Mary Ellen Pleasant: Wealth and Influence in the Fight for Civil Rights
Mary Ellen Pleasant fits all the descriptions of “radicals,” “renegades,” and “rebels” in a fascinating way. I love telling the stories of courageous women. When I read that she said of herself, “I wonder what I could have been with an education,” I knew I had to know more. In all my research on her, the more I found, the more I liked this lady! Some sources gave me concrete dates and events, but not many. There was a lot that was left up to speculation or “filling in the gaps” with information that was known and what probably happened. From our perspective here in the first quarter of the 21st century, all we can say is that we wish better records existed. Moving forward, we can see from these Radicals, Renegades, and Rebels stories the importance of keeping journals for our descendants.
Mary Ellen Pleasant’s Early Life and Background
Existing records that carry a reasonable level of trust place her birth date at August 19, 1814, but that’s where any certainty ends. Mary herself claimed that she was free-born in Philadelphia, but there are other accounts that have her birth in Georgia or Virginia as a slave. Still other stories say that she was the daughter of a voodoo priestess from the Caribbean, a wealthy merchant from Hawaii, or a rich Virginian. She did live for some time in Philadelphia with a family who indentured her to a family in Nantucket. Although the Philadelphia family left some money for her education, she did not receive formal schooling.
During her time in Nantucket, she worked in a store and observed both the store staff and the customers intently. From what she saw, she learned how to be an attentive businesswoman. Her circle of friends grew to include people of business and investment, as well as abolitionists.
Mary Ellen Pleasant and The Underground Railroad
It’s not a difficult connection to make between a possible freed slave and the Underground Railroad, of course. Her abolitionist friends and associates introduced her to the other “conductors.” Soon, she was active in assisting runaway slaves in reaching Nova Scotia. It was dangerous work for everyone involved. It contained threats from both from slaveholders and from the law, after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. An update to that law in 1850 imposed additional penalties on Underground Railroad operators, including heavy fines for anyone even suspected of offering food or shelter. It also mandated that both free and slave states cooperate in the capture and return of fugitive slaves, denied them the right to a jury trial or to testify in their own defense, and allowed their extradition without a warrant.
Under these pressures, Mary left with a large number of others from around Massachusetts and set sail for California. The journey had the typical weather hazards over the course of about four months, but Mary was almost captured in New Orleans for her work with the Underground Railroad. She left just in time.
Mary Ellen Pleasant in California
Nonwhites found opportunities during the California Gold Rush that were not available elsewhere in the country. Even here, however, blacks were in danger from miners who brought their slaves with them, as well as slave catchers who smelled opportunities to catch runaways. The governor was from the southern states who held no sympathy for blacks at all, Furthermore, a state law permitted any black to be sold into slavery in the state if they did not possess “appropriate papers.” Still, many of the Gold Rush miners were black.
Mary saw her opportunity much in the same way that Levi Strauss did – by providing for the needs of the miners in terms of food and lodging. However, she seemed to be very cagey in her approach. Mary had received an inheritance from her first husband, and she managed it well. Between her own earned income and her inheritance, and some smart currency exchanges in Panama between gold coins and silver coins, she arrived in San Francisco with the equivalent of about half a million dollars in today’s money.
Mary Pleasant was a worker, a hard worker. Even with her savings invested wisely and lucratively, she took employment as a domestic worker. The position gave her the opportunity to listen in on conversations between wealthy and wise business leaders. Mary used the information gained from these exchanges to make her own investments. She opened her own string of boarding houses, laundries, several restaurants, and, of course, brothels. She also co-founded the Bank of California.
Giving Back and Paying Forward
Mary Ellen Pleasant provided means for travel out of the United States for escaped slaves. She also employed many former slaves at her many enterprises. Mary provided legal resources for blacks who were in danger of extradition from California. She funded and provided her own effort toward repeal of a California law banning blacks from providing testimony in court. Mary Ellen Pleasant campaigned heavily for the end of slavery in California, earning her the title of “The Mother of Civil Rights in California.”
Mary also furthered the lives of women in California, regardless of ethnicity. She provided housing if needed, helped them learn to dress and carry themselves appropriately, and arranged advantageous marriages.
Mary Ellen Pleasant and John Brown
Mary Ellen Pleasant left California in 1857 to support John Brown’s cause with both money and effort. If your history lessons didn’t include John Brown, here’s a quick rundown. In 1859, he led an attack on the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, hoping to ignite a slave revolt across the southern states. While the revolt never materialized, the raid became one of the sparks that led to the Civil War. Brown was captured and hanged, and Mary managed to escape back to California.
The story of Mary Ellen Pleasant has many more chapters, and after knowing these few points, I found each to be completely believable. At the end of her life, she lived in a 30-room mansion that covered two San Francisco blocks. She confided to editor Sam Davis that a letter discovered on John Brown when he was captured was written by her. Her tombstone bears the words, “She was a friend of John Brown,” giving us an indication of the gravity she attached to her work with him.
Your Turn
Why do we tell stories of people like Mary Ellen Pleasant, especially if most of us have never heard of her? There are lives of quiet courage going on all around us. You’re probably living one in your own way. Mary Ellen Pleasant was aware of the power she could wield using her fortune, although much of that power came from behind the scenes. We don’t have to be on the battlefront to make a difference in someone’s life. Do you know of a radical, a renegade, or a rebel who has used or is using their resources to create a change in their world? Drop a comment and let’s talk about them!
You can read more depth to her story here:
Mother of California Civil Rights Movement
Mary Ellen Pleasant Wikipedia page
Mary Ellen Pleasant page California National Historic Trail
The image at the top of the post was taken by Wayne Hseih. You can see more of his work here: https://www.flickr.com/people/whsieh78/
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