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Mary Berkeley Minor Blackford facts for kids

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Mary Berkeley Minor Blackford
An older white woman, wearing a white head cover and a dark shawl
Mary Berkeley Minor Blackford, from a portrait painted in the 1870s
Born December 2, 1802
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Died September 15, 1896
Alexandria, Virginia
Relatives John B. Minor (cousin)
John Minor Maury (cousin)
Matthew Fontaine Maury (cousin)

Mary Berkeley Minor Blackford (December 2, 1802 – September 15, 1896) was an American activist. She worked against slavery and helped found a group in Fredericksburg, Virginia. This group aimed to help free Black people.

Early Life and Family

Mary Berkeley Minor was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Her father, John Minor III, was a general in the War of 1812. He was also a close friend of James Monroe, who later became president. Mary had several famous cousins, including John Barbee Minor and Matthew Fontaine Maury.

Working Against Slavery

Mary Blackford was very active in her church and in the temperance movement. This movement worked to reduce or stop the use of alcohol.

Starting a New Group

In 1829, Mary Blackford started a group called the Fredericksburg and Falmouth Female Auxiliary of the American Colonization Society. This society supported a movement called "colonization." Colonization aimed to help free Black people from the United States move to Liberia, a country in Africa.

People supported colonization for different reasons. Some truly opposed slavery. Others had more practical or even racist reasons. Mary Blackford herself was against slavery.

Her Beliefs and Actions

Mary kept a journal called Notes Illustrative of the Wrongs of Slavery. In it, she wrote about her personal experiences that shaped her views. She wrote, "From childhood I have bewailed the unnumbered ills of slavery." This means she had been sad about the problems of slavery since she was a child.

She even taught enslaved people to read Bibles, which was against Virginia law. She faced threats for doing this. However, her husband did not share her anti-slavery views. The Blackford family also had enslaved people working in their home.

Helping Education in Africa

In 1834, Mary changed her group's name to the Ladies' Society of Fredericksburg and Falmouth, for the Promotion of Female Education in Africa. The group then focused on raising money to support teachers in Liberia. These teachers were missionaries.

Mary raised funds, wrote pamphlets, and corresponded with other anti-slavery activists. Her younger brother was a missionary in Liberia. He lived there from 1837 until his death in 1843.

Mary's direct work slowed down when her family moved to Lynchburg in 1846. But she stayed involved with the American Colonization Society. She also opposed secession before the American Civil War. Secession was when Southern states decided to leave the United States.

Her Personal Life

In 1825, Mary Berkeley Minor married William Matthews Blackford. He was an attorney and a newspaper editor. They had eight children over fifteen years. Because of this, Mary suffered from severe back pain for most of her adult life.

During the Civil War

Five of her sons fought for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. This made Mary very sad. In 1861, she wrote, "To see my sons arrayed against one part of their country is a sorrow that makes me feel the grave is the only place for me." This shows how much the war affected her.

Later Years

In 1892, her six living children gathered in Alexandria, Virginia. It was the first time they had all been together since the war. They celebrated Mary's ninetieth birthday with her.

Mary Blackford died in Alexandria in 1896, when she was 93 years old. Six of her children survived her. Her family's papers and her son Launcelot Minor Blackford's diaries are kept at the University of North Carolina. Mary's grandson, also named Launcelot Minor Blackford, wrote a book about her life.

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