Your support helps us commission new entries and update existing content. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. Amanda America Dickson (November 20, 1849 - June 11, 1893) was an African-American socialite in Georgia who became known as one of the wealthiest African American women of the 19th century after inheriting a large estate from her white planter father.. Born into slavery, she was the child of David Dickson, a white planter, and Julia Frances Lewis (Dickson), a young enslaved woman of his who . . Her father left his wealth to her.. 0 cemeteries found in Houston County, Georgia, USA. Toomer was born in 1839 in Chatham County, . Their plan was foiled. Amanda's family said her father "became devoted to his daughter . Because of racial discrimination, they were denied their first-class accommodations and direct, unimpeded travel to Augusta. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. - Kent Anderson Leslie. [1]:112114, Amanda America Dickson spent the last eleven months of her life as the wife of Nathan Toomer, from Perry, Georgia, whom she married on July 14, 1892. In his will David Dickson stated that the administration of his estate was to be left to the sound judgment and unlimited discretion of Amanda Dickson without interference from any quarter, including any husband she might have. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. Her mother, a slave belonging to his mother, had been raped at age 12 or 13 by David Dickson. Paterson residents woke up to a surprise Monday: A group of six sheep from unknown origins were roaming the streets of New Jersey's third-largest city. 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. The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. At the time, David Dickson was forty and the wealthiest planter in the county. Showtime Networks Inc., New York, 1999, film. discoveries. In 1892 Dickson married Nathan Toomer of Perry. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Amanda America Dickson Toomer fought the judicial system in the South and won at a time when the rights of women and in particular, women of color, were few. Kent Anderson Leslie's 1995 biography Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893, was written about her life, and from this book came the 2000 film, "A House Divided," starring Sam Waterston and Jennifer Beals as David and Amanda Dickson. Immediately after his death, she took measures to protect herself legally. . At the time of her birth, her mother was 12 year old Julia Frances Dickson, a house servant belonging to Elizabeth Dickson. . She was taken from her mother and lived . "[1]:123 Amanda America Dickson Toomer died on June 11, 1893, with "complications of diseases" being the cause of death listed on her death certificate. In 1865 or 1866 Dickson married her white first cousin, Charles Eubanks, a recently returned Civil War (1861-65) veteran. On May 30, 1830, a tornado traveled through Middle Tennessee. Explore genealogy for Charles Eubanks born 1835 Hancock County, Georgia including ancestors + descendants + more in the free family tree community. 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. Both were born into slavery, but their lives turned out very different. Her father had stipulated that Amanda, and her children after her death, were the beneficiaries, and no future husband or Dickson family member could "interfere". [1]:117 Her health was fragile throughout her second marriage, as she had several health problems which required the continual attention of her family physician, Thomas D. During the contest of the will, Amanda purchased a beautiful three-story brick house in the elite downtown neighborhood of Augusta, Georgia, which was at the time an integrated city. Amanda America Dickson (November 20, 1849 - June 11, 1893) was a mulatto or mixed-race socialite in Georgia who became known as one of the wealthiest African-American women of the 19th century after inheriting a large estate from her white planter father. Try again. In 1890, Smith returned to the United States, and after two years of preaching and related work in the East, she settled in . [1]:107 Also, in part to distance herself from her disgruntled white relatives whom David Dickson had left out of his will, she moved to Augusta, Georgia, which was a familiar city to her. This house still stands on 452 Telfair Street. As Henry Toomers personal assistant, Nathan Toomer learned the manner of the white upper class. 20042023 Georgia Humanities, University of Georgia Press. Gabriel moved to Emanuel County, Georgia after his fathers death.David Lipscomb College, TN~ 1939 (Edna Waters)Harding College, Se She moved to Augusta, Georgia before the town mandated residential segregation by race and purchased a large brick home at 484 Telfair Street, in the most prominent neighborhood in the city. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. Shortly thereafter Nathan Toomer married Nina Pinchback. Enter a grandparent's name. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. In 1892, Amanda married a wealthy biracial farmer from Perry, Ga., but they had limited time together; she died the next year despite receiving the best medical care available. She was the richest woman in the south, at that, a black woman during the civil war era. Nathan Toomer later married Nina Pinchback. The higher court stated that the "rights of each race are controlled and governed by the same enactments or principles of law"in other words, whatever rights and privileges belonged to a bastard white child belonged to a mixed-race child as well. Failed to report flower. The family has become part of the educated, professional black elite in the United States. She left home briefly, between the years 1876 and 1878, to attend the Normal School of Atlanta University. His estate included 17,000 acres of land in Hancock and Washington counties in Georgia. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. One obituary said: though in possession of such riches, she made no gaudy display but lived a quiet, easy, and unpretending life. She was born on November 20, 1849, on the plantation of her father, the famous white agricultural reformer David Dickson in Hancock County, Georgia. Amanda America Dickson. Because of anti-miscegenation laws, they couldn't legally marry in Georgia. [1]:118 Amanda died on June 11, 1893, eleven months after they were married. We extend our congratulations and best wishes; Dicksons social status may have enabled the child to live a life of relative privilege while enslaved. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. She died intestate, but the Dickson will stipulated that her sons receive the inheritance upon her death, which included $100,000 to each son and part of the remaining $247,000. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. On December 26, 1894, they became parents to Jean Toomer. Amanda Dickson Toomer died at her home at 448 Telfair Street on June 11, 1893. Her birth was the result of the rape of her slave mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, when Julia was twelve years old. [1]:81100 Then, in March 1886, the white relatives filed their appeal with the Supreme Court of Georgia. 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. Alachua County Voters1st Florida Election1845Gabriel Waters (father) & William Waters (son)Gabriel Waters c.1780-after 1846. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. The disgruntled relatives then appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court decision in 1887. The son of this marriage was Jean Toomer, the author of the novel Cane (1923). On March 10, 1893, Nathan and Amanda brought Mamie to the St. Francis School and Convent in Baltimore, Maryland, an order of black nuns, in an attempt to protect her from Charles Dickson's misguided attentions. So, the same laws governed the rights and privileges of women of both races. New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jul 17, 2020. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/amanda-america-dickson-1849-1893/, Leslie, K. A. In 1793 or 1794 Suzanne married Jean-Baptiste Peltier. In 1892, Amanda married Nathan Toomer, a wealthy widower from Perry, Georgia. Woodard, My GA History, Amanda America Dickson, http://mygahistory.com/amanda-america-dickson/. Amanda married first to her father's nephew, Charles Eubanks, in 1866-67 and they lived on a plantation in Rome, Georgia. Leslie, Kent. She was buried in her wedding dress, in a metallic coffin, which was lined in rose colored plush fabric. Born November 20, 1849, on the Dickson Plantation, near Sparta, Georgia (Hancock County), Amanda America was the product of her 12-year-old mother, an enslaved house servant, Julia Francis Lewis, and 40-year-old David Dickson, a well-known agricultural reformer of that era and one of the wealthiest planters in the area. of Thomas Eubanks and Nancy Dickson [sibling(s) unknown] Husband of Amanda America (Dickson) Toomer married about 1865 (to . Julian Henry Eubanks married Eva Walton, the granddaughter of George Walton, who is credited as one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Amanda's father showered her with love and affection. Search above to list available cemeteries. By the 1880s, he had deeded Amanda three-fourths interest in 13,000 acres of good land in Texas, as well as several thousand dollars of bonds. based on information from your browser. Failed to delete memorial. When John Toomer died, he became the property of Colonel Henry Toomer, Johns brother. Amanda America Dickson, the daughter of a slave and her white owner, became one of the wealthiest black women in nineteenth-century America. Amanda America Dickson. Her birth was the result of the rape of her slave mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, when Julia was twelve years old. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Nesia Wright, owner and CEO of the Georgia Soul Basketball Team. [1]:42 Amanda also learned rules of social etiquette appropriate for the social standing of her father's side of the family. Amanda married first to her father's nephew, Charles Eubanks, in 1866-67 and they lived on a plantation in Rome, Georgia. Amanda America Dickson, the daughter of a slave and her owner, 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. It was practically a statewide scandal when it was discovered that Dickson willed the bulk of his $300,000 estate- $8 million in todays dollars- to his only child, Amanda. [1]:117 Nathan Toomer was a wealthy, educated African-American man of her class. [1]:41 Beginning in 1801, Georgia had prohibited slaveholders from independently freeing their slaves, requiring an act of legislature (seldom given), for each request. 20072023 Blackpast.org. He had been the slave of Richard Pilkinson of Chatham Co., North Carolina, the personal assistant and slave of John Toomer of Houston Co., Georgia, and finally the property of Col. Henry Toomer of Perry. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. According to the Dickson family oral history, David Dickson doted on Amanda, and Julia quite openly became his concubine and housekeeper. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. A. Dickson Toomer was, in her time, the wealthiest African-American woman in Georgia and possibly the United States. Amanda America Dickson's life reflected the power of family and class to erode the boundaries of race in the nineteenth-century South. It reached the height of its power by the time it reached Charlotte. Son. . who was raised and educated in Davids household. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. [1]:123, When David Dickson died suddenly on February 18, 1885,[1]:33 Amanda America Dickson inherited the majority of his vast estate, which included 17,000 acres of land. Dickson inherited his estate in Hancock County upon his death in 1885. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893 (Brown Thrasher Books) Paperback - October 1, 1996 by Kent Anderson Leslie (Author) 86 ratings See all formats and editions Kindle $9.30 Read with Our Free App Hardcover $30.00 17 Used from $4.91 4 Collectible from $24.99 Paperback The doctors diagnosed her with neurasthenia, a disease characterized by profound physical and nervous exhaustion. Jay Jefferies stops by to deliver the weather and much more! It stars Jennifer Beals as Dickson, Sam Waterston as David Dickson, LisaGay Hamilton as Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, and Shirley Douglas as Elizabeth Sholars Dickson.[6]. and to behave like a lady , according to biographer Kent Leslie. The couple had one son, the prominent Harlem (New York) Renaissance author Jean Toomer. 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. Symptoms of neurasthenia, as described by nineteenth-century physicians, include "sick headache, noises in the ear, atonic voice, deficient mental control, bad dreams, insomnia, nervous dyspepsia (disturbed digestion), heaviness of the loin and limb, flushing and fidgetiness, palpitations, vague pains and flying neuralgia (pain along a nerve), spinal irritation, uterine irritability, impotence, hopelessness, claustrophobia, and dread of contamination. . [1]:101102 James Jackson expressed his firm conviction against upholding the will, saying, "I would rather died in my place than uphold the will." Five of Dickson's descendants, from across the nation, are expected to attend the marker ceremony, Hock said. 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. Dickson inherited his estate in Hancock County upon his death in 1885. As a child Toomer was purchased by John Toomer, who moved to Houston County, Georgia, in the 1850s. The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dickson's family members appealed the lower court decision and the case wound up in the Georgia Supreme Court. 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