Amanda America Dickson, the daughter of an enslaved woman and her enslaver, became one of the wealthiest Black women in nineteenth-century America when the Georgia Supreme Court upheld her claim to her father's contested will. Try again later. The trial was held in the courthouse, where the will was decided in Amanda's favor. Wife of Charles Henry Eubanks and Nathan Toomer [1]:47. On July 14, 1892, she married Nathan Toomer of Perry, Ga. Amanda got sick. My fathers grandmother was a slave of David Dickson, which was Amanda's father. In 1866, 17-year-old Amanda married her white first cousin, Charles Eubanks, a recently returned Confederate Army veteran and together they had two children, Julian Henry and Charles Green. [1]:127 Ultimately, Julia Dickson, Nathan Toomer, and Amanda America's younger son, Charles Dickson, settled the dispute over Amanda America's estate amicably out of court. Her 40- year- old father was known as "The Prince of Southern Farmers". Her mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, and her second husband, Nathan Toomer, both petitioned in court to be designated the temporary administrator of her estate. The bride and groom wanted an intimate family wedding and the ability to spend quality time with those they love the most. Learn more about merges. She died on June 11, 1893, at age 43. [1]:118 Amanda died on June 11, 1893, eleven months after they were married. In her youth, Amanda was taken into the Dickson family home and raised by her paternal grandmother where she was taught to read, write, and play the piano. [3], A House Divided (2000) is the television movie that depicts the life of Amanda America Dickson. Born on November 20, 1849, Amanda America Dickson was Davids daughter, the product of his rape of thirteen-year-old Julia Francis Lewis, the enslaved property of his mother. In the winter of 1885 David Dickson died, leaving the bulk of his estate to Amanda Dickson and subsequently to her children after her death. Born on November 21, 1849, baby Amanda's parents couldn't be more dissimilar her father, the renowned white agricultural plantation owner, and writer, David Dickson; her mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, was an enslaved child-servant to Dickson's mother Elizabeth Sholars-Dickson. Ann Short Chirhart and Betty Wood (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2009). That cotton was produced by the enslaved men, women and children of African heritage, on whose labor the wealth of the South depended. His will left his estate to her "sound judgment and unlimited discretion" and prohibited interference from anyone, including any husband that she may have. It has been listed on Rocket Homes since February 27, 2023 and is currently priced at $289,900. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. One obituary said: though in possession of such riches, she made no gaudy display but lived a quiet, easy, and unpretending life. Dr. Kendall gave her anodyne, a pain-relieving medication. But the dreadful secret which has blighted her life threatens to deprive her of the birthright which her . By 1861, he was known as the "Prince of Georgia Farmers," having contributed perhaps more than any other farmer in Georgia at that time to the prosperity of the region. When her father died on February 18, 1885, Amanda became the center of a famous lawsuit. I read Dr. Kent Anderson Leslie's biography of Amanda Dickson Toomer several years. She was born on November 20, 1849, on the plantation of her father, the famous white agricultural reformer David Dickson in Hancock County, Georgia. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Please try again later. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Amanda Toomer (10337890)? . Come celebrate the 2022 results. To use this feature, use a newer browser. She was kind-hearted, generous, and charitable, and her benevolent work was indeed extensive.. Amanda, then15, had a relationship with her 29-year old white cousin Charles Eubanks and had two sons, Julian and Leslie, near Rome, Georgia. Amanda remained married to Nathan Toomer until her death from Neurasthenia, or nervous exhaustion, considered to be caused by an unbearably hot train ride home from a month's stay in Baltimore for her health. His estate included 17,000 acres of land in Hancock and Washington counties in Georgia. Born November 20, 1849, on the Dickson Plantation, near Sparta, Georgia in Hancock County, Amanda America was the product of her 12-year-old mother, an enslaved house servant, Julia Francis. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Elegant Experiences. Amanda America Dickson, the daughter of an enslaved woman and her enslaver, became one of the wealthiest Black women in nineteenth-century America. Born November 20, 1849. She was educated and schooled in the social skills of her father's class, and he helped her to enjoy a life of privilege away from the harsh realities of slavery before emancipation following the Civil War. In 1873, Mr. Dickson deeded 1,560 acres of land worth $10,000 to Amanda. Evidence suggests that David Dickson took charge of Amanda's education. She left Eubanks four years later and returned home to her father's plantation, where she and her mother moved into a new home that had been built on the property. Citing the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision, saying that the rights and privileges of a black woman and her children would be the same rights and privileges of a white concubine or an illegitimate white woman and her children. As Amanda grew, her grandmother used her as a domestic servant. . You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Daughter of David Dickson and Julia Frances Dickson Therefore, they either never officially married, or they married out of state before returning to Georgia (but there is no surviving proof of a legal marriage. She learned to play piano; to dress with subdued elegance . Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. This courthouse was destroyed by fire in 2015, but reconstructed around the original walls. Fashion and politics from Georgia-born designer Frankie Welch, Take a virtual tour of Georgia's museums and galleries. [1]:69, Years after having completed her teaching degree, Amanda America 2251 Florin Rd. In July 1886, Amanda purchased a home on Telfair Street in Augusta, furnishing it elegantly including the Dickson silver, oil paintings . In 1892, she married Nathan Toomer of Perry, Georgia. The union produced two sons: Julian Henry (1866-1937), who married Eva Walton, the daughter of Isabella and George Walton of Augusta; and Charles Green (1870-ca. of Thomas Eubanks and Nancy Dickson [sibling(s) unknown] Husband of Amanda America (Dickson) Toomer married about 1865 (to . This house still stands on 452 Telfair Street. Understanding that the Anderson and Jeffers family is an interracial family they are challenged with many difficulties and . Kent Anderson Leslie, Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995). Amanda America Dickson's life reflected the power of family and class to erode the boundaries of race in the nineteenth-century South. Kent Anderson Leslie uses the events of Dickson's life to explore the forces driving southern race and gender . On July 15, 1886, before the Georgia Supreme Court ruling, pressure from other family members forced Dickson to leave the family plantation where she had spent most of her life. She was born November 20, 1849, on the Dickson Plantation, near Sparta, Georgia (Hancock County) to a famous 40-year-old plantation owner David Dickson and a 12-year-old enslaved girl, Julia . In her childhood, she was taken into the Dickson family and tutored by her paternal grandmother Elizabeth Sholars Dickson. [1]:36061. 1900), who married Kate Holsey, the daughter of Harriet and Bishop Lucius Holsey of Augusta. [1]:123 Amanda America died without a will, which resulted in a legal battle after her death for control of her estate. Read all Director John Kent Harrison Writers Amanda America Dickson House. Toomer and Dicksons marriage lasted until her death on June 11, 1893, of neurasthenia, or nervous exhaustion. Amanda America Dickson, the daughter of an enslaved woman and her enslaver, became one of the wealthiest Black women in nineteenth-century America. Adella Hunt Logan, 1902 The Logan family are African Americans descended from Warren Logan and his wife Adella Hunt Logan. Their plan was foiled. She was the main heir to the estate of over 15,000 acres valued at $309,543. The couple were essentially married, although Georgia laws forbade interracial weddings. without interference from any quarter. To discourage challenges to the will, anyone contesting it would lose their own bequest. Augusta, GaFriday, May 21, 2021, Formerly enslaved Amanda America Dickson Toomer (1849-1893), who later became perhaps Georgia's wealthiest African American woman in the 19th Century, received a Georgia Historical Marker in her honor. A host of David Dickson's white relatives contested the will, but the superior court of Hancock County ruled in favor of Amanda Dickson in November 1885. Amanda America Dickson Toomer was born in Hancock County in 1849, to wealthy planter David Dickson and Julia, who was enslaved by Dickson's mother Elizabeth. She was born on November 20 or 21, 1849, on the Hancock County plantation of her father, the famous white agricultural reformer, David Dickson (1809-85). She was Mrs. her father's plantation, Hancock County, GA, United States, Charles "Charley" or Leslie Green Dickson, Amanda America "miss Mandy" Eubanks (born Dickson), Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, 1791-1963, The Springfield Daily Union - June 15 1893, The Springfield Daily Union - June 23 1893. [1]:81100, Judge Logan E. Bleckley filled his vacancy and refused to hear the case again. As a result, her health quickly deteriorated. . At the time, David Dickson was forty and the wealthiest planter in the county. In her childhood, she was taken into the Dickson family and tutored by her paternal grandmother Elizabeth Sholars Dickson. Warren Logan was born into slavery in Virginia shortly before the American Civil War. Amanda married first to her father's nephew, Charles Eubanks, in 1866-67 and they lived on a plantation in Rome, Georgia. In 1793 or 1794 Suzanne married Jean-Baptiste Peltier. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. 20042023 Georgia Humanities, University of Georgia Press. Amanda America Dickson Toomer was buried in her wedding dress, in a metallic coffin, which was lined in rose colored plush fabric. 1., ed. Kent Anderson Leslie uses the events of Dickson's life to explore the forces driving southern race and gender . According to the Dickson family oral history, David Dickson doted on Amanda, and Julia quite openly became his concubine and housekeeper. Gabriel moved to Emanuel County, Georgia after his fathers death.David Lipscomb College, TN~ 1939 (Edna Waters)Harding College, Se . She left home briefly, between the years 1876 and 1878, to attend the Normal School of Atlanta University. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Immediately after his death, she took measures to protect herself legally. Although conceived through the rape of her adolescent mother, Amanda was raised and educated in the Dickson household. Amanda and her grandmother Elizabeth had shared a particularly close relationship, with Amanda spending much time in her grandmother's room. It reached the height of its power by the time it reached Charlotte. In 1865 or 1866 Dickson married her white first cousin, Charles Eubanks, a recently returned Civil War (1861-65) veteran. Legally, Amanda was still a slave until her grandmother's death in 1864. A system error has occurred. Dickson inherited his estate in Hancock County upon his death in 1885. [3][4] Charles Green Eubanks married Kate Holsey, the daughter of Lucius Holsey, a bishop in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church,[5] and his wife Harriet. Legally a slave owned by her white grandmother, the biracial child was reared in her father's household. From 1876 to 1878 she left the plantation to attend the Normal School of Atlanta University. Historical evidence suggests that DuSable must have settled in Chicago prior to 1779. He never woke up. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. married a second time, on July 14, 1892. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Amanda America Dickson Toomer I found on Findagrave.com. [1]:120121 Dr. F. D. Kendall, who examined her on the morning of June 9, 1893, noted that her heart and lungs appeared to be fine, but that she was obviously very nervous and anxious to return home. David Dickson showed that farmers could profit from slave labor without having to resort to violence to keep them in submission. Amanda America Dickson was born in November of 1849. This fascinating story of Amanda America Dickson, born the privileged daughter of a white planter and an unconsenting slave in antebellum Georgia, shows how strong-willed individuals defied racial strictures for the sake of family. The union produced two sons: Julian Henry (1866-1937), who married Eva Walton, the daughter of Isabella and George Walton of Augusta; and Charles Green (1870-ca. As we peek into the pages of the acclaimed events of history behind Kent Anderson Leslie's book, Women of Color, Daughter of Privilege, centering on the life of Amanda America Dickson. Ashlee and Nesia discuss life as the owner of a basketball team, retirement and more. Dickson inherited his estate in Hancock County upon his death in 1885. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. In the 1870s he built a handsome house for Amanda and her mother Julia and gave her some property. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10337890/amanda-america-toomer. My mother is a descendant of Amanda America Dickson. Failed to report flower. Amanda Smith emerged as one of the A.M.E. Church's most effective missionaries and one of the most remarkable preachers ever known. His white relatives contested the will. shows how strong-willed individuals defied racial strictures for the sake of family. In 1890, Smith returned to the United States, and after two years of preaching and related work in the East, she settled in . David Dickson died unexpectedly in 1885, 12 years after the death of his wife, Clara. She married (or lived as if she was married to) Charles Eubanks, a white first cousin and Civil War veteran. 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. The son of this marriage was Jean Toomer, the author of the novel Cane (1923). In 1892 Dickson married Nathan Toomer of Perry. The votes are in! Amanda America Dickson was born into slavery in Hancock County, Georgia. Please contact [ emailprotected ] power by the time, on July,... 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