Table Of ContentTHE LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF
NORTH CAROLINA
AT CHAPEL HILL
THE COLLECTION OF
NORTH CAROLINIANA
PRESENTEDBY
Kevin Cherry
CpB
K25w
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Markerproposal Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley wasbom in Dinwiddie Court House. Virginia, around
1820 Documents listing herageprovide birth years ranging from 1818 to 1824 Her
motherwas Agnes Hobbs. a slave in thehousehold ofColonel .Armistead Burwell The
mansheknewas her fatherwas George Pleasant, owned byadifferent masterand
allowedtovisit his family only twiceayear Laterin life. AgnesHobbstold Keckley
that herreal fatherwasactually Col Burwell.
Col Burwell loaned Keckleyto his son. the Rev Robert Burvvell who movedto
Hillsborough with his family in 1835 uponacceptingthepastorateofHillsborough
PresbyterianChurch. Keckley"s memoir. BehindtheScenes, or Thirty YearsaSlaw, and
Four Yearsmthe WluteHouse recordsbrutal treatment atthehandsofBurwell aand
William Bingham, "thevillage schoolmaster" who was amemberofBunnell"schurch
Shegives abriefand mysteriousaccountofafour-yearabusive"seduction" byanother
Burwell neighbor This relationship resulted in hergivingbirthto ason. theonly child
shewould have Inthebook she does not mention oreven alludetotheidentityofthe
white man. but after shepurchased herand herson's freedom in 1855. her son. George
assumed the last name ofKirkland GeorgeKirklandjoined aUnion regiment in
Missouri as awhite man in 1861 and was shortly killed Shewould laterclaim on a
federal pension applicationthat in 1840 herowner. Hugh Garland atthat point,
performed a marriageceremonyuniting herand .AlexanderKirkland WTiilethe marriage
is notlikely, given that .AlexanderKirkland wasalready married atthetime, it is
presumedthat Kirkland wasthe fatheroiherson. Themarriagewaspresumably
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://www.archive.org/details/markerproposalelOOwegn
fabricated in ordertomake herpension application, asa"widow" with no surviving sons,
moreacceptable Shedid, in tact, receiveapension of$8 per month, laterraised to $12.
Shortly afterGeorge'sbirth, theold Col Burwell brought Keckley and her
otYspring back to Virginia, givingthem to hisdaughterAnna, who had recently married
Hugh Garland Garland moved his family to St Louis, Missouri, seeking financial
stability, but Keckley records in herbookthat, at thetime, hersewing supportedthe
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entire household seventeen people. Around 1852, Elizabeth married James Keckley, a
slavewho had misrepresented himselfasafreedman Mrs. Keckley'sreputationasa
seamstressgrew, and, in 1855 shewasableto purchase freedom for herselfand herson.
TheSi,200 had beenagift from devoted clients, but Keckleyrepaid the sum with her
earningsas soonaspossible. In 1860, afterseeingGeorgeoffto collegeat Wilberforce
University. Keckley left heralcoholic husband and moved toWashington, DC. There
sheestablished adressmaking business, cateringtothe wives ofprominent politicians
suchas StephenDouglasand Jefferson Davis. Afavoredclient recommended Keckleyto
thewifeofthe newly elected president, andon March 3, 1861, MaryTodd Lincolnhired
her Thetwowomen developedaclose friendship (Mary Todd Lincoln oncewrotein a
letterto Keckley, ""you are my best andkindest friend"), and Keckley evencameto assist
the President withhis clothes and hairbefore public appearances.
In 1862 Elizabeth Keckley, with fortywomen from herWashington church,
organizedtheContraband ReliefAssociationtoaidblackreftigees Sheraised moneyfor
thegroup through herpolitical connectionsand hertravelswiththe First family This
organization evolved intothe National Association forDestituteColored Womenand
Children, fromwhomKecklev. herself was reducedto seekingaid in her latervears.
It is believed that Keckley wrotehermemoirsBehindtheSceneswith the
assistanceofaghostwriter Atthetime Keckley reportedthatshewrotethebook in order
to help raise money forher friend, Mrs Lincoln, and to help neutralize harsh criticism of
theformer First lady. BehindtheScenes, which included an appendixofpersonal
correspondence from Mary Todd Lincoln, was published in 1868 Robert Lincolnwas so
angered by the contentsofthebookthat heattempted tosuppress itsdistribution and
successftilly ended all contact between Keckleyand his mother Thetwo would never
meetagain. Elizabeth Keckley died in WashingtonMay26, 1907.
The authenticity ofBehindtheSceneshas neverbeenquestioned It hasbeen
extensivelycited byLincoln biographers(both Abraham and MaryTodd) Adressthat
Elizabeth Keckleycreated forMrs. Lincolnis ondisplayatthe Smithsonian Institution
Sources:
ElizabethKeckley, BehindtheScenes, or ThirtyYearsaSlaveandFour Yearsinthe
mme
House, 1868
GertrudeWoodruffMarlowe, "Keckley, Elizabeth Hobbs." mAmericanNational
Biography, 1999.
MaryClaireEngstrom. "Burwell, Roben .^rmistead," inDictionaryofNorthCarolina
Biography, 1979
Neil Scott. "Onewoman's rise from slavetoLincolns' confidante,"' The Washington
Times. March 29, 1997
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**this book is expected Spring 2003 JenniferFleishner,Mrs. LincolnandMrs. Keckly
(The spelling ofKeckley varies somewhat, butthe spellingwiththe"e"" iswhat wasused
for herown publication.)
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