James Mars
Perception is driven by narrative, purview and presentation. This may appear to be a story about James Mars. I submit it's actually about the narrative of a nation and the purview of the Black woman.
In the 18th century, Amos Thompson traveled to Virginia, bringing a wife and her slaves back to Connecticut. One slave (Fanny) would marry his slave (Jupiter) having kids; one born in 1790 named James. Fanny told her kids of the atrocities of slavery in the south, often seeing her mother tied and whipped until blood ran across the floor.
Connecticut law freed slaves born after March 1st, 1784 once they turned age 25. In an attempt to bypass this, Mr. Thompson prepared a move to Virginia. In fear, Jupiter and Fanny fled with their kids to nearby Norfolk. For months, the towns people fed and hid them. Tiring of the search, Mr. Thompson agreed to sell them for 200 pounds to citizens of Norfolk; the equivalent of $28,000 today. James worshiped at this church, his children baptized here, moving to Hartford in 1832 where he became an advocate for African American rights.
Bulloch Hall, 1905. Theodore Roosevelt bottom middle. Next to him (bottom, 2nd from the left) is Grace, the woman who nursed his Mother.
In 1837, he was approached by abolitionists; asked to sign a court petition to free Nancy Jackson, a slave brought from Georgia by James Bullock, grandfather of Theodore Roosevelt. She was here as "Mammy" to his newborn named Martha, Roosevelt's mother.
See, a "Mammy" was charged with nursing and caring for White children, limiting their ability to do the same for their own. On plans to take her back to Georgia, Nancy fled, just as the Mars family did 4 decades prior. James signed the petition at the offices of William Ellsworth, the same attorney who represented Prudence Crandall 4 years prior. Ultimately, Nancy was freed.
Returning to Georgia, Martha was raised at the Bulloch mansion. Mr. Bulloch used another slave as "Mammy" to Martha. Her name was Grace, shown in a 1905 photo with President Roosevelt at Bulloch Hall, long after slavery had ended, yet still working in similar capacity.
As stated, this may appear a story about James Mars, but I see it as the narrative of a nation and the purview of the Black woman.
