biography of Austin, Moses

For the information of our readers who are not familiar with the early colonial scheme of settling Texas with American colonists when it was a province of Spain, we will give a short sketch of the man in whose brain it originated and the various causes which led to it. Moses Austin was a native of Connecticut, born at the village of Durham in 1767. When a boy he went to Philadelphia, and in 1787 he married Miss Maria Brown. His brother, Stephen, was then at the head of an important house in Philadelphia, and Moses Austin soon after his … Read more

Biographical Sketch of R. T. Harris

R. T. Harris, the first Sheriff of Orange County, was born in Richmond, Virginia. His father, John Harris, a native of Cornwall, England, moved from Virginia to California in 1860, settling first in Mariposa County, and then in Santa Clara County, where the subject of this sketch clerked in a store and received a good education. In 1876 he located in Westminster, in the Santa Ana valley. For six years he engaged in mercantile business there, and also was assistant Postmaster. At the first election of officers ever held in the county of Orange, Mr. Harris was chosen Sheriff by … Read more

Mattie Ould, Mrs. Oliver Schoolcraft

In the vicinity of one of Richmond’s fashionable schools there was often seen on winter afternoons, in the late sixties, a group of young girls, who possessed far more than the usual attractiveness that belongs ever to health and youth. Two, at least, Lizzie Cabell and Mary Triplett, were singularly beautiful. The third, a tall, slender girl, with a trim figure, dark skin and hair, and eyes perhaps downcast as she stepped lightly along listening to her companions, a stranger would scarcely have observed. If, perchance, however, as they paused on a street corner for a last word before separating, … Read more

Slave Narrative of Tom W. Woods

Person Interviewed: Tom W. Woods Location: Alderson, Oklahoma Place of Birth: Florence, Alabama Age: 83 Lady, if de nigger hadn’t been set free dis country wouldn’t ever been what it is now! Poor white folks wouldn’t never had a chance. De slave holders had most of de money and de land and dey wouldn’t let de poor white folks have a chance to own any land or anything else to speak of. Dese white folks wasn’t much better off dan we was. Dey had to work hard and dey had to worry ’bout food, clothes and shelter and we didn’t. … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mama Duck

Interviewer: Jules A. Frost Person Interviewed: Mama Duck Location: Tampa, Florida Age: 109 “Who is the oldest person, white or colored, that you know of in Tampa?” “See Mama Duck,” the grinning Negro elevator boy told me. “She bout a hunnert years old.” So down into the “scrub” I went and found the old woman hustling about from wash pot to pump. “I’m mighty busy now, cookin breakfast,” she said, “but if you come back in bout an hour I’ll tell you what I can bout old times in Tampa.” On the return visit, her skinny dog met me with … Read more

Slave Narrative of Rev. Silas Jackson

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Rev. Silas Jackson Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Virginia Date of Birth: 1846 or 47 Place of Residence: 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore, Maryland Age: (about) 90 Reference: Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave, at his home, 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore. “I was born at or near Ashbie’s Gap in Virginia, either in the year of 1846 or 47. I do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. My father’s name was Sling and mother’s Sarah Louis. They were purchased by my master from a slave trader … Read more