Remembrance Hall became Anne Marie Becraft Hall, after a free black woman who founded a school for black girls in the Georgetown neighborhood and later joined the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Your email address will not be published. The students organized a protest and a sit-in, using the hashtag #GU272 for the slaves who were sold. Some wrote emotional letters to Roothaan denouncing the morality of the sale. Today, the universitys leaders, students and alumni are grappling with how to confront that history. Check out some of the. It also notes slaves who had run away, and those who had been "married off." [30] In total, only 206 are known to have been transported to Louisiana. Thomas F. Mulledy, president of Georgetown from 1829 to 1838, and again from 1845 to 1848, arranged the sale. Tweet. A Reflection for Saturday of the First Week of Lent, by Christopher Parker. And she learned that Cornelius had worked the soil of a 2,800-acre estate that straddled the Bayou Maringouin. The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II An astonishing book. To this day the search continues. Now students, professors and alumni want to know what happened to those men and women and what the university will do moving forward. Required fields are marked *. [19] At the congregation, the senior Jesuits in Maryland voted six to four to proceed with a sale of the slaves,[20] and Dubuisson submitted to the Superior General a summary of the moral and financial arguments on either side of the debate. [24] He located two Louisiana planters who were willing to purchase the slaves: Henry Johnson, a former United States Senator and governor of Louisiana, and Jesse Batey. list of slaves sold by georgetown university. His children and grandchildren also embraced the Catholic church. The first payment on the remaining $90,000 would become due after five years. One building is now named in honor of a slave who was 65 years old when he was sold in 1838. They worried that new owners might not allow the slaves to practice their Catholic faith. Key then transferred this property to John R. Thompson. Anne Marie Becraft Hall, formerly known as McSherry Hall and renamed Remembrance Hall two years ago, is named for a free woman of color who established a school in the town of Georgetown for black girls. We have committed to finding ways that members of the Georgetown and Descendant communities can be engaged together in efforts that advance racial justice and enable every member of our Georgetown community to confront and engage with Georgetowns history with slavery.. 2023 A Month of Tribute to 31 Women We Should All Know, Rosewood A Typical Race Riot in America. They were looking to buy slaves in the Upper South more cheaply than they could in the Deep South, and agreed to Mulledy's asking price of approximately $400 per person. So in June 1838, he negotiated a deal with Henry Johnson, a member of the House of Representatives, and Jesse Batey, a landowner in Louisiana, to sell Cornelius and the others. [37] Roothaan was particularly concerned because it had become clear that, contrary to his order, families had been separated by the slaves' new owners. This was a great cause of the wealth of the slaveowners who took advantage of land stolen from the original owners, the Native Americans who had lived here for centuries. They were heading to the only Catholic cemetery in Maringouin. [5], On June 19, 1838, Mulledy, Johnson, and Batey signed articles of agreement formalizing the sale. Logging in will also give you access to commenting features on our website. To see information on Juneteenth, click here. But the popes order, which did not explicitly address slave ownership or private sales like the one organized by the Jesuits, offered scant comfort to Cornelius and the other slaves. The Jesuits had sold off individual slaves before. Following Batey's death, his West Oak plantation and the slaves living there were sold in January 1853 to Tennessee politician Washington Barrow and Barrow's son, John S. Barrow, a resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The second is now named for a free African-American woman who founded a school for Catholic black girls in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Since 2015, Georgetown has been working to address its historical relationship to slavery and will continue to do so, a Georgetown spokesman said in a statement to Religion News Service on Friday. Continue to scroll for fascinating Videos and Books to enhance your learning experience. 51 slaves were to be sent to Alexandria, Virginia, then shipped to Louisiana. [34] Many Maryland Jesuits were outraged by the sale, which they considered to be immoral, and many of them wrote graphic, emotional accounts of the sale to Roothaan. While they continued to support gradual emancipation, they believed that this option was becoming increasingly untenable, as the Maryland public's concern grew about the expanding number of free blacks. It also features audio recordings in which descendants recall memories, from segregated education to family migration away from the South. [39], While Roothaan ordered that the proceeds of the sale be used to provide for the training of Jesuits, the initial $25,000 was not used for that purpose. [46] Due to financial difficulties, Johnson sold half his property, including some of the slaves he had purchased in 1838, to Philip Barton Key in 1844. [53], With work complete, in August 2015, university president John DeGioia sent an open letter to the university announcing the opening of the new student residence, which also related Mulledy's role in the 1838 slave sale after stepping down as president of the university. This coincided with a protest by a group of students against keeping Mulledy's and McSherry's names on the buildings the day before. She prides herself on being unflappable. Participants in this discussion are: Drew Gilpin Faust, President, Harvard University. The Jesuits decided that the elderly would not be sold south and instead would be permitted to remain in Maryland. [5] In October of that year, Mulledy succeeded McSherry, who was dying, as provincial superior. And they are confronting a particularly wrenching question: What, if anything, is owed to the descendants of slaves who were sold to help ensure the colleges survival? [26] Johnson and Batey were to be held jointly and severally liable and each additionally identified a responsible party as a guarantor. She is outraged that the churchs leaders sanctioned the buying and selling of slaves, and that Georgetown profited from the sale of her ancestors. In 1836, the Jesuit Superior General, Jan Roothaan, authorized the provincial superior to carry out the sale on three conditions: the slaves must be permitted to practice their Catholic faith, their families must not be separated, and the proceeds of the sale must be used only to support Jesuits in training. The church records helped lead to a 69-year-old woman in Baton Rouge named Maxine Crump. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn) On Oct. 29, John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, released a university-wide letter announcing that Georgetown would commit to raising around. On June 19, 1838, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus agreed to sell 272 slaves to two Louisiana planters, Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey, for $115,000 (equivalent to approximately $2.96million in 2021). [49] There was periodic and sometimes extensive coverage of both the sale and the Jesuits' slave ownership in various literature. [5] The first record of slaves working Jesuit plantations in Maryland dates to 1711, but it is likely that there were slave laborers on the plantations a generation before then. Please see also: Slaves Transported on the Katherine Jackson of Georgetown, Arriving New Orleans 6 Dec 1838, Source: "List of slaves on each estate to be sold," Box 40, Folder 10, Maryland Province Archives[2], Categories: Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Slave Owners | Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Slaves | Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Slave Owners | Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Slaves | Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia | Georgetown University Slaves | District of Columbia, Slave Owners | District of Columbia, Slaves | Maryland, Slaves | Maryland, Slave Owners, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. [10], Due to these extensive landholdings, the Propaganda Fide in Rome had come to view the American Jesuits negatively, believing they lived lavishly like manorial lords. Some slaves suffered at the hands of a cruel overseer. Her ancestors, once amorphous and invisible, are finally taking shape in her mind. (The two men would swap positions by 1838.). [34] During the controversy, Mulledy fell into alcoholism. Melvin Robert and Joya Mia Italiano look into Georgetown Universitys response on the Lip News. This resulted in families being split for economic reasons with no consideration of human relationships. Jesuit Father Hans Zollner will be a consultant for the Diocese of Romes office dedicated to safeguarding minors and vulnerable people. [7], By 1824, the Jesuit plantations totaled more than 12,000 acres (4,900 hectares) in the State of Maryland, and 1,700 acres (690 hectares) in eastern Pennsylvania. Corneliuss extended family was split, with his aunt Nelly and her daughters shipped to one plantation, and his uncle James and his wife and children sent to another, records show. Now, with racial protests roiling college campuses, an unusual collection of Georgetown professors, students, alumni and genealogists is trying to find out what happened to those 272 men, women and children. The Society of Jesus, whose members are known as Jesuits, established its first presence in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Thirteen Colonies alongside the first settlers of the British Province of Maryland, which had been founded as a Catholic colony and refuge. [63][38], The College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, of which Mulledy was the first president from 1843 to 1848, also began to reconsider the name of one of its buildings in 2015. It would not survive, Father Mulledy feared, without an influx of cash. [45] Patrick and Woolfolk's slaves were then sold in July 1859 to Emily Sparks, the widow of Austin Woolfolk. Slaves were often threatened with having family members sold away, splitting parents from even infants because of minor infractions as determined by the slave owner. Mismanaged and inefficient, the Maryland plantations no longer offered a reliable source of income for Georgetown College, which had been founded in 1789. On June 19, 1838, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus agreed to sell 272 slaves to two southern Louisiana sugar planters, former governor Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey, for $115,000, equivalent to $2.79 million in 2020, in order to rescue Georgetown University from bankruptcy. Start Free Trial Now Our membership program offers special benefits for just $99 per year: *Unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows, *FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items, *Unlimited, ad-free streaming of over a million songs and more Prime benefits, Join Amazon Prime Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime Start Free Trial Now. As early as the 1780s, Dr. Rothman found, they openly discussed the need to cull their stock of human beings. March 24, 2017. This has made people reluctant to see the past and this has had a long term harm by remaining hidden and allowed to fester. The website is part of a collaboration between Boston-based American Ancestors, also called the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the Georgetown Memory Project, which was founded by Georgetown alumnus Richard Cellini. [16] Mulledy in particular felt that the plantations were a drain on the Maryland Jesuits; he urged selling the plantations as well as the slaves, believing the Jesuits were only able to support either their estates or their schools in growing urban areas: Georgetown College in Washington, D.C. and St. John's College in Frederick, Maryland. ALL OF THE PEOPLE LISTED ON THIS PAGE HAVE PROFILES. The slaves were also identified as collateral in the event that Johnson, Batey, and their guarantors defaulted on their payments. Georgetown University was an active participant in the slave trade selling upwards of 272 slaves from their Maryland run plantation to the deep south in an effort to support the then struggling university in 1838 according to The New York Times. What can you do to make amends?. In 2013, Georgetown began planning to renovate the adjacent Ryan, Mulledy, and Gervase Halls, which together served as the university's Jesuit residence until the opening of a new residence in 2003. Georgetown owned these human beings and they had been used to build the institutions physical buildings, tend farms and perform hard labor under rigid control. June 1838 the University benefited from the sale of 272 slaves, some as young as 2 months old to finance the ailing institution. You dont have to purchase the item in the link but using the link helps both of us and we thank you for your support. Twenty-seven years earlier, a document dated June 19, 1838, showed that Maryland Jesuit priests sold 272 slaves to the owners of Louisiana plantations. Close to half of them remain alive. Georgetown University announced on Tuesday it will create a fund that could generate close to $400,000 a year to benefit the descendants of slaves once sold by the university, the latest in the . [37] As censure for the scandal,[39] Roothaan ordered Mulledy to remain in Europe,[35] and Mulledy lived in exile in Nice until 1843. There are no surviving images of Cornelius, no letters or journals that offer a look into his last hours on a Jesuit plantation in Maryland. [9] The main crops grown were tobacco and corn. While it would seem as if there would be some mention of this in history, it remained largely unknown. We receive a small royalty without cost to you. One building was renamed for Isaac Hawkins, first on the list of the 272 human beings sold in 1838. The Rev. [24] When he returned in November to gather the rest of the slaves, the plantation managers had their slaves flee and hide. [27] The agreement provided that 51 slaves would be sent to the port of Alexandria, Virginia in order to be shipped to Louisiana. Thomas Hibbert (1710-1780), English merchant, he became rich from slave labor on his Jamaican plantations. To comment or make suggestions on future posts, use Contact Us. Some of that money helped to pay off the debts of the struggling college. William McSherry, the college presidents involved in the sale, from two campus buildings. Now that we have this data, my hope is that we can use it to open doors and make connections. ", New England Historic Genealogical Society, "They thought Georgetown University's missing slaves were 'lost.' They recognize that despite their principals, they recognized the theft of labor, the destruction of families and the long term devastation that this inflicted on an entire race of people. This is the original list of slaves from the Jesuit plantations compiled in preparation for the sale in 1838. The remainder of the slaves were accounted for in three subsequent bills of sale executed in November 1838, which specified that 64 would go to Batey's plantation named West Oak in Iberville Parish and 140 slaves would be sent to Johnson's two plantations,[27] Ascension Plantation (later known as Chatham Plantation) in Ascension Parish and another in Maringouin in Iberville Parish. Photo by Claire Vail. The grave of Cornelius Hawkins, one of 272 slaves sold by the Jesuits in 1838 to help keep what is now Georgetown University afloat. [40] The remaining $17,000, equivalent to approximately $440,000 in 2021,[25] was used to offset part of Georgetown College's $30,000 of debt that had accrued during the construction of buildings during Mulledy's prior presidency of the college. . If youre already a subscriber or donor, thank you! Why am I being asked to create an account? They change every day, so check often. [50] Curran also published Georgetown University's official, bicentennial history in 1993, in which he wrote about the university's and Jesuits' relationship with slavery. John DeGioia, President, Georgetown University. To see the posts, click here. During this time, the Jesuits funded some of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in America in part through profits earned on their plantations. An alumnus, following the protest from afar, wondered if more needed to be done. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Catholic Church were among the largest slaveholding institutions in America. . Some children were sold without their parents, records show, and slaves were dragged off by force to the ship, the Rev. New England ship builders made ships to bring people to this country. And the 1838 sale worth about $3.3 million in todays dollars was organized by two of Georgetowns early presidents, both Jesuit priests. Articles in the Woodstock Letters, an internal Jesuit publication that later became accessible to the public, routinely addressed both subjects during the course of its existence from 1872 to 1969. Cardinal McElroy responds to his critics on sexual sin, the Eucharist, and LGBT and divorced/remarried Catholics, Worried you retired too early? He demanded that Mulledy travel to Rome to answer the charges of disobeying orders and promoting scandal. [18] The province was sharply divided, with the American-born Jesuits supporting a sale and the missionary European Jesuits opposing on the basis that it was immoral both to sell their patrimonial lands and to materially and morally harm the slaves by selling them into the Deep South, where they did not want to go. Slaves and the products they produced were responsible for well over 50% of the entire GNP of the United States. Hundreds of Blacks were slaughtered and 10,000 left homeless in this largely unknown event. [8] These consisted primarily of the plantations of White Marsh in Prince George's County, St. Inigoes and Newtown Manor in St. Mary's County, St. Thomas Manor in Charles County, and Bohemia Manor in Cecil County. Father Mulledy took most of the down payment he received from the sale about $500,000 in todays dollars and used it to help pay off the debts that Georgetown had incurred under his leadership. [47], While the 1838 slave sale gave rise to scandal at the time, the event eventually faded out of the public awareness. You can also manage your account details and your print subscription after logging in. It is better to prevent than to attempt to remedy. With time, Georgetown professors, students and alumni are taking a look at this portion and tracking the people sold to finance the institution. A photograph of Frank Campbell, one of 272 slaves sold to keep Georgetown University afloat, was found in a scrapbook at Nicholls State University in Louisiana. Through the project, genealogists have discovered 8,425 descendants of enslaved people sold in 1838. That building is now known as Freedom Hall. Patricia Bayonne-Johnson, a descendant of another of the slaves sold by the Jesuits, is the president of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society in Spokane, Wash., which is helping to track the slaves and their families.
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