Two African-American families in late 19th Century Danbury
In 1900, Danbury was a City with a population roughly one-quarter of its population today (~80,000). According to the Statistical Abstract of the United States in 1890, there were roughly 20,000 persons of color in all of Connecticut which had a total population of 500,000. Nelson James Butler, Mary Pearce Butler, Lucy Whitted Stewart and Frank Stewart were among the small population of African-Americans living in Danbury.
Nelson J. Butler came to Danbury around 1870 when he was 29 years old.
He was born in Patterson, NY in 1841 and bought 6 acres land on Clapboard Ridge on the northwest outskirts of Danbury in 1877 for $200. By the 1890s, he was the father of 10 children having been been widowed and remarried, had expanded his land to 8 acres, and owned one horse and one cow.
Nelson Butler was first married in November of 1865 and again in 1870. After the death of his first wife, Nelson Butler’s second marriage was to Mary [Virginia or "Jennie"] Pearce of Virginia who was likely born into slavery just before the Civil War, around 1850. Census and municipal sources refer to her as M. Jennie, Jennie, Virginia and her maiden name is sometimes listed as Parish; despite these discrepancies, it appears that M. Jennie Pearce, Jennie Parish and Virginia Pearce were the same person. She had come to Danbury before 1870. Her sixth child born likely in 1884 was Katherine Marie Butler.
Katherine was accepted at Danbury High School in 1899 and graduated in 1902. When she graduated, there was no college to attend in Danbury, but she would be a member of the the first group of students to attend WestConn as well as its first African-American student.
Two other Danburians of African American descent, Lucy Whitted and Frank Stewart, came to the City likely in the late 1890s from North Carolina[i] and were probably both born into slavery between 1850 and 1858.[ii] Lucy Whitted had lived in Cedar Grove, NC at least until 1880 where she lived on a farm with her brother Stephen; she was listed as "keeping house" and illiterate.[iii] Frank Stewart's background is less clear. Frank Stewart (also spelled Stuart) is listed in the 1898 Danbury directory as a blacksmith and was described in the 1920 census as a teamster in a coal yard at the age of 70; however, his death certificate says that he was a stone mason. By 1910, he was living at Golden Hill Road near Catherine Street in a house with Lucy and Burchia. According to census records, Frank Stewart could read but not write. His wife Lucy, according to the 1910 census, could not read nor write but by 1920 is listed as having both abilities. Their daughter Burchia who was born in 1895 in North Carolina would be the first African-American to receive a graduate certificate from WestConn.[iv]
[i] The 1920 census lists Lucy and Frank being from Louisiana but death records and other census records show both born in North Carolina.
[ii] According to the 1933 Danbury Directory, Lucy died in December of 1931 at age 75 making her birth year 1856. According to the 1920 census both Lucy and Frank Stewart (sp Stuart) were 70 years old making both their birth years 1850. With a 1856 birth year Lucy would have been 39 when Burchia was born which is more likely than age 45 with a 1850 birth year.
[iii] 1880 Census shows a probable match with Lucy Whitted of Cedar Grove, NC.
[iv] The 1910 census lists her as the only child at home and that her parents had 5 children and 3 living. The oldest child was J. Alpha M. Stewart (1883-1977) who worked as a nanny and house maid in Danbury most of her life; the middle daughter was Curley (sometimes Currey) E. (Emily?) Stewart (1888-?).