Bethel Burying Ground Project

One-year-old William Augustus died this date, April 22nd, in 1846 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on April 22, 2021

Posted in: On This date. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, African Methodist Episcopal Church, archeology, Mother Bethel, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. Leave a comment

One year and nine month old William Augustus died this date, April 22nd, in 1846 of Pneumonia and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Although the attending physician wrote the family name as ‘Augustine,’ there is census and city directory evidence that the family’s name was actually ‘Augustus.’ The child’s parents were Samuel, age thirty-six, and Mary Augustus, age twenty-nine. He worked as a porter and Ms. Augustus as a laundress. They had a one-year-old daughter Elizabeth. It also appears that Ms. Augustus was pregnant with her son George, according to the 1850 U.S. Census.

All the members of the family were born in Philadelphia with the exception of Ms. Augustus who was born in the West Indies. She was born to an enslaved mother on one of the many islands that used kidnapped Africans to grind away their lives harvesting sugar cane. The life expectancy of someone working in these killing fields was three years.

We may never know how Ms. Augustus came to Philadelphia. In the 1850 U.S. Census, she declined to answer any questions concerning her enslaved past. She was born in 1817 and, curiously, that was the same year when all the Caribbean islands, large and small, were devastated by a powerful hurricane. The sugarcane fields were destroyed along with all structures including “negro houses.” (1)

A possibility is that Mary’s enslaver fled the island they lived on and resettled in Philadelphia. The city was a haven for French refugees because of Stephen Girard’s presence and the subsequent French community near the Delaware River waterfront. Any enslaved Blacks would be freed once they landed in the city. They might have to do several years of an indentureship but eventually would be liberated. The 1850 U.S. Census shows that Ms. Augustus was one of 254 city residents born in the “West Indies.”

**The Augustus family lived on Centre Street (red pin) five blocks from Center Square now Philadelphia City Hall (red circle).**

When Baby Augustus died, he was living with his parents and sister in one room on Centre Street. The family paid $3.50 a month for rent. Mr. Augustus was employed as a porter earning $5 per week. Ms. Augustus, who was pregnant, was self-employed as a laundress, likely earning around $.50 a week. The Augustus family neighbors on Centre Street were Black men and women employed as waiters, barbers, dressmakers, shirt makers, seamen, and a “travelling preacher,” according to the 1847 Census. Their very young children were cared for at the 6th and Lombard Street School, while the older children went to either the Adelphia School or the Raspberry Alley School. The last school listed in the previous sentence also had a evening school for adults that taught reading, writing, and math.

Baby Augustus died on a cloudy April day where the temperature rose to a high of 63 degrees. His parents buried him, with dignity, at Bethel Burying Ground.

(1) Daily National Intelligence, Washington, DC, 26 November 1817, p. 2; Vermont Gazette, 2 December 1817, p. 3; Boston Commercial Gazette, 8 December 1817, p. 3.

Twenty-seven-years-old John Murphy died this date, April 8th, in 1845 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on April 8, 2021

Posted in: On This date. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, African Methodist Episcopal Church, archeology, Bethel Burying Ground, Mother Bethel, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. Leave a comment

Twenty-seven-year-old John Murphy died this date, April 8th, in 1845 of Tuberculosis (Phthisis) and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. He passed away at his mother’s house, according to Dr. Samuel S. Hollingsworth, the attending physician. Mr. Murphy was one of 1,633 Philadelphians to die of TB from 1844 to 1845. There is no mention of his occupation in census records or city directories. His mother, Emmaretta Murphy, was a widow and the head of the family at least since the 1838 Philadelphia African American Census. Ms. Murphy was a self-employed laundress, according to census records.

A snapshot of the Murphy family in the 1838 Census shows that there were a total of seven members in the household, four of whom were not born in Pennsylvania. Two were children in school and two members worshiped at Bethel A.M.E. Church. These individuals could have been family members or just boarders.

Two years after John’s death, the family consisted of Ms. Murphy and two males, one of which was under fifteen years old and and the other was under the age of fifty. The names and the relationships of the two males were not provided.

On the night of Tuesday, February 24th in 1845, as Mr. Murphy lay on his bed gasping for air in the last stages of his illness, his street erupted into violence. A white mob of “thirty to forty” men invaded the neighborhood and went on a rampage assaulting any African American they saw on the street. Two city watchmen tried to halt the gang and were severely beaten for their efforts. The rioters were members of the Moyamensing Hose Company, according to one newspaper report. The newspapers did not carry any details concerning the wounded African Americans. Sadly this was not an unusual event in the Philadelphia Black community. The newspapers called the mob members “rowdies.” (1)

The red arrow illustrates the location of the Murphy home in the 900 block of Lombard Street just south of Pennsylvania Hospital. The red pin indicates the location of Bethel A.M.E. Church and its proximity to the Murphy residence.

On the April day that John Murphy died, the weather turned “cold, raw, windy” with snow flurries that gave the day “the appearance of the depth of winter.” He was buried, with dignity, by his mother at Bethel Burying Ground.

(1) Public Ledger, 25 February 1845, p.2.; North American, 25 February 1845, p. 2.

Fifty-five-year-old Anna Clarke died this date, April 6th, in 1853 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on April 7, 2021

Posted in: On This date. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, archeology, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. Leave a comment

Fifty-five-year-old Anna Clarke died this date, April 6th in 1853 of “Hemiplegia.” This would be paralysis of one side of the body from a stroke or head injury. Six years earlier in the 1848 Philadelphia African American Census, Ms. Clarke reported she was self-employed as a laundress. It was a strenuous job, even for a young person. John, her husband, worked as a stevedore, loading and unloading cargo from the ships docked on the Delaware River wharfs. It too was a backbreaking job, even for someone half his age. We don’t know his exact age but we can assume it was close to his spouse’s age. In 1847, there was another female in the home listed in the census as someone between the ages of 14 and 50 who also worked as a laundress. Her relationship to the Clarkes’ was not recorded. Only two of the three residents were born in Pennsylvania. In 1847, the family lived in Rose Alley.

The red star indicates the location of the Clarkes’ family home in the rear of #5 Little Pine Street, now called Addison Street. The red circle indicates Bethel A.M.E. Church and the very close proximity of the two.

Little Pine Street was a thoroughfare of poor working Black families who mostly lived in one room, likely only 9’x9′. But there was another group who resided in the rear of these buildings like the Clarkes. Sheds, horse stables, and pig pens were covered with odd pieces of lumber and carpet and rented as shelter. The floors were dirt and would easily get muddy from the leaky “roof.” Renters would lay discarded pieces of carpet on the bare ground that would get soaked and gather mold. These hovels were the perfect environment for diseases to spread, especially Tuberculosis.

Anna and John Clarke lived on Little Pine Street with neighbors who were employed as a carpenter, painter, boot black, cook, laundress, and several who were seamen. Their children went to school at nearby 6th and Lombard School and Bethel Church. The church was a constant target for white mobs to attack. The Black house of worship was a threat to the white society in apartheid Philadelphia. Congregants were attacked as they left Sunday services. This often resulted in violent battles that also brought the Black residents of Little Pine Street to the clash.

This occurred on such a regular basis that a grand jury ruled that Bethel Church was a “nuisance” for attracting racist mobs. The worshippers at Bethel Church were accused of being a burden to the good order of things because of the color of their skin. It is very likely that the Clarkes were part of this “problem!” (1)

Anna Clarke died on a Spring day in 1853 and was buried by her husband, with dignity, at Bethel Burying Ground.

(1) Poulson’s, 10 July 1822; Public Ledger, 7 August 1837; Age, 11 March 1864.

Forty-seven-year-old Gideon Miller died this date, March 10th in 1846 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on March 12, 2021

Posted in: On This date. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, African Methodist Episcopal Church, archeology, Bethel Burying Ground, Mother Bethel, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Richard Allen. Leave a comment

Forty-seven-year-old Gideon Miller died this date, March 10th, in 1846 of a non-specific brain disease and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. At the time of his death, he was too ill to be employed, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census. He had formerly worked as a waiter. His spouse, Mary Miller, was thirty-four years old and was self-employed as a laundress. Both were born enslaved in Maryland, according to the 1840 and 1850 U.S. Censuses. Mr. Miller’s death left Mary Miller the sole caretaker of her five children.

The family lived in one 10′ x 10′ room on Bedford Street for which they paid $0.50 a month. The census taker for the 1847 Census remarked that the building the Millers lived in was “a very old frame building not worth half the money – these persons are very poor from sickness in family,- one child a girl [is] Consumptive.” There were numerous alleys and streets in 19th Century Philadelphia that were not fit for humans to reside. Bedford Street was one of them. In 1846 it was a place of mayhem, squalor, disease, and home to the destitute. “Poverty is the worst kind of violence.” (Mahatma Ghandi)

The red circle above shows the heart of the “negro quarters” on Bedford Street. The black circle illustrates the location and proximity of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1846 all of the city and county of Philadelphia were an active battleground for the dozens of volunteer fire companies that were nothing more than dens of murderous white racist thugs. On the night of Sunday April 2nd in 1845, Mr. Miller, although an invalid, would still have been aware of the awful noises coming from the streets in the neighborhood. Over 500 white boys and men were on a rampage trying to kill each other with guns, knives, bats, and stones. The Weccacoe Hose Company, led by their gang the “Bouncers,” and the Moyamensing Hose Company, spearheaded by their gang “Killers,” engaged in a battle to murder each other for the sake of false religious pride. These riots had become so frequent that a local newspaper said it was concerned that the public was becoming “accustomed to the violence.” In a rare and dangerous condemnation the journalist stated that the police and courts had “failed” the citizens of the city. (1) It is impossible to imagine the anger and fear experienced by the Miller family as they huddled around their sick husband and father.

*Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper*, 4 (July 18, 1857), p. 108. A battle between two volunteer fire companies in NYC.

Mr. Miller died on a clear day in March where the temperature rose to a seasonable 50 degrees. He was buried by his family, with dignity, at Bethel Burying Ground.

(1) Daily Chronicle, 24 April 1845, p.2. The Weccacoe Company members were Protestant Nativists and the “Boys of Moya” were Roman Catholic. The majority of both were Irish immigrants.

The Memorial for Bethel Burying Ground Has Been Chosen.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on March 11, 2021

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Thirty-year-old Harriet Edwards died this date February 22nd, in 1851 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on February 22, 2021

Posted in: On This date. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, African Methodist Episcopal Church, archeology, Bethel Burying Ground, Mother Bethel, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Richard Allen. Leave a comment

Thirty-year-old Harriet Edwards died this date February 22nd in 1851 of hemorrhaging of her lungs. Ms. Edwards reported to the 1850 federal census taker that she was thirty-years-old and stated the correct spelling of her name. The city coroner also errored in the date of her death. It was in 1851 not 1850.

Ms. Edwards collapsed at the corner of 5th and Spruce Streets in center city. The location was a block away from her home on Union Street. Her body was transported to the coroner’s office. Her husband Daniel was employed as a seaman and may not have been in the city. There is no record of the couple having children.

The red star illustrates the location where Ms. Edwards collapsed and died. The red arrow shows the approximate location of her home on Union Street located between 3rd and 4th Sts. just south of Spruce Street.

The 1847 Philadelphia African American Census reports that either Harriet or Daniel Edwards was formerly enslaved. It did not indicate which one. Both were born in Maryland. Ms. Edwards was self-employed as a laundress which was very strenuous work and dangerous to someone who had a serious illness. Mr. Edwards received $23 a month or $770 a month in modern currency as a “seaman.” The couple paid $3.50 a month or approximately $118.00 in modern currency for a room on Union Street. They belonged to a beneficial society that likely helped with the burial expenses.

The above photograph is of the intersection where Ms. Edwards collapsed and died. It was taken in 1859, almost eight years to the day of her death. Ms. Edwards, a “respectable” woman, died on a clear day where the temperature rose to 40 degrees. Her husband buried her, with dignity, at Bethel Burying Ground.

Three-year-old Peter Proctor died this date, February 11th, in 1843 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on February 11, 2021

Posted in: On This date. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, African Methodist Episcopal Church, archaeology, Bethel Burying Ground, Mother Bethel, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Richard Allen. Leave a comment

Three-year-old Peter Proctor died this date, February 11th, in 1843 of Marasmus and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. “Withering” is the Greek translation of ‘Marasmus.’ Like many diagnoses by early 19th Century physicians, they only could declare a symptom as the cause of death and not the underlying pathology. The wasting of the child’s body could have been from pneumonia, meningitis, or any disease that would cause chronic diarrhea. On tragic occasions, the child of a destitute family could starve to death from lack of food. This was likely not the case in this instance.

Young Peter was the son of Mary Ann LeCount Proctor and Rev. Walter Proctor. Ms. Proctor was forty-two-years old at the time of her son’s death. She was born in Kent County, Delaware and was a member of the LeCount family which was one of the most significant pillars of the 19th Century Philadelphia Black community. Ms. Proctor was self-employed as a dressmaker. Ms. Proctor gave birth to at least thirteen children. Only seven reached adulthood. For more information on the children please go to: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/portrait/L1L8-MSC

Rev. Proctor was fifty years old at the time of his son’s death. He was born in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland. Like many Black ministers of the 19th century, he also had additional employment to make financial ends meet. Rev. Proctor was a successful shoemaker who also ran a barbering business, according to the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census.

Rev. Proctor was a long time friend and colleague of Bishop Richard Allen and he was called Allen’s “eyes and ears.” Rev. Proctor was known to be a popular choice to perform baptisms, weddings, and burial services at Bethel Church and Bethel Burying Ground. Rev. Proctor also had a history of marrying interracial couples. Not all Black ministers would do that and, certainly, no white ministers would perform the ceremony. Their churches would be burned down by white mobs and the clergymen would be lucky to get away with only a crippling assault. (1)

Rev. Proctor and Ms. Proctor were active members of the Vigilance Association of Philadelphia, popularly referred to as the ‘Vigilance Committee.’ Over the decades, the organization assisted thousands of Black women, men, and children fleeing their southern enslavement. They were provided protection, housing, food, cash, and, if needed, transportation to New England and Canada. Lawyers were provided to the unfortunate who were kidnapped by slave catchers. The Committee also could organize a flash mob to try to physically remove the arrested fugitive from the kidnappers and the police. Click on the following for further info: https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/view/42412/42133.

According to the 1843 Philadelphia City Directory, the Proctor family lived at #34 Blackberry Alley illustrated by the red circle on the above map. Only a block west of Washington Square, it was known in the press as a “notorious haunt of iniquity” for its numerous and often rowdy houses of prostitution. The Proctors would be on the move every several years, finally settling on Bonsall Street (now Rodman), living next to Ms. Proctor’s family. (2)

Young Peter Proctor died on a day where the temperature rose to 40 degrees with clear skies. He was buried by his family, with dignity, at Bethel Burying Ground. It is very likely that Rev. Proctor performed the burial service for his son.

(1) Daily Pennsylvanian, 2 Feb 1857.

(2) Public Ledger, 20 Dec 1837.

Vice President Kamala Devi Harris

Posted by Terry Buckalew on January 20, 2021

Posted in: BBG History, On This date. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Bethel Burying Ground, Mother Bethel, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Richard Allen. Leave a comment

Dear Friends

Today Senator Kamala Devi Harris will stand in the Capitol Building and she will take the oath of office for the Vice President of the United States. I hope you will take a moment to remember Ignatius Beck. In 1798 he was one of the four hundred enslaved Black men that were “rented” to the United States government to work on the erection of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

After his liberation, Mr. Beck eventually came to Philadelphia and became a valuable member of Mother Bethel and a significant conductor on the Underground Railroad. After a very full life he was buried by his family, with dignity, at Bethel Burying Ground.

As we watch the glorious moment Vice President Harris is sworn in, maybe take a moment to remember that two hundred twenty-three years ago a Black man lifted that stone that VP Harris is standing on.

Please say his name. Ignatius Beck.

Best Regards,
Terry

Senate passes Bill to create African American burial grounds network

Posted by Terry Buckalew on January 14, 2021

Posted in: Newspaper Articles. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, African Methodist Episcopal Church, archaeology, Bethel Burying Ground, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Richard Allen. Leave a comment

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation that would better protect historic African American cemeteries.

The measure also paves the way for the creation of an African American Burial Grounds Network.

“We know that for too long in too many parts of our country, Black families were blocked from burying their loved ones in white cemeteries,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) remarked.

“These men and women were freed slaves, civil rights champions, veterans, mothers, fathers, workers in communities. We need to act now before these sites are lost to the ravages of time or development,” Brown concluded.

Initially introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 by Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC) and Congressman Donald McEachin (D-Va.), the bill primarily addresses at-risk Black cemeteries in South Carolina.

Still, it authorizes the Department of the Interior to conduct a thorough investigation of African American burial grounds across the country.

According to a Smithsonian Magazine report, the study would “lay the groundwork for the network, allowing experts to coordinate research efforts, create a nationwide database of Black cemeteries, and receive grant funding.”

Sen. Brown and now ex-Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) later introduced the measure in the Senate. It now heads back to the House for a formal vote.

The action is yet another recent legislative attempt to honor and preserve Black burial grounds.

In 2019, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) joined by Reps. Gregory Meeks, Yvette Clarke, and Adriano Espaillat, all of New York, announced the African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and Education Center Act’s reintroduction.

That legislation would establish a museum and education center at the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan.

This site currently holds the remains of an estimated 15,000 free and enslaved Africans and early-generation African Americans from the colonial era.

The National Park Service would manage the museum in consultation with the African Burial Ground Advisory Council, which would be established by the legislation.

“The African Burial Ground is culturally and historically significant to New York and the nation. The establishment of a museum and an education center at this cemetery will illuminate the plight, courage, and humanity of the free and enslaved Africans who helped create New York,” Sen. Schumer told NNPA Newswire in 2019.

“As a nation, we must always remember the tremendous burdens and afflictions experienced by those who were brought here in bondage, and who fought – for generations – against impossible odds to achieve the full measure of dignity and equality and justice that they were due. I am proud to cosponsor this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to pass this bill and for the president to sign it into law.”

The African American Burial Grounds initiative would provide grant opportunities and technical assistance to local communities as they work to recover and preserve those historic sites.

According to the letter signed by more than 60 organizations dedicated to cultural heritage and preservation, cemeteries are places of tribute and memory, connecting communities with their past.

“Unfortunately, many African-American burial grounds from both before and after the Civil War are in a state of disarray or inaccessibility,” the letter stated.

“By creating a national network, the African American Burial Grounds Network Act would help re-discover the existence of burial grounds ahead of commercial development, helping to avoid disturbances that create distress and heartache in communities. Preserving and protecting these sacred sites, and the stories they tell is an integral part of our American heritage.”

The Times Weekly. com, January 12, 2021

Ms. Sarah Bacon gave birth to a stillborn female child on this date, January 9th, in 1848 who was buried at Bethel Burying Ground.

Posted by Terry Buckalew on January 9, 2021

Posted in: On This date. Tagged: African American burial grounds, African American cemeteries, African American History, African Methodist Episcopal Church, archaeology, Bethel Burying Ground, Mother Bethel, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Richard Allen. Leave a comment

Ms. Sarah Bacon gave birth to a stillborn female child on this date, January 9th, in 1848 who was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. According to a combination of the 1847 Philadelphia African American Census and the 1850 U.S. Census, Ms. Bacon was forty-one-year old at the time of her daughter’s birth. She had been born in Maryland and was self-employed as a laundress. The baby’s father was Dennis Bacon, forty-three years old, who was employed as a “hog carrier” or brick carrier. He also was born in Maryland. It appears that the couple did not have any children.

In the winter of 1848, both the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers froze and were used by skaters. The above undated photograph shows skaters on the Schuylkill above the dam and behind the Museum of Art. Boathouse row is in the background.

Ms. Bacon was one of four hundred fifty seven Philadelphia women who suffered a stillbirth in 1848, according to Board of Health records. Malnutrition robbed poor pregnant women of the necessary diet to carry healthy babies to term. Winters especially were harsh and the winter of 1848 in Philadelphia was exceptionally so. The Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers had frozen over earlier than usual, halting ship traffic and the work that comes with loading and unloading the giant sailing ships. Snow and rain made the roads a quagmire that buried delivery wagons up to their axles. (1) Any outdoor construction work would have been difficult, if not impossible. It is likely that Mr. Bacon was out of work and the couple may have been relying on charity soup kitchens for their one meal a day. Hopefully, they were able to receive relief from the beneficial societies to which they belonged through their church. (2)

Mary and Dennis Bacon lived in a room at #2 Eagle Court located near the intersection of 10th and Locust Streets, illustrated by the red pin on the above map. The red arrow indicates the location and proximity of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church at 6th and Lombard Streets. In 1847 Eagle Court was a small, dead end alley. It was home to thirty-seven Black families with a total of one hundred thirty four men, women, and children. The women were employed as dressmakers, laundresses, and domestic workers. The men were employed as waiters, porters, and white washers (painters). These quarters were perfectly designed to spread deadly diseases, such as tuberculosis and small pox.

On a bitterly cold day in January, Ms. Sarah Bacon suffered the delivery of her stillborn daughter who was buried, with dignity, at Bethel Burying Ground.

(1) Public Ledger, 12/26/1842 & 1/10/1843.

(2) 1847 Philadelphia African American Census

Bethel Burying Ground Project