Washington District of Columbia
Biographies
Alethia "Lethe" Browning Tanner
circa 1785 - 1864
Furnished by : John G. Sharp
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Alethia Tanner was remembered by her contemporaries as someone who's character and philanthropy gave her a remarkable prominence and
commanded the respect of all who knew her. Throughout her long life she consistently beat the odds.
Alethia "Lethe" Browning Tanner was born about 1785.1 Alethia Browning and her sisters Sophia (1770-1856) and Laurena, grew up enslaved on the plantation of Rachel Pratt near the Patuxent River, Maryland. Alethia in the ancient Greek means truth or sincerity. Rachel Pratt was the mother of a Governor of Maryland, Thomas George Pratt (1804-1869). Little is known of Alethia Browning Tanner's early life or childhood. We do know, however, that like her older sister Sophia Browning Bell, Alethia possibly met her husband2 at a local market or on a visit to one of the nearby plantations. The two most likely married young in a slave ceremony. Her husband is said to have died early, the couple had no children, and Alethia remained a widow for the rest of her life. It is possible that Alethia may have met African American mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) while Benneker was with a survey party near their cabin measuring the boundaries of the nation's new capitol.3 Alethia's sister Sophia Browning Bell had kept a small garden for some time where apparently, with the consent of Rachel Pratt, she was able to grow produce for her family and more importantly she was able to sell any extra vegetables in the local markets of Alexandria and the District of Columbia. Through such endeavors, Sophia was able to gather enough money to purchase her husband George Bell's freedom from his owner the Addison family for $400.00 and then George was able to reciprocate and buy Sophia's freedom.4 Alethia Tanner's gardening and entrepreneurial skills gave her the ability to adopt a similar manumission strategy. Tanner also sold produce at one of the City's markets and it was at the Washington Market that she may have met President Thomas Jefferson. President Jefferson often visited the market located right outside the White House, where he selected produce and recorded the prices of thirty-seven varieties of vegetables available. Alethia Tanner would have been able to meet some of Washington, D.C.'s other elite, because many of the City's leaders, like Chief Justice John Marshall, frequented this market to purchase their own produce.5 Historian and genealogist, Dorothy S. Provine, has found in her research that Alethia Tanner was able to buy her freedom from her owner Rachel Pratt for $1400.00. Tanner made her last payment of $277.00 on June 29, 1810 and received her manumission papers on July 10, 1810. Tanner's purchase price was substantial and it must have required considerable effort, saving and sacrifice for her and her husband to amass such a sum. In 1810, fourteen hundred dollars was the equivalent of at least three years wages for a skilled tradesman.6 see below : Manumission Document Over the next four decades Alethia Tanner helped manumit her family,7 including her sister Laurena Browning Cook, her husband, the couple's children and numerous nephews and grandnephews, and friends of her family. Among her sister Laurena Browning Cook's children was John Francis Cook (1810-1855), who became an educator, a clergyman and later established the Union Seminary for black students seeking preparation for ordination. John F. Cook later became the first black Presbyterian minister in the District of Columbia. Cook was a favorite of Alethia Tanner who listed Cook in her 15 May 1847 will as her principal heir; sadly John F. Cook predeceased his aunt. Alethia Browning Tanner like her sister and brother-in-law George Bell and Sophia Browning Bell was a recognized leader in the early African American community of the District. Like many blacks Alethia Tanner may have been attracted to the moral tone and concerns of the early Methodist Church. She first worshiped at Ebenezer Methodist church, on Capitol Hill. One of the things that attracted blacks like Tanner to the Methodist church fold was the Methodists strong critique of slavery. Early Methodists held with their founder, John Wesley, that there was an essential equality of all believers before God. Over time, however, this changed and many white congregants retreated from their earlier egalitarianism, and most African Americans resented being confined to the galleries of the church as they found that the church itself no longer welcoming. It's worth emphasizing that this church segregation process was not unique to Washington, D.C. or to the Methodist Church. Indeed, similar processes were going on throughout most denominations and in most American cities. In the 1820's, Alethia Tanner, John Francis Cook, and George and Sophia Bell along with numerous other black parishioners, decided the time was right for them to move to another church of their own. As a result, they helped found the Israel Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. At one point the fledgling church was nearly sold at auction by the creditors who held the mortgage and it was Alethia Browning Tanner with her brother-in-law George Bell and sister Sophia Browning Bell who stepped in to pay the mortgage and save the church.8 In addition to striving for equality within the church, Althea was much concerned with education. In 1807, her brother-in-law George Bell, along with Nicholas Franklin and Moses Liverpool announced they were starting a school for Black children. The school which became known as "the Bell school," was the first in the District of Columbia open to free Black children. Bell, Franklin, and Liverpool may have been illiterate,9 however, each would have known from their own personal experience how important education was to attaining equality and economic prosperity. George and Sophia Bell are said to have been the school's principal financial supporters. At this time Alethia Tanner may have been only able to provide moral support as she was building up enough capital to purchase her freedom. From the evidence of her will, Alethia Tanner could sign her own name and perhaps like Michael Shiner, she may have been able to learn the basics of reading and writing at a Sunday school offered by the Methodist church.10 The Methodists emphasis on reading "God's word" gave many African Americans their first real opportunity to become literate. The Bell School survived for just a few years due to lack of steady funding and the fact that in 1807, the District of Columbia's "free colored" population consisted of only 494 individuals. Thus the small student base may have doomed their venture from the start. Still, the Bell family and Alethia Browning Tanner, combined with other daring members of the community and made another try in 1818 with the Resolute Beneficial Society School.11 In their announcement for the new school, the sponsors made considerable efforts to placate white fears of the Black population learning to read and write. The sponsors also made clear their policy of never assisting slaves to write any type of communication less they be implicated in assisting slaves to evade capture by forging travel passes and like documents. The Resolute Beneficial Society School eventually succumbed to the shear realities of a segregated society. The District's black population however, never gave up and their support efforts along with sympathetic white support, continued to open private schools for black children. Alethia Tanner was extraordinarily successful in navigating her way through the legal and slave codes of the District of Columbia and seemed to have been skillful in adapting and negotiating for the freedom of her family and friends. But no matter how successful she and other leaders became, danger was always present whether it involved slave catchers eager to take someone without the necessary freedom certificate or travel papers or the periodic racial violence that was inflicted on the African American community such as the "Snow Riot "of 1835.12 This 1835 riot began on August 11, 1835 as a labor strike at the Washington Navy Yard. It rapidly morphed into a race riot, as young WNY mechanics and apprentices decided to take their frustrations and fears out on free blacks such as Beverley Snow, a free black man who was the owner of a popular oyster restaurant. Other black businesses were also attacked. Black schools and churches were attacked with special zeal as the rioters sought Alethia Tanners' nephew John Francis Cook, who by 1835 had become an established figure in the religious community as well as a teacher and educator. In going after the free black population the mob reflected the deepest fears of a white community anxious uncertain and fearful of those promoting black literacy. The mob especially seemed to want to shut down black schools and was relentless in its pursuit of John F. Cook, "The mob wanted Cook, a solemn free black man who was well-versed in Presbyterian theology and sought to educate every Negro child he could find. Cook was a firm opponent of drink and slaver",13 and he had to flee for his life to Philadelphia where he remained for a year until it was safe to return.14 Tanner's own safety may well have been in danger too although there is no record of her ever leaving the District of Columbia. The rioting went on for three days before the militia was called in and the mob dispersed. In her old age Alethia Tanner was able to see the District of Columbia Emancipation Act signed into law on April 16, 1862, by Abraham Lincoln.15 On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was also signed by President Lincoln.16 These two acts signaled that there was no going back and that ending slavery was now a national priority. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free a single slave, it fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and for freedom. Among these men were some of Alethia Tanner's nephews. As reflected in her will, Alethia Browning Tanner was able to accumulate property and had some saving to pass on to her nephews and grandnephews.17 By the time of her death in 1864 she could look back on a long life filled with achievements and hard work. She had managed to obtain by her long labors, perseverance, and in spite of all odds, not only her own freedom, but she had also purchased the manumission of her sister, her nephews and grandnephews. Alethia during her long and productive life helped the larger community by sponsoring some of the first schools for black children in the District of Columbia and by her financial support had made it possible for many hundreds of young people to gain access to education. Finally, Alethia Browning Bell contributed to and promoted the newly formed African American Methodist Episcopal Church as a place of refuge and dignity for her community. Her impressive legacy was truly "a goodly heritage."
"All these were honored in their generations, |
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Transcription This transcription was made from a copy of the holographic manuscript of the Last Will and Testament of Alethia Tanner, 1864 Box 33, filed in the District of Columbia Orphan's Court (Probate Court). The spelling, punctuation and the use of ampersands and overstrikes are those of the original documents. My thanks to Mr. Ali Rahmann Archivist, District of Columbia Archives, for generously providing a copy of Alethia Tanner's last will and testament for transcription. Alethia Lethe Browning Tanner's name is spelled various ways on different documents, e.g. "Allethia" or "Allethea" also "Lathee" for Lathe. For consistency, I have transcribed her name as and retained the spelling of her last will and testament dated 15 May 1847, which she signed "Lethe Tanner" and have used these spellings in my brief biography of her and the endnotes. John G. Sharp August 19, 2008
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Last Will & Testament of Alethia Browning Tanner (circa 1785 -1864) |
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In the name of God Amen.
I, Alethia, commonly called Lethe Tanner of the City of Washington being of sound and disposing mind, knowing the uncertainty of life and the certainty of Death do make and ordain this to be my last will and testament for ordering this to be my last will and testament for ordering and disposing of my worldly affairs where it shall please God to call me hence hereby revoking and utterly annulling all former wills testaments and codicils by me heretofore made. I give and device to Thomas Cook my nephew a frame house belonging to me situated on part of lot ten in Square Two Hundred and fifty in the said City of Washington and standing detached from the corner house and to the eastward thereof, on H street, together with so much of said lot Ten as Francis Datcher and John Francis Cook, whom I hereby appoint trustees for that purpose, shall assign under their hands and seals for the use of said house as a necessary site for the same: the said house and the lot so assigned to be held and enjoyed by the said Thomas Cook for his life only with remainder to the heirs of his body if he shall leave such living at his death who shall take under this will as purchases, but if he shall die leaving no issue then the said house and lot shall remain in fee simple and descend to John Francis Cook Junior and Joseph Tanner Cook sons of my nephew John Francis Cook Senior. I give and devise to John Francis Cook Junior my grandnephew the remaining portion of lot Ten in Square Two Hundred and Fifty rendering and paying unto his brother Joseph Francis Cook and his heirs and assigns the annual rent of Twenty Dollars to be annually paid which is hereby charged upon the said portion of lot ten in square Two Hundred and Fifty. I give and bequeath to Thomas Cook and Henrietta Pleasants each a bed and bedding to be assigned by my Executors from my household furniture. I give and devise the rest and residue of my estate real and personal amd all my rights credits and effects unto John Francis Cook Junior and Joseph Tanner Cook sons of John Francis Cook Senior I constitute and appoint Francis Datcher18 and John Francis Cook junior the executors of this my last will and testament. In testimony whereof I have set my hand and seal this 15th day of May in the Year One thousand Eighteen Hundred and Forty seven Signed published and declared for her last will and testament by Althea Tanner in the presence of the undersigned who at her request and in her presence have affixed in names as witnesses thereto; May 15, 1847 Sam D. King [Signed] H.B. Croggin [Signed] E. Simms [Signed]
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District of Columbia } Orphans Court
Washington County, to wit } March 8th 1864
This day appeared H.B. Croggin, one of the subscribing witnesses to the a foregoing
last will and testament of Alethia Tanner late of Washington County aforesaid, deceased,
and made on oath on the Holy Evangels of Almighty God that he did see the Testatrix
therein names sign and seal this will ; that she published , pronounced and declared the
same to be her last will and testament; that at the time of so doing she was to the best of
his apprehension, of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding; and that his
name as witness to the aforesaid will was signed in the presence and at the request of the
Testatrix and in the presence of Sam D. King & E. Simms, the other subscribing
witnesses thereto, The said H.B. Croggin, at the same time also provided the Signature
and death of the said E. Simms one of the witnesses to the said will.
Test: Z.C. Robbins Register of Wills. {Signed}
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Endnotes
1 Much of the above information regarding Alethia Browning Tanner, George Bell, Sophia Browning Bell Laurena Browning Cook and their remarkable families are derived from District of Columbia, Department of Education, Special Report of the Commissioner of Education on the Condition of Public Schools in the District of Columbia, submitted to the Senate, June 6, 1868, and to the House, with Additions June 13, 1870. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1870, (hereafter Special Report 1870) See pages 195 - 198. The Special Report published in 1870 is notable for its candor and that individuals who knew the Bell, Browning, and Cook families apparently provided much of the information used in this report. The last wills and testaments of both George Bell and Sophia Browning Bell are also useful as they contain valuable insights into the Bell family's economic situation and are also useful l to establish the number and names of their surviving children and grandchildren. Their wills were filed in the District of Columbia Orphans Court (Probate Court) see Bell, George1845 Box 17, and Bell, Sophia 1853 box 22. For the birth year of Alethia Browning Tanner, see The District of Columbia Free Negro Registers 1821 -1861 volumes 1 & 2 by Dorothy S. Provine, Heritage Books, Bowie, Maryland 1996. See in particular Volume 1 page 154. Provine quotes Liber Y 24, page 369 and notes that "Lethe Tanner" was freed on July 10, 1810. The 1840 U S Census for the District of Columbia lists "Lethea Tanner" a free black, between 55 and 100 years of age (the 1840 Census enumerates only the heads of household by name and all individuals ages are in broad categories). The 1850 U S Census for the District of Columbia enumerates "Alethe Tanner" as free black, 50 years of age. The ages listed by the Census takers were often guesses provided by relatives or friends. Since Alethia Tanner there is documentation for the date of her manumission as 1810 the 1850 census listing of her age as 50 is clearly in error; for we know with certaintly Tanner was a mature adult at the time she was manumitted, hence circa 1785 is a reasonable surmise. 2 Despite considerable investigation I was unable to find documentation for the first name of Alethia Browning Tanner's husband. 3 Special Report 1870 4 The District of Columbia Office of Planning brochure for Ancositia page 5 has an early watercolor of Alethia Browning Tanner early watercolor of Alethia Browning Tanner
5 Special Report 1870 page 198, recounts a story that Alethia Tanner worked as house maid for President Thomas Jefferson,
while there is no other documentary evidence for this story that I have been able to locate, it may well be true or if not, at the very least, the two would have
seen each other in the public market where Thomas Jefferson would have been accompanied by his butler, Etienne Lemaire during Jefferson's stay at the
White House as President 1801-1809. Almost all of the District's vegetables were grown and sold by slaves or free blacks. For the markets of Washington
DC and President Jefferson's keen interest in vegetables and his tabulation of monthly market prices see, The City of Washington An Illustrated History
by the Junior League of Washington edited by Thomas Froncek, Wings Books, Avenel, New Jersey 1977 page 101 and the Monticello web page
6 For some idea of how remarkable Alethia Tanner's ability was to accumulate sufficient capital to paid Rachel Pratt her large purchase price,
one really needs to examine the typical wages of this decade, see the Washington Navy Yard Payroll of Mechanics and Laborers for July 1811. For
purposes of comparison, I have used an average wage of $ 1.56 per day. In 1811 this would represent the pay of a skilled ship joiner and it's important to
remember that most all workers were paid per diem and rarely ever worked the entire year. 7 See Dorothy S. Provine, Volume II page 715, for a completer listing, of the manumissions for which Alethia Browning Tanner is described as a party to the transaction. Among those listed are Alfred Cook 1829 her nephew Volume 2, pages 43-44, John Francis Cook 1832 Volume 2, pages 237-238, John Francis Cook is listed in the will as her heir became a distinguished Presbyterian minister. Also listed is William Cook 1830 Volume 2, pages 206- 207 John Butler, 1835 Volume 2, pages 356-357, Ellenora "Nelly" Nobel 1835 Volume 2, pages 363-364. Thomas Simmes Ferguson, Letitia Ferguson, Louisa Ferguson, Joseph Ferguson were all manumitted in 1835, Volume 2, pages 428-429, as was their mother Hannah Ferguson Volume 2, pages 429--430. George Cook 1836 Volume 2, page 452, Thomas Cook 1836, Volume 2, page 498, Rachel Jennifer, 1837, Volume 3, pages 5-6, Lethe Cook Kennedy & son George William Wood 1841 Volume 3 page 380 , Susanna Smith & child William Henry 1842 Volume 3, pages 431 -432, Elizabeth Smith 1846 Volume 3, pages 606 , 608-609. 8 See The First Negro Church in the District of Columbia, John W. Cromwell The Journal of Negro History 7,No. 1 1922 pp 64-106
9 For more on Nicholas Franklin and Moses Liverpool were both ship caulkers, working a hard and demanding trade at the
Washington Navy Yard but paid the same rate as their white counterparts $1,75 per day see
10 See my introduction to Michael Shiner's Diary http://history.navy.mil/library/online/shinerdiary.html 11 The National Intelligencer article, of August 29 1818, regarding the Resolute Beneficial Society School, reflects that some white families within the District of Columbia looked favorably on the school. This period of good will lasted to the Nat Turner rebellion after which restrictions on the movement of the District's Black population grew ever more restrictive. 12 For more the "Snow Riot" and its effect on the lives of African Americans see Morley, Jefferson. "The Snow Riot" Washington Post (February 6, 2005): W14. And see the Michael Shiner's Diary for 1835 page 60. Shiner was a contemporary observer and gives some account of what it was like to be black worker in the city during the riot and also see The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Naval Times of Isaac Hull. Maloney, Linda M Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1986. Maloney's discussion of the strike and riot of 1835 is by far the most coherent of the all the accounts of this remarkable and fateful year. 13 Morely, Jefferson The Snow Riot 14 For more on John Francis Cook, see History of the Negro Race In America from 1619 to 1880 George Washington Williams Volume II page 189-192 1 G.P. Putnam and Son New York 1883 15 The act is now online at Emancupation Act of 1862 16 http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/ 17 Her property she owned land at 14th and H streets and rented space to a store was eventually sold by one of her nephews for $ 100,000.00 18 Frances Datcher, was member African American middle class a supporter of higher educational and a member of the same church as Tanner. He is listed in the 1822 Washington Directory as "Datcher, Francis, ( col'd man) messenger, In btw 15 & 16 w" Francis Datcher owned four lots in the District of Columbia and paid property substantial taxes. See, Free Negroes In the District of Columbia 1790-1846, by Letitia Woods Brown , Oxford University Press, New York 1972 p.152 . 19 This crossed out portion of Alethia Tanner's will is difficult to ascertain but is appears the Justice of the Peace was simply validating the signature of one of the witnesses to the will who had died sometime after her will was signed on 15 May 1847. Alethia Tanner died 17 years later and the will was probated on March 8, 1864.
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| Manumission of Alethia "Lethe" Browning Tanner dated 16 July 1810 | |
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Introduction: The manumission below dated 16 July 1810 by Joseph Daugherty of Lethe Tanner is an excellent example of the historical value of early District of Columbia manumissions recorded in the District Deed Books. Alethia "Lethe" Browning Tanner (circa 1785 - 1864) was a remarkable woman who overcame considerable hardship to emancipate not only herself but eventually to manumit her extensive family. Tanner sold vegetables and produce at a District of Columbia in order to accumulate sufficient funds to buy her freedom. Joseph Daugherty probably a trusted white neighbor was used to complete the legal purchase of Alethia Tanner from her owner Rachel Pratt.and then to manumit her for a nominal sum.
Transcription: The spelling, punctuation and the use of ampersands is that of the typed documents in the collection of the District of Columbia. The use of the term "Yellow Women" used in this document and other such expressions are common on manumissions from this period. Such terms were used in anti bellum era legal documents, e.g. sale notice, and wills and manumissions as the District of Columbia developed its own idiom for identifying free and enslaved African Americans. This term was generally applied to people of mixed race
Bibliography: The Health of the Nation by Convey Bolton Valencium Basic Books New York 2002 page 253 for more racial identification in early America. Free Negroes In the District of Columbia 1790 -1846 by Letitia Woods Brown Oxford University Press New York 1972 has an excellent discussion on modes of emancipation and manumission in the District of Columbia See particularly chapter 6 pp 97 -120 for her discussion of manumission by deed..
Acknowledgement: John G. Sharp 1 October 2008
END NOTES
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