Thirty-two-year-old Caroline Anderson died this date, June 24th, in 1853 of Consumption of the Bowel. (The death certificate identifies her year of birth incorrectly. She was 32 years old at her death and was born in 1822.) This bacterial disease created ulceration and perforation in the victim’s intestines, making nourishment impossible to reach the body. The 1850 U.S. Census shows that Ms. Anderson was born in Delaware. There was no occupation reported.

Her spouse Isaac Anderson was born in Maryland and was thirty-seven years old at the time of Ms. Anderson’s death. He reported his occupation as “laborer” in the 1850 Census. It appears the Andersons did not have children.

The red arrow indicates the location of the Andersons’ residence on Fifth Street just north of South Street. The yellow arrow indicates the close proximity of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The couple would have lived in one small room for which they would pay $3-$5 a month in rent. Mr. Anderson would have been fortunate to make that amount in a week. 

The above photo was taken just five years after Ms. Anderson’s death in 1853. It depicts the old Hurst mansion that was built in 1776. It was located two blocks from the Andersons’ home. The building was a tenement by 1853 and the yard was used for storage of wagons, lumber, and headstones from the adjacent marble yard. (Library Company of Philadelphia)

Ms. Anderson died on a day where the temperature reached 82°. For the four days previous, the temperature soared to 95°– 96°. The night before her death, a “fine shower” brought some relief. For someone not able to hold fluid down, her suffering is hard to comprehend. 

Ten-year-old Alexander Murrell died this date, June 18th, in 1851 of Stomatitis and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Stomatitis is a condition that causes painful swelling and sores in the mouth.  Causes for this include injury, infection, allergies, and malnutrition. The victim usually dies from Septicemia. 

The child’s father was David Murrell. His mother’s name has not been mentioned in any of the available documents. Mr. Murrell was employed as a waiter earning $2.50 a week. Ms. Murrell worked as a wash woman earning $.50 a week, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. One of the adults was previously enslaved and manumitted by their enslaver. Ten-year-old Alexander was their only child at the time of his death.

The red pin above illustrates the location of the Murrell family’s residence in Liberty Court in the Spring Garden District in the northern part of the City (before county consolidation in 1855).

The box outlines the location of Liberty Court that ran from 10th Street below Vine Street.

Liberty Court was an “African American enclave.” It was a small courtyard community of “band-box” houses squeezed in behind the larger residences that faced the street. “Liberty Court had been erected over a portion of the property along Tenth Street, owned by the First African Baptist Church (FABC), between 1810 and 1822.” A 1985 archeological project revealed the skeletal remains of five African Americans that were missed when the FABC moved its cemetery in 1822. Liberty Court eventually was demolished during the construction of the Vine Street Expressway extension in the late 1980s.*

This “enclave” was home to extremely poor Black families who were paying $0.75-$1.00 a week for one room. Looking at the results of the 1847 Census, there were 18 families with a total of 86 family members living in Liberty Court. The vast majority of the males worked as porters when they could get the work. The women were employed in their usual jobs of domestic and laundress.  Many families received public assistance in the form of firewood in the winter. In addition, there was a higher than normal percentage of formerly enslaved men and women. Interestingly, I could not find any of the Liberty Court residents recorded in the 1850 U.S. Census.

The Murrells buried their son at Bethel Burying Ground on a clear warm day in June.

*John L. Cotter, et. al, The Buried Past: An Archeological History of Philadelphia, p. 301-303.

Thirty-four-year-old Daniel Johnson died this date, June 15th, in 1854 of Tuberculosis and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Mr. Johnson was employed as a porter until the onset of his illness. He was married to Anna Johnson, who was thirty-two-years-old at the time of her spouse’s death. There was no occupation reported for her. Both were born in Delaware, according to the 1850 U.S. Census. It appears they did not have children. Below is the family’s entry from the 1850 Census which includes two others residing in the same room with the Johnsons.

It was common for families to share a room to defray the cost of the rent, although there may have been a family connection. The 1852 Philadelphia City Directory has the Johnson couple residing at #23 Gilles’ Alley. 

The black arrow indicates the location of Gilles’ Alley. The red pin illustrates the close proximity of Bethel AME Church.

Gilles’ Alley was a narrow thoroughfare lined with wretched tenements.  It was cobblestoned and without sewer connections. The overflowing outhouses were often used by the homeless for shelter. “It is safe to say not one house in the alley could pass an inspection without being condemned as prejudiced to health.”* In 1847, it was home to forty Black families totaling almost one hundred members. They were working as cake bakers, stevedores, seamen, cooks, shoemakers, domestics, and painters. 

The Johnsons regularly attended religious services and were members of a beneficial society, according to the 1847 Census. 

Anna Johnson buried her husband at Bethel Burying Ground on a clear June day where the temperature rose to 65 degrees by noon. Although it is not possible to be definitive, there is some evidence that Anna Johnson may have lived until June of 1893 when she died at 71 years old of heart disease and was buried at Lebanon Cemetery.

*W.E.B. DuBois, Philadelphia Negro, p. 307.

The eleven-month-old unnamed son of Julia Thomas died this date, June 11th, in 1845 of Inanition (starvation) and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Inanition may arise from diabetes or thyroid hormone disease. Two years after the death of her son, the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census shows Ms. Thomas the head of a small family that consisted of another woman and a female child. Ms. Thomas was employed as a “day worker” while the other adult was employed as a  washerwoman. The child attended the St. Mary Street School.

The red pin illustrates the location of Currant Alley in 1845. The alley no longer exists.

City directories and the 1847 Census report Ms. Thomas’ address as #39 Currant Alley in center city Philadelphia. Currant Alley was a two-city-block long narrow thoroughfare. Ms. Thomas paid $3.25 a month for one room where the three family members resided. With the two women working, they would be lucky to bring that amount home in a week.

The star indicates the two city block long Currant Alley.

Ninety-six Black families lived in the densely packed alley with a staggering total of three hundred twenty-one Black family members, according to the 1847 Census. The Census also showed that the Currant Alley adults were solidly working class, having a wide range of laboring and domestic jobs to which African American men and women were restricted. The Thomas family attended church services regularly and contributed to a beneficial society, as did many of their neighbors. 

Julia Thomas’ son was one of thirty-five Philadelphia children that died in 1845 with the diagnosis of Inanition. The child was buried at Bethel Burying Ground on a cloudy June day on which the temperature rose to 84 degrees.

Seventeen-year-old Grace Ann Murray died this date, June 3rd, in 1850 of Tuberculosis and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. She was born in Philadephia and was unmarried at the time of her death. She resided in Coombe’s Alley, according to her death certificate. The 1847 Philadelphia African American Census shows a ‘James Murray’ as the head of a family in Coombe’s Alley. He was employed as a waiter earning $3 a week. His spouse, Margaret Murray, worked as a wash woman earning $3.50 a week. They paid $4 a month for the rent of rooms at #5 Coombe’s Alley.

James and Margaret Murray reported to the census taker the following information for the 1850 U.S. Census.

Name                                    Age                        Born in

James Murray                   33y                         PA

Margaret Murray             26y                         PA

Louisa Murray                   9y                          PA

Thomas Murray                5y                          PA

Angeline Murray              3y                          PA

Robert Murray                  <1y                        PA

Racy Ann Murray             16y                         PA 

The red pin illustrates the location of Coombe’s Alley near the Delaware River wharves. The red arrow illustrates Penn Square the future home of the current city hall.

In the 1793 Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia, Coombe’s Alley is known for the tragic loss of thirty-two citizens in the narrow alley over a very short period of time. In a lighter vein, the alley is also known for a colonial tavern, Enock Story’s, where one night Quaker William Penn, Jr. became inebriated and engaged in a brawl. It is recorded that he painfully lost the encounter. 

Grace Ann Murray was one of the 896 Philadelphians that succumbed to Tuberculosis in 1850.  She died on a cloudless windy day in early June and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground by her family.