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But
Constance's will was disputed by her children, who began a legal battle in 1835. While the legal disputes continued for years, Prudence and her children remained in Nelson's possession. After Nelson died in 1845, J.C. Weedon, his qualified administrator, took possession of Prudence along with her
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When
Constance Cornwell died in 1825, she willed Williams' maternal grandmother, Prudence, her two children Elizabeth (Williams' mother) and Albert, and "the increase of the females forever" to her daughter Kitty Cornwell's eldest son John Cornwell. She specified in her will that the inherited slaves
209:
perfectly white, and on that account produces intense excitement. We see daily white fugitives and the cupidity of a slaveholder would suffer him to keep anyone, even his mother, in slavery. When white men learn this, and that their own liberties are in danger, then they will see the reasonable-ness
72:
Born Mary
Mildred Botts in Virginia, Williams was the second child of Seth Botts and his wife Elizabeth (nÊe Nelson), who were both enslaved. Elizabeth had a white father. Seth and Elizabeth were married in the early 1840s. Williams had an older brother, Oscar, and a younger sister, Adelaide (also
91:
The maternal side of
Williams' family were the subjects of protracted legal battles waged by descendants of Jesse and Constance Cornwell. Through her father, Humphrey Calvert, Constance had purchased Williams's maternal great-grandmother, Lettice (known as "Letty"), and grandmother, Prudence Bell
248:
In the 1870 census, the three
Williams women were classified as white. Both Williams and her mother identified as white women for the remainder of their lives. When her mother died in 1892, Williams gave her mother's maiden name as that of her white father: "Elizabeth A. (Nelson) Williams".
127:(or their children) could not be sold, and if Cornwell were to try they would be freed. Because John Cornwell was not of age at the time of Constance's death, her slaves were to be retained and managed by the executor of her will, Thomas Nelson, until John turned 21 in 1830.
56:. After arriving in Boston at the age of seven, Williams's photograph became widely distributed, as her appearance was startling for white people who were not used to resembling slaves. She toured with abolitionist Senator
92:(known as "Prucy" or "Pru"), between 1809 and 1812. According to court and census records, Williams' mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Prudence and a white man named Thomas Nelson, who was Cornwell's executor.
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She rented an apartment in the
Eleventh Ward of Boston and according to the 1900 census, she lived there with her partner, Mary Maynard. Maynard worked as a bookkeeper and probation officer. She was descended from
164:
The daguerreotype mentioned in the following letter is a portrait of one of the family referred to, a most beautiful white girl, with high forehead, straight hair, intellectual appearance, and decidedly attractive
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in 1850, where he worked with from prominent abolitionists and wealthy backers to buy the family's freedom. Through her father, Mary
Mildred Williams came to the attention of abolitionist Senator
217:
On May 19 and 20, 1856, Sumner spoke in the Senate comparing
Southern political positions to the sexual exploitation of slaves then taking place in the South. Two days later Representative
214:
Abolitionists emphasized
Williams's perceived whiteness to enlist sympathy, and to suggest to Northerners that any child, regardless of appearance, might be snatched and made a slave.
34:
A later ambrotype, thought to be a portrait of Mary
Mildred Botts/Williams and her brother, Oscar. Cutting and Bowdoin, ca. 1855â1856. Collection of Massachusetts Historical Society.
460:
440:
60:. He used her as an example to confront Northerners with the injustice of slavery, and to raise awareness and funds for the abolitionist cause. Williams was compared to
131:
children and grandchildren. John Cornwell instituted proceedings to recover the family from Weedon in 1847, as they had been willed to him by Constance. The case of
774:
193:
The photo and tour made Williams famous. She was compared to fictional character Ida May, heroine of a popular novel about a white girl kidnapped into slavery,
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in October 1854. It awarded all of the property to John. Cornwell was aided by Prudence's husband and Mary's father, Seth Botts, then known as Henry Williams.
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In 1855, her escaped father bought his family's freedom with financial aid from abolitionists, and she, her mother and siblings joined him in
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114:, all of the Botts family members changed their surname to Williams. In the summer of 1860, Williams' older brother Oscar died from
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Williams never married nor had children. She became a clerk at Boston's Registry of Deeds, where she worked until at least 1900.
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Botts was seven when she was freed in 1855 along with her mother and siblings. Her father had previously escaped for
64:, the main character in a popular novel of that name; she was a white girl who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.
241:, Massachusetts, along with her parents and sister. Five years later, she was living with her mother and sister in
186:, and copies of her photograph were widely publicized. After her photograph was published, she accompanied Senator
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On March 1, 1855, a letter from Charles Sumner dated February 19 and addressed 'Dear Doctor' was published in the
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484:"Seeing Worth and Worth Seeing: Capitalism, Race, and Visual Culture in Nineteenth-Century America"
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At the time of Mary's birth, her mother, brother, grandmother, and aunts were enslaved in
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Girl in Black and White: The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement
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Mitchell, Mary Niall (2013). "The Real Ida May: A Fugitive Tale in the Archives".
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and became widely known as an example of a "white slave" in the years before the
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on a publicity tour to raise awareness and funds for the abolitionist cause.
26:, daguerreotype. Julian Vannerson, c. 1855. Massachusetts Historical Society.
245:, a suburb of Boston. It is unclear why her father did not join them there.
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on February 27) that had accompanied a daguerreotype of Mary Williams.
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In early 1855, articles were published about Mary Williams in the
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expressed "astonishment" that the girl was "ever held a slave".
396:. D. Bottom, Superintendent of Public Print. 1892. p. 725.
558:"Nelson's Adm'r v. Cornwell, 52 Va. 724, 11 Gratt. 724 (1854)"
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In a subsequent article dated March 9, 1855, reporters of the
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Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia
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Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia
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Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia
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Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia
368:"The Enslaved Girl Who Became America's First Poster Child"
588:. D. Bottom, Superintendent of Public Print. p. 751.
546:. D. Bottom, Superintendent of Public Print. p. 733.
526:. D. Bottom, Superintendent of Public Print. p. 726.
653:"A White Slave Girl "Mulatto Raised by Charles Sumner""
41:(born Botts, c. 1847 â 1921) was born into slavery in
415:. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 16.
600:"Letter from Hon. Charles Sumner - Another Ida May"
16:Formerly enslaved African American (c. 1847â1921)
267:Williams died in 1921 and was buried in Boston.
729:Ida May: A Story of Things Actual and Possible
225:with a cane on the floor of the Senate in the
195:Ida May: a Story of Things Actual and Possible
8:
682:"Poster Child: There's Something About Mary"
706:. Rochester, N.Y. March 16, 1855. p. 3
680:Morgan-Owens, Jessie (February 19, 2015).
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582:Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1892).
540:Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1892).
520:Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1892).
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143:Relationship to the abolitionist movement
84:. Her father was enslaved in neighboring
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73:known by her middle name of Rebecca).
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765:Discrimination based on skin tone
760:Abolitionism in the United States
210:of an unconditional emancipation.
80:, Virginia, near the village of
459:"Nelson's Adm'r vs. Cornwell".
439:"Nelson's Adm'r vs. Cornwell".
328:Massachusetts Historical Review
237:By 1865, Williams had moved to
348:10.5224/masshistrevi.15.1.0054
340:10.5224/masshistrevi.15.1.0054
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626:"A White Slave from Virginia"
407:Morgan-Owens, Jessie (2019).
160:In the letter, Sumner says:
151:(originally published in the
770:19th-century American slaves
785:People enslaved in Virginia
704:"Frederick Douglass' Paper"
488:Reviews in American History
462:Virginia Reports, Annotated
442:Virginia Reports, Annotated
223:nearly beat Sumner to death
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133:Nelson's Adm'r v. Cornwell
504:– via Project MUSE.
203:Frederick Douglass' Paper
201:(1854). A columnist in
562:Caselaw Access Project
482:Cohen, Joanna (2020).
277:White slave propaganda
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137:Virginia Supreme Court
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780:American women slaves
501:10.1353/rah.2020.0004
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78:Prince William County
54:Boston, Massachusetts
39:Mary Mildred Williams
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755:People from Virginia
630:New-York Daily Times
604:New-York Daily Times
468:. 1854. p. 395.
448:. 1854. p. 392.
409:"Constance Cornwell"
372:Smithsonian Magazine
171:New-York Daily Times
149:New-York Daily Times
233:Adulthood and death
135:was decided by the
112:1860 federal census
205:described her as:
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422:978-0-393-60925-7
282:Garafilia Mohalbi
122:Legal proceedings
110:state census and
106:Between the 1855
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568:2020-08-15
377:2020-07-10
288:References
82:Washington
68:Early life
24:Mary Botts
710:August 7,
636:August 7,
610:August 7,
494:: 27â35.
243:Hyde Park
239:Lexington
165:features.
47:Civil War
271:See also
221:(D-SC),
180:and the
43:Virginia
688:July 6,
662:July 5,
262:English
227:Capitol
62:Ida May
564:. 1854
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334:: 64.
97:Boston
466:(PDF)
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344:JSTOR
258:Irish
712:2020
690:2016
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638:2020
612:2020
417:ISBN
260:and
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336:doi
197:by
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