Where are the women in the Tales?: The stories of Mary Jane Conner and Sylvia

I have caught grief for giving presentations of the Constitutional Tales with a cast of all male actors.  Getting beyond personal insinuations (to which I think are unwise to respond), the more serious concern is the lack of presence of women in the Tales.  In part, this is unavoidable:  women were not elected as delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1868 and did not play a direct role in the writing of the North Carolina Constitution.  I do include references to women in the presentations and writing the Tales will give me an opportunity to share a little more about the lives of women.  These stories help explain the “spirit of the times” that is essential to our understanding of our constitutional history.  I will use this blog to share the lives of Mary Jane Conner and Sylvia.

I first saw pictures of them on a visit to the New Bern Academy, a museum operated by Tryon Palace (currently closed during restoration).  Their pictures are captivating.  In this blog, Mary Jane is to the right, Sylvia, to the left.  From the captions on the photos we know that Mary Jane was a cook and boardinghouse keeper and Sylvia, a seamstress. The photographs were taken June 5, 1863, placing them during the Civil War and after the Union had taken control of New Bern.  I requested electronic copies of these photos from Tryon Palace and have since used them in the Constitutional Tales presentations as they demonstrate how blacks took advantage of opportunities in federally-controlled areas to create businesses. 

But there was more to learn.  I happened to be browsing in one of my favorite bookstores, the Literary Bookpost in Salisbury.  It was after recently being chastised for not including enough about women in the Tales so when I saw North Carolina Women: Making History, I grabbed it off the shelf and it fell open to a page that had these same pictures of Mary Jane Conner and Sylvia.  It may be not a particularly sophisticated version of fate, but it was enough for me to decide to buy the book on the spot. (I highly recommend it:  you can purchase it t from the Literary Bookpost or Amazon).  

From this book I learned that Mary Jane and Sylvia were related – they were sisters-in-law.  Sylvia’s last name probably is Conner as well, although that is not documented.  Further, Mary Jane was famous as a cook and boarding keeper and praised as a “remarkable woman” by a Union soldier.  Following the citation for this quote led me to other books and finally I came to the original source of the quote from the Union soldier, a collection of letters by Private Henry A. Clapp.  And through his words, their stories unfold a little more.

But first, to tell you about the storyteller (for that is always important).  Private Clapp is from Dorchester, Massachusetts, and is 21 years old when he arrives in New Bern in the Fall of 1862.  He is Harvard educated –a graduate and halfway through his law studies at Harvard when he enlists, joining the Forty-Fourth Regiment from Massachusetts.  As Henry’s mother notes, this particular regiment includes “large numbers of the educated, the refined and the pious.”  They are sent to New Bern after it already is under federal control.  Clapp participates in a variety of military missions leading him into different parts of eastern North Carolina.  He also is the chief census taker among African Americans in New Bern.   Clapp writes home to his family to describe this unusual land of the South and approaches its occupants with the curiosity of a scientist. So below, I offer you excerpts of his letters that describe in greater detail who these women are in the eyes of this young Union soldier.

Letter 30

March 31, 1863

To Mother

Mary Ann (as she is called, though her name is Mary Jane Conner) is about the most remarkable colored woman I ever saw…She had been a slave for years (all her life) before our troops took Newbern and been hired out as cook at the great Hotel here the Washington House – and which was burnt by the rebs when we came into Newbern.  She supports an aged and infirm mother.  She told me once or twice in answer to my questions, that if it were not that she felt as if she ought to stay and take care of her mother she would go to New York at once.  She could earn a handsome living any where, for she is thoroughly capable.

Letter 33

April 10, 1863

To Willie (brother)

I want you to tell mother about the seamstress whom we employ to mend our clothes.  She is a sister in law of our famous boarding-house keeper, Mary Jane, and glories in the classical name of “Sylvia.”  She was formerly the slave of one of the richest men in New Berne who owned the house Gen Foster now lives in, and was the family seamstress I should judge.  She is about forty, and though very dark of very pleasant appearance.  Her address and manners are remarkably agreeable and really of unusual refinement.  I’ve seen the wives of millionaires who were much her inferiors in urbanity and polish of manner.  She is a superb seamstress, as my dress-coat just rescued from many rents will bear happy witness.  She seems also to be a woman of very good sense & well worth listening to.  We often wait in the house whilst they are putting the finishing touches on the dinner and spend the time in talking with her and Mary Jane. 

Letter 41

May 18^th, 1863

To Father

The pieces of clothing and the presents for Mary, Sylvia, and Eunice were sent with admirable judgment, as Mother’s always is. .. The bundle was opened in the presence of Mary and the elegant Sylvia who had just returned to her home with Mary after quite a severe illness, and it was very interesting to watch the faces of the spectators as I passed them their separate packages with a few appropriate remarks in each case, and information, as to who the giver was.  … Sylvia remarked that mother “seemed to have guessed her taste exactly” and Mary reechoed the sentiments. 

So now we know a little more.  The beautiful dresses Mary Jane and Sylvia wear in the photographs likely were sent by Private Clapp’s mother, as they received the gifts less than three weeks before their pictures were taken.  More importantly, we know the sisters-in-law were perceived as highly capable, intelligent businesswomen.   Having successful businesses sets the stage for blacks to be able to establish their own schools and churches – which occurs sooner in New Bern than in other parts of North Carolina.  It also means that New Bern will be important politically.  African American leaders will emerge from New Bern who will influence state politics and even become a part of the Constitutional Convention of 1868, including James Walker Hood.  But I won’t say anything more about men in this blog.  This is all about the women who, in extraordinary times, created prosperous businesses while taking care of their families.

Primary Sources:

Barden, John R., ed., Letters to the Home Circle: The North Carolina Service of Pvt. Henry A. Clapp (Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Division of Archives and History 1998) (pages xxii, 164-64, 175-77, 210-212 with photos on pages 212-212)

“Mary Jane Connor, Cook and boardinghouse keeper, Photographed in New Berne, N.C., June 5^th, 1863,” photograph from the Henry A. Clapp collection (TP.84.5.4), Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens [her name is spelled Connor on the caption but in Clapp’s letters, it is spelled as Conner].

“Sylvia, Seamstress of New Berne, Photographed in New Berne, N.C., June 5^th, 1863,” photograph from Henry A. Clapp Collection (TP.84.5.3), Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens

Secondary Sources:

Smith, Margaret S. & Wilson, Emily H., North Carolina Women: Making History (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press 1999) (pages 131-132)

Other Useful Resources:

Crow, Jeffrey J., Escott, Paul D., & Hatley, Flora J., A History of African Americans in North Carolina (Raleigh, N.C.: N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History 1992)

Escott, Paul D., Many Excellent People: Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850-1900 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press 1985)

Mobley, Joe A., James City: A Black Community in North Carolina, 1863-1900 (Raleigh, N.C. Division of Archives and History, N.C. Department of Cultural Resources 1981, 2000)