Mary Jane and Hannah

Mary Jane and Hannah

Look at the building on the corner of Shenandoah Street and High Street. Ann Stephenson enslaved 4-year-old Mary Jane in this building. On November 20th, 1856, Ann decided that Mary Jane would serve as a 'gift' to her 2-year-old granddaughter, Mary Ellen Stephenson. According to a deed entry, Ann Stephenson made this decision out of “consideration for the natural love and affection she has and bears for her granddaughter.” The same deed entry mentions Mary Jane's mother named Hannah, whom researchers believe Ann also enslaved. Did Ann Stephenson recognize the natural love and affection between this mother and daughter when she separated them? Were they later reunited? The 1870 census of Frederick County, VA, family records, includes a Hannah and a Mary Jane of the correct ages and descriptions. If this is them, the family would have been reunited, living in Virginia. The research continues to confirm these findings.

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