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All posts for the month May, 2021

Six-year-old Francis Burton died this date May 21st, in 1842 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on May 21, 2021
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Six-year-old Francis Burton died this date, May 21st, in 1842 of “convulsions.” According to 1842 Philadelphia Board of Health records, Scarlet Fever was killing hundreds of the city’s children and may have been the cause of the child’s death. Francis had three siblings at the time of his death. They included Mary who was eight-years-old, Charles who was four-years-old and Peter, Jr. who was the youngest at two-years-old. The younger children attended the 6th and Lombard School, while the older children were enrolled at Miss Amelia Bogle’s private school, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census.

The parents of this brood were Mary Burton, thirty-two-years-old, who was a self-employed laundress, and Peter Burton, forty-two-years-old, who was employed as a porter. He was born in Delaware and Ms. Burton was born in New Jersey. All of Francis’s siblings were born in Pennsylvania, according to the 1850 U.S. Census.

The Burtons lived at #18 Barley Street which is circled on the map above. The red star illustrates Pennsylvania Hospital and its proximity to Barley Street.

The Burtons owned their home on Barley Street. It was between 10th and 11th Streets, just south of Pine Street. According to the 1847 Census, the Burtons were close to paying off their mortgage. Barley Street was a narrow two block long thoroughfare that in 1846 was home to fifty-eight Black families with an amazing total of two hundred twenty-four men, women, and children. They were packed into three-and four-story tenements where they shared outhouses and one or two water pumps. The women worked as laundresses, seamstresses, and cooks. The majority of the men worked as waiters, barbers and porters.

On the morning of August 1, 1842, only a few months after young Francis’s death, a memorial parade was held by over 1,000 members of the Black Young Men’s Vigliant Association on Philadelphia’s Lombard Street between Fifth and Eighth streets in commemoration of the eighth anniversary of the end of slavery in the British West Indies. As the marchers approached Bethel A.M.E. Church at 6th and Lombard Streets, they were attacked by thousands of racist Irish-American thugs. A three-day rolling riot by a white mob attacked African Americans and burned Black homes, churches, and meeting halls.

It appears the Burton family was not physically harmed by the mob. Their home was two or three blocks outside the area of destruction. The next time they may not have been so fortunate.

Six-year-old Francis Burton died on a pleasant day in May after a violent nor’eastern washed through the city the night before. He was buried, with dignity, by his parents at Bethel Burying Ground.

Eighty-two-year-old Julia Hollis died this date, May 18th, in 1849 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on May 18, 2021
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Eighty-two- year-old Julia Hollis died this date, May 18, in 1849 of “old age” and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. She was born enslaved and gained her freedom by manumission, according to the 1838 Philadelphia African American Census. At the time of her death, her household contained the following family members.

According to local and federal censuses, Jonathan (aka John) and Levi were employed as porters; Mary and Annie were laundresses; and Teresina was a dressmaker. On one occassion, their last name was misspelled as “Holly.”

This large family lived in what appears to be one room, likely only 12’x12′. It is hard to believe the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census that reported the family paid $5 a month in rent. This was the going rate for a large room in a working-class neighborhood. According to the 1847 Census, the Hollis family were the only African Americans on Mark’s Lane.

The Hollis family lived on Mark’s Lane in a neighborhood not normally home to African Americans. The red pin illustrates the location of the narrow thoroughfare that ran from 11th to 12th Streets, just north of Race Street. The black arrow indicates the location of what is now the location of Philadelphia City Hall in center city.

On election day, October 9th in 1849, the Irish gangs in the southern district of Moyamensing went hunting for Blacks and for whites that comingled with them. The racist mob burned down dozens of Black homes, businesses, and churches. Scores of African Americans and whites were badly injured. The violence went on for a night and day and, eventually, took militia troops to put down the white mob. It appears the Hollis family members escaped being injured because they were a considerable distance from the rampage.

Even though the members of this large family may not have been direct victims of the mob, the warning was clear. African American Philadelphians were not safe from harm day or night in their homes, churches, or on the street. The police were not going to protect them, and the militia only intervened after the assaults and arsons were well underway.

Eight-two-year-old Julia Hollis died on a mild, cloudy day in May. She was buried, with dignity, by her family at Bethel Burying Ground.

The five-month-old daughter of Liddney and Robert Kennedy died this date, May 15th, in 1842, and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on May 16, 2021
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The five-month-old daughter of Liddney and Robert Kennedy died this date, May 15th in 1842 of Marasmus and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. The baby starved to death because of a lack of food or a disease that damaged her digestive system. Baby Kennedy was one of the one hundred forty-nine children in 1842 to die of Marasmus, according to Philadelphia Board of Health records.

Liddney Kennedy was twenty-two-years old when her daughter was born. Ms. Kennedy was born in Delaware and was self-employed as a dressmaker. Mr. Kennedy also was twenty-two-years old, born in Maryland, and employed as a musician, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. It appears that the baby was their only child. However, the 1850 U.S. Census reports that by then the couple had three children. They were John R. who was six-years-old, Elizabeth who was five-years-old, and Robert who was fifteen months.

The red dot indicates the location of the home of the Kennedy family at #7 Guilelumina Place in the southwestern part of the city. The black circle illustrates the location of Rittenhouse Square.

The Kennedy family lived at #7 Guilelumina Place. It was a short narrow thoroughfare that was home to ninety-five Black men, women, and children, according to the 1847 Census. They were employed as porters, cooks, dressmakers, laundresses, seamen, and white washers. They even had their own herb doctor, Henry Gleeve. Their children went to the school in Raspberry Alley.

The Kennedy family paid $8 a month for their one room on the alley. In modern currency that would be approximately $242. According to the 1847 Census, they owned $500 in “personal property” or approximately $15,000 in modern currency. This was a considerable amount and may have included Mr. Kennedy’s muscial instruments.

Frank Johnson 1792-1844

Mr. Kennedy may have been a musician in the Frank Johnson Orchestra. Francis “Frank” Johnson was an African American musician, maestro, and composer. He directed military bands and society dance orchestras, taught music, and performed on the violin and keyed bugle. His early career consisted of performing for balls, parades, and dancing schools. The Orchestra performed arrangements of “fashionable” music for most of the major dance functions in Philadelphia. Upon Mr. Johnson’s death in 1844, the Orchestra became known by the name of its new director Joseph Anderson, Jr. for further information on Mr. Johnson please go to —-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Johnson_(composer).

The five-month-old daughter of Liddney and Robert Kennedy died on a unseasonably cold, rainy day in May and was buried with dignity by her parents at Bethel Burying Ground.

Thirty-five-year-old Lavinia Chandler died this date May 6th, in 1849, and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on May 6, 2021
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Thirty-five-year old Lavinia Chandler died this date May 6th, in 1849, of “Fever” and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Her daughter nine-month-old Margaret Jane died four days later on May 10th, presumably of the same illness. The baby was buried with her mother at Bethel Burying Ground. The Philadelphia Board of Health records for 1849 show a substantial number of deaths from Scarlet Fever. This could have been the cause of Ms. Chandler’s and her daughter’s deaths.

I believe there is enough evidence to state that Joseph Chandler was the father of Margaret Jane and the spouse of Margaret. Mr. Chandler worked at various laboring jobs while Margaret was employed as a domestic day worker. The couple had a second daughter whose age was only listed as below five years old. There are no other mentions of Chandler family members after the 1847 Census. Mr. Chandler may have moved from Philadelphia.

The circle indicates the location of Washington Court and the star illustrates the location and the close proximity of Bethel AME Church.

The Chandler family resided at #6 Washington Court. They lived in a 11’x11′ room for which they paid $2.75 a month. Poverty had its grip on the family, given they only had personal property valued at $15, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. They did belong to a beneficial society at Bethel Church. This was a savings account that could be used to defray burial expenses.

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the 19th Century.

Located close to Bethel A.M.E. Church, Washington Court contained thirty-three Black men, women, and children, according to the 1847 Census. The adults were employed as dressmakers, seamstresses, seamen, hod carriers, and carpenters. They even had their own herb doctor Mr. Randolph Stokes. Their young children attended the 6th and Lombard School.

Upon her daughter’s death, mother and child were buried together at Bethel Bethel Burying Ground. Around eight o’clock in the evening on the day of Ms. Chandler’s death, a “strange cloud formation” appeared in the sky over Philadelphia. According to one newspaper report “This was doubtless a Boreal Aurora in one of its many phases.”(1)

(1) North American, 1 June 1849, p. 1.