Elizabeth Keckley, also known as Elizabeth Keckly, was an American dressmaker, author, and philanthropist who bought her and her son’s freedom from slavery and later served as Mary Todd Lincoln’s modiste. Elizabeth Hobbs was born in February 1818 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, and died in Washington, D.C., on May 26, 1907.
Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years an enslaved person and Four Years in the White House, Keckley’s book, contains a substantial amount of information about her life (1868). The daughter of Agnes (“Aggy”) Hobbs and Col. Armistead Burwell, Aggy Hobbs’ master, was born into slavery.
It’s uncertain how Elizabeth Hobbs came to be, although it’s possible that Burwell sexually assaulted Aggy Hobbs. But Elizabeth Hobbs didn’t discover her family history until she was an adult.
She was raised believing that she was the offspring of George Pleasant Hobbs, Aggy Hobbs’s husband, who was an enslaved person on a nearby plantation. He addressed Elizabeth Hobbs as his daughter, and her mother gave her his last name. Elizabeth Hobbs’s slave moved the family and dispersed them when she was around seven. The family was never reunited, but her presumed father frequently wrote.
Elizabeth Hobbs’ mother, who frequently sewed clothes for the Burwell family, taught her how to read, write, and sew. When Hobbs was around 14, Colonel Burwell sent her to live in North Carolina with his daughter-in-law and eldest son, Robert Burwell. She had a miserable time there. Later, she said that the pair were cruel and frequently beat her arbitrarily.
She was sent back to Virginia, where she worked for Ann Burwell Garland and Hugh A. Garland, the daughter of Mary and Armistead Burwell. Her half-sister was Ann. The Garlands relocated several times before settling in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1847. They were brought along because of Aggy, Elizabeth, and George’s experience with childcare and sewing. Keckley developed to become an expert seamstress, working long hours to support the seventeen-person Garland family, which had already had substantial financial setbacks. Keckley had the opportunity to interact with St. Louis’s sizable free black population throughout his nearly 12-year residence and employment there. She also developed relationships with white women, which she later used as a resource.
In St. Keckley met James, the man who would become her husband, but she declined to wed him until she and her son were free because she didn’t want more children born into slavery. She spent two years trying to convince Hugh A. Garland to buy her release after she begged him to do so, but he refused. He agreed to free them in 1852 in exchange for $1,200, which is equivalent to $34,899 today.
In 1855, his wife Anne formalized the terms in writing. Her sponsor, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Le Bourgeois, organized a collection among her friends to lend to Keckley, who was able to secure their freedom on November 15, 1855, and was manumitted. The documents reveal that she was wed to James.
By that time, Keckley. She planned to leave James Keckley and St. Louis after repaying the $1,200 loan. She remained in St. Louis until that point.
She enrolled her son George Kirkland in 1860 at Ohio’s newly founded Wilberforce University. She relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, that year, where she remained for six weeks. She wanted to share her expertise in dressmaking with young “coloured ladies,” but she soon realised that she would not be able to support herself and her child
Washington seamstress
Elizabeth Keckley is commemorated by a statue in the Virginia Women’s Monument.
Keckley intended to work as a seamstress in Washington, but she could not pay for the permit necessary for a free black person to continue living in the country.
When she was finally able to work, she found it hard to save much because her salary went to the Garlands. She was rescued by a kind St. Louis’ faLouiswho organised a loan for her freedom. The mother and the son were formally set free on November 15, 1855.
Elizabeth Keckley remained in St. Louis and could repay her loan by working. Despite her professional accomplishment, she did not have a fulfilling personal life. Her mother passed away at this time, and she discovered that her husband was a runaway slave rather than the free man he had pretended to be. They formally split apart in 1860.
Keckley, who adopted her husband’s name, relocated to Washington, D.C., in the same year. She started a new dressmaking business in the capital using her network of St. Louis customers. In Washington, her costumes gained the same level of popularity that they did in St. Louis.
Some of the most well-known women in the city wore Keckley’s creations, including Anna Curtis Lee, the wife of Robert E. Lee, and Varina Davis, the spouse of Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis. A year later, Keckley met Mary Todd Lincoln, the future first lady, and made an impression on her with her abilities and patience. She was employed as Lincoln’s dressmaker, and during her first season of work, she made about 15 outfits.
Keckley saw things while she was residing in the executive house, including She was a part of President Abraham Lincoln’s home life and was present in 1862 when his 11-year-old son Willie passed away. She later penned, “I never saw a man so bowed down with grief,” about President Lincoln.
Meanwhile, Keckley was also in mourning. Her son had lost his life in the Civil War’s initial conflict with the Union Army six months previously. Keckley and Mary Todd Lincoln grew close because of their shared experience of losing a child, and she quickly became the first lady’s dependable confidante.
Keckley ran her dressmaking business and worked on founding the Contraband Relief Association in addition to her duties as the first lady’s modiste (1862). The group provided aid to the numerous refugees who had journeyed north searching for freedom from slavery. She utilised
She was a part of President Abraham Lincoln’s home life and was present in 1862 when his 11-year-old son Willie passed away. She later penned, “I never saw a man so bowed down with grief,” about President Lincoln.
Meanwhile, Keckley was also in mourning. Her son had lost his life in the Civil War’s initial conflict with the Union Army six months previously. Keckley and Mary Todd Lincoln grew close because of their shared experience of losing a child, and she quickly became the first lady’s dependable confidante.
Keckley ran her dressmaking business and worked on founding the Contraband Relief Association in addition to her duties as the first lady’s modiste (1862). The group provided aid to the numerous refugees who had journeyed north searching for freedom from slavery.
She utilized her position in the White House to persuade the president, his wife, and many notable people, including Frederick Douglass and Wendell Phillips, to donate money to the association.
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