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The Death of Susanna Becraft, November 1834
Holy Trinity Church recorded the death and burial of Susanna Becraft in the College Ground on November 12, 1834. A 15-year-old postulant from the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Becraft died after battling consumption. According to historian Diane…
The death and burial of Margaret Smallwood, April 21, 1837
These two documents from 1837 provide an account of the death and burial of Margaret Smallwood, an enslaved woman who worked and died at Georgetown College at the age of 45. Margaret was born in St. Mary's County and was buried at the College…
Runaway Ad for Nicholas, Southern Sentinel, April 12, 1856
A runaway advertisement for Nicholas, who said he was owned by Henry Johnson. The ad was placed by jailor Theodore Blanchard in the Plaquemine, Louisiana Southern Sentinelon April 12, 1856.Henry Johnson was one of the purchasers of the Maryland…
"Crossing the river," Iberville South, August 11, 1894
A short article in the Iberville South reports the death on August 4, 1894 of an unnamed African American woman at the age of 103. The article indicates that the deceased was a member of the black Catholic community from Maryland purchased by the…
Inventory of William Gaston's estate, April 19, 1844
William Gaston (1778-1844) was Georgetown's first student, enrolling in the school in 1791 before transferring to Princeton. As a congressman from North Carolina, Gaston sponsored the charter that granted Georgetown the authority to award academic…
First Performance of the "Contrabands" of Georgetown College, 1861
Playbill for a blackface minstrel show at Georgetown dated December 17, 1861.By December 1861, the word "contraband" had come to refer to enslaved people who had escaped to the Union Army.For more information on the Georgetown "Contrabands", see…
Advertisement for West Oak plantation, 1860
An advertisement for the sale of West Oak plantation, placed in the New Orleans Daily Picayune for December 7, 1860. Of note is that the property is described as including "14 new double negro cabins."
The College hires Peter, 1799-1801
A boarder named James Price defrayed his expenses by hiring out to the College an enslaved man named Peter.
William Harris and Basil Butler donate land to the Catholic church for a school for black children in Iberville Parish, La., 1897
In 1897, William Harris and Basil Butler donated land to the Catholic Church in Louisiana "for the purpose of assisting and advancing Christian education among the colored children" of Iberville Parish, Louisiana.
Basil Butler (b. 1824), the son…
Basil Butler (b. 1824), the son…
Louisa Mason obituary, 1909
An obituary published in the St. Mary's Beacon, July 22, 1909, honoring the life of Louisa Mason (b. 1812), an enslaved woman owned by the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus.