Eight-three-year-old Hannah Harris died this date, April 27th, in 1848 of a stomach ailment (Gastritis) and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. The 1847 African American Census shows that Ms. Harris lived alone in a room at 17 Barley Street for which she paid $2 a month. 

Barley Street was a narrow two-block long thoroughfare. It was home to 57 Black families with a total of 245 individuals, according to the 1847 Census. These individuals were employed in 25 different occupations. The street was located near 10th and Pine Streets. 

The red arrow in the above map illustrates the location of Ms. Harris’ home. The red star indicates the location and proximity of Pennsylvania Hospital, the country’s first hospital. The red circle indicates the future location of the first public school for Black children in Philadelphia.

Also, according to the 1847 Census, Ms. Harris was no longer employed (“past work”). It was also reported she received aid from a private charity and wood for her stove from another charity. The charities likely were the Union Benevolent Association and the Guardians of the Poor, respectively. (1)

                                                                               TO BE SOLD                                                                                                      “A Likely Negroe Girl, about twelve Years old; she is sold for no Fault” Philadelphia Gazette , June 1, 1765

                                                                          TO BE SOLD                                                                                              “A Likely healthy Negroe Man, 23 Years old, fit for Town or Country Work, he is sober and honest, has had the Smallpox . . . he is sold for no Fault but for Want of Work.”        Pennsylvania Gazette , June 6, 1765

Ms. Harris was born in Philadelphia in 1765. As the above advertisements illustrate, slavery plagued the city at that time. Black men, women, and children were being sold on Market Street and Front Street in taverns and coffee houses. Two years after Ms. Harris was born, the importation of enslaved Blacks into the colony was prohibited. Was Ms. Harris born to enslaved parents or parents who were free of bondage? 

Ms. Harris died on a clear day in late April after a long illness and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

(1) “Sixteenth Annual Report of the Benevolent Association,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 28 Oct 1847.

Thirty-four-year-old William Carr died this date, April 12th, in 1847 from Tuberculosis and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Mr. Carr was employed as a waiter earning $3 a week, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. His spouse, Patience Carr, worked as a day worker. They had a daughter, Ellen Carr, who was 17 years old at the time of her father’s death. She was employed as a seamstress. (1)

The Carr family lived in one room at 55 Currant Alley for which they paid $3.75 a month. Ninety-six Black families lived in the densely packed alley. These families had a staggering total of three hundred twenty-one family members, according to the 1847 Census. The Census also showed that the adults living on Currant Alley were solidly working class, having a wide range of laboring and domestic jobs to which African American men and women were restricted. 

There are eleven other biographical sketches on this website for Currant Alley residents who are buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Currant Alley in 1926, now named Warnock Street.

Mr. Carr may have worked for the caterer located only two doors away from his home at #11 Currant Alley. Mr. William Davis operated “one of the most fashionable & largest Ice Cream houses in the city.” In addition to ice cream, the menu included “Jellies, Blancmange, Cakes, Tarts, and Pies of every variety.” Also offered were “The services of several good waiters for Balls, Picnics, and Private Parties . . . ” (2)

Mr. Davis was following in the footsteps of another Philadelphia Black man, Augustus Jackson, who invented a way for ice cream not to melt so quickly – he added salt! Before coming to Philadelphia, he served as a White House cook in the 1820s for President James Madison. Mr. Jackson lived on Goodwater Street, now St. James Place, between 7th and 8th Streets, adjacent to Washington Square. When Mr. Jackson died his daughter took up the business. (3)

Augustus Jackson

Mr. Carr was one of the 876 Philadelphians who succumbed to Tuberculosis in 1847. He died on an early Spring day and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. 

(1) Ellen Carr-Harris died in July of 1861 of Bronchitis and was buried at Olive Cemetery.

(2) Public Ledger, 9 June 1845.

(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Jackson

The four-year-old child of Hezekiah and Henrietta Hooper died this date, April 11th, in 1853 of Tabes Mesenterica and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Tabes Mesenterica is a progressive wasting of the intestines marked by anemia, dramatic swelling of the abdomen, diarrhea, fever, and pain. Tabes Mesenterica is a form of Tuberculosis.

After studying several censuses, multiple city directories, and death certificates, I believe Dr. Ashton’s note contained an error. I believe that the child that died was four-year-old Margaretta Hooper. Below is the family’s entry for the 1850 U.S. Census. The census taker also was in error by entering the family’s last name as “Cooper” instead of “Hooper.” This error appears in other documents. It happened enough to make me wonder if Mr. Hooper did it on purpose for some unknown reason. 

The seven members of the Hooper family lived in one room at #7 Hurst Street for which they would have paid $3 – $4 a month. Mr. Hooper, a porter, may have earned between $3 – $5 a week, depending on the volume of work. It appears that Ms. Hooper had her hands full with five children at home. It is also a possibility that she lost a child or two, given the years between Ann and Sarah. There are no surviving records that indicate that they were buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

In the above map, the red arrow illustrates the location of the Hoopers’ home on Hurst Street. The red circle indicates the Bethel AME Church and its close proximity to the Hoopers’ residence.  In the early 1850s, the Hoopers would have found the church was not only the center of worship for the religion founded by Richard Allen, but it was also a community center. In addition to being the home of a school for children and adults, it provided space for lectures on abolition, the Fugitive Slave Law, and classes for women by women on the importance of female anatomy, physiology, and health. It was also home to temperance societies, beneficial societies, and fundraisers for political prisoners.

Henrietta and Hezekiah Hooper lost their four-year-old daughter Margaretta on an early Spring day in April of 1853. They buried her at Bethel Burying Ground.

Fifty-two-year-old Rachel Todd died this date, April 6th, in 1852 of Erysipelas and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Dr. Chamberlain wrote that Ms. Todd was “about 60 years old.” However, Ms. Todd reported to the 1850 U.S. Census taker that she was fifty-years-old. Her cause of death, Erysipelas, is a bacterial infection of the skin. It is the same bacteria that causes strep throat. As you can see from the information below, Ms. Todd’s suffering was very painful. Today the disease is simply treated with antibiotics and can be completely cured.

The 1847 Philadelphia African American Census and the 1850 U.S. Census both show that Ms. Todd lived at 23 Middle Alley with two males. Aaron Todd was twenty-nine-year-old at the time of Ms. Todd’s death. Both he and Ms. Todd were born in Maryland. In addition, twenty-one-year-old John Todd lived at the address. He was born in Pennsylvania. The two men both were employed as waiters. Ms. Todd reported that she took in laundry when she was physically able. This statement was made three years before her death. The relationship of the men to Ms. Todd was not reported.

Ms. Todd reported that she was born enslaved and $50 was paid for her liberation. The average value of an enslaved Black man in Maryland between the ages of 15 and 45 in the early 1800s was $400-$450. The value of a Black woman was $200-$250. One logically could conclude that Ms. Todd was an infant (circa 1800) if only $50 was paid for her freedom. (1)

The three members of the Todd family lived in one room at 23 Middle Alley for which they paid $2.00 a month in rent. Middle Alley ran from 6th to 7th Streets between Spruce and Pine Streets. It is now called Panama Street. Middle Alley had a long history of violence, brothels, speakeasies and crushing poverty. 

The red arrow illustrates the location of Middle Alley right above Pine Street.

The red pin illustrates the location of Middle Alley now Panama Street. The blue circle illustrates the close proximity of Bethel AME Church.

Although a neighborhood plagued with many negatives, the African American residents of Middle Alley were, for the vast majority, industrious working-class families. In 1847 there were seventy-six families for a total of a staggering 239 individuals living on the small narrow thoroughfare. Those who were able to work were employed in twenty different occupations including nurse, barber, seaman, muffin baker, dressmaker, seamstress, pastry cook, and musician. There were a remarkably high number of sick individuals and elderly widows recorded by the census taker living along the alley. 

From the New York Public Library Digital Collection

Ms. Todd died on an early Spring day in April of 1852. Her family buried her at Bethel Burying Ground.

(1) “Estimates of the value of slaves, 1815.” Available at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t1wd3zp99&view=1up&seq=3.