[1]:44, In 1864, Amanda's grandmother Elizabeth Sholars Dickson died. Amanda America Dickson (November 20, 1849 - June 11, 1893) was an African-American socialite in Georgia who became known as one of the wealthiest African American women of the 19th century after inheriting a large estate from her white planter father.. Born into slavery, she was the child of David Dickson, a white planter, and Julia Frances Lewis (Dickson), a young enslaved woman of his who . Legally, Amanda was still a slave until her grandmother's death in 1864. Gabriel moved to Emanuel County, Georgia after his fathers death.David Lipscomb College, TN~ 1939 (Edna Waters)Harding College, Se I am very apprieciative to the people who have read the book and reviewed the website. Symptoms of neurasthenia, as described by nineteenth-century physicians, include "sick headache, noises in the ear, atonic voice, deficient mental control, bad dreams, insomnia, nervous dyspepsia (disturbed digestion), heaviness of the loin and limb, flushing and fidgetiness, palpitations, vague pains and flying neuralgia (pain along a nerve), spinal irritation, uterine irritability, impotence, hopelessness, claustrophobia, and dread of contamination. The Spirit of America Foundation was established to encourage and promote volunteerism, and the foundation presents awards to honor local individuals, organizations or projects in appreciation of community service. Dickson inherited his estate in Hancock County upon his death in 1885. [1]:122, Nathan and a very ill Amanda America arrived back at their home in Augusta, Georgia between four and five in the afternoon on June 9, 1893. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? Her enslaved mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, was just 13 when she was born. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. His will left his estate to her "sound judgment and unlimited discretion" and prohibited interference from anyone, including any husband that she may have. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Amanda America Dickson Toomer I found on Findagrave.com. Amanda died just one year later after becoming ill during a trip to Baltimore with her husband. When her father died on February 18, 1885, Amanda became the center of a famous lawsuit. [1]:36061, In 1866 at the age of sixteen, Amanda America moved to a small plantation in Floyd County, Georgia near the city of Rome. Amanda married first to her father's nephew, Charles Eubanks, in 1866-67 and they lived on a plantation in Rome, Georgia. He never woke up. He had been the slave of Richard Pilkinson of Chatham Co., North Carolina, the personal assistant and slave of John Toomer of Houston Co., Georgia, and finally the property of Col. Henry Toomer of Perry. The issue was settled when Charles died in 1871. Dickson, 1849-1893 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996); Woman of color, daughter of privilege : Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893 / Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege is the life story of an elite woman of color who lived within the social and economic systems of slavery and quasi-freedom in nineteenth-century Georgia. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Dicksons social status may have enabled the child to live a life of relative privilege while enslaved. Amanda America Dickson was born in November of 1849. Eubanks was a Confederate Veteran. based on information from your browser. [1]:120121 The delayed travel to Augusta and the conditions in the Pullman car, most notably the rising temperature, became intolerable for Amanda America. Amanda America Dickson House. Born in 1839 in Chatham County, North Carolina, Toomer had been the slave of Richard Pilkinson of Chatham County, North Carolina but was later sold to John Toomer of Houston County, Georgia. Amanda America Dickson Toomer fought the judicial system in the South and won at a time when the rights of women and in particular, women of color, were few. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. New Georgia Encyclopedia, 10 March 2003, https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/amanda-america-dickson-1849-1893/. All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to Georgia Historical Society. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Amanda remained married to Nathan Toomer until her death from Neurasthenia, or nervous exhaustion, considered to be caused by an unbearably hot train ride home from a month's stay in Baltimore for her health. Amanda America Dickson spent her childhood and adolescence in the house of her white grandmother and enslaver, Elizabeth Sholars Dickson, where she learned to read and write and play the pianothe survival skills of a young lady but not ordinarily the opportunities of a enslaved child. Amanda America Dickson's birthplace, Hancock County, Georgia, is in the fertile so-called black belt of the state, 125 miles south and east of Atlanta, between the pre-Civil War capital of Milledgeville and the river-port city of Augusta (Map 1). She was the main heir to the estate of over 15,000 acres valued at $309,543. In 1866, 17-year-old Amanda married her white first cousin, Charles Eubanks, a recently returned Confederate Army veteran and together they had two children, Julian Henry and Charles Green. The white members of the Dickson family appealed to the Superior Court of Hancock County and to the Georgia Supreme Court. . David Dickson had only one child, Amanda America Dickson, who died in 1893.She had two sons, Julian Henry, 1866-1937 and Charles Green, 1870-???. Kent Anderson Leslie uses the events of Dickson's life to explore the forces driving southern race and gender . She . Coleman. . This fascinating story of Amanda America Dickson, born the privileged daughter of a white planter and an unconsenting slave in antebellum Georgia, shows how strong-willed individuals defied. Julian married Eva Walton (1868-1933) and they had 5 children, Julia Frances II, David II, Henry, William and Isabel. [1]:112114 White Georgians generally viewed black citizens within the racial caste system, without regard for wealth or class. According to the Dickson family oral history, David Dickson doted on Amanda, and Julia quite openly became his concubine and housekeeper. Kent Anderson Leslie uses the events of Dickson's life to explore the forces driving . Kent Anderson Leslie and Willard B. Gatewood Jr., This Father of Mine . [1]:120121, In June 1893, with the kidnapping drama (involving Mamie Toomer, Charles Dickson, and Charles Dickson's co-conspirators) behind them, Nathan and Amanda America purchased two first-class tickets from a sales representative of the Pullman Palace Car Company to transport them from Baltimore, Maryland back to Augusta, Georgia. Features. Born Amanda America on the Dickson Plantation, near Sparta, Georgia, Mrs. A. Kent Anderson Leslie, Amanda America Dickson: A Wealthy Lady of Color in Nineteenth-Century Georgia, in Georgia Women: Their Lives and Times, vol. Get a one year print subscription (8 issues) for only $24! Therefore, they either never officially married, or they married out of state before returning to Georgia (but there is no surviving proof of a legal marriage. New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jul 17, 2020. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/amanda-america-dickson-1849-1893/, Leslie, K. A. - Kent Anderson Leslie. She was intermittently unconscious from nervous shock. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. She was quickly tended to by Dr. Eugene Foster, in place of their family physician, Thomas D. Coleman, who was out of town. On July 15, 1886, before the Georgia Supreme Court ruling, pressure from other family members forced Dickson to leave the family plantation where she had spent most of her life. . While white Georgians were establishing segregation as the ruling social order in the public sphere, members of the Dickson family went about their private lives. By the 1880s, he had deeded Amanda three-fourths interest in 13,000 acres of good land in Texas, as well as several thousand dollars of bonds. Who was Amanda America Dickson Toomer? Showtime Networks Inc., New York, 1999, film. It was an unhappy marriage, and in 1870, Amanda left her husband, and returned to the Dickson Plantation, where she was legally given the surname of Dickson for herself and her sons. Atlanta also has an "Amanda America Dickson" day they celebrate. Just one grandparent can lead you to many Amanda is 19 degrees from Jennifer Aniston, 22 degrees from Drew Barrymore, 21 degrees from Candice Bergen, 24 degrees from Alexandre Dumas, 15 degrees from Carrie Fisher, 32 degrees from Whitney Houston, 20 degrees from Hayley Mills, 15 degrees from Liza Minnelli, 19 degrees from Lisa Presley, 21 degrees from Kiefer Sutherland, 19 degrees from Bill Veeck and 25 degrees from Brian Nash on our single family tree. A system error has occurred. The life and legacy of Amanda America Dickson Toomer, Augusta's first Black millionaire. White relatives did contest it, first at the probate level, then on appeal to the Superior Court, and to the Georgia Supreme Court, arguing that the future of the Anglo-Saxon race, the traditions of the past, and the hope for the future all lay in the balance. The Court decided, however, in favor of Amanda based on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, making her one of the wealthiest Black women in the nation. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current, Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978, Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Before the supreme court decision, Dickson purchased a large house at 452 Telfair Street, in the wealthiest section of the then-integrated city of Augusta. Museum Address. In the winter of 1885 David Dickson died, leaving the bulk of his estate to Amanda Dickson and subsequently to her children after her death. Five of Dickson's descendants, from across the nation, are expected to attend the marker ceremony, Hock said. [1]:123, Amanda America Dickson Toomer's funeral took place at the Trinity Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in Augusta, Georgia. While more than 0 listings in Dickson, TN in January . Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. On his death he scandalized Hancock county society by bequeathing the vast bulk of his estate (a share with a value estimated at more than $300,000) to his only child, Amanda America Dickson (1849-1893). She was intermittently unconscious from nervous shock. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 3 daughters. The former slave-turned-millionaire purchased a home at 448 Telfair St., Augusta, Georgia, primarily to distance herself from irate relatives in Hancock County, Georgia. Shortly thereafter Nathan Toomer married Nina Pinchback. Therefore, Elizabeth and David Dickson had no means to manumit Amanda and keep her with them in Georgia until the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, was ratified on December 6, 1865. In 1892, she married Nathan Toomer of Perry, Georgia. She was born. Born on November 20, 1849, Amanda America Dickson was Davids daughter, the product of his rape of thirteen-year-old Julia Francis Lewis, the enslaved property of his mother. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. [1]:101102, The death of her father, David Dickson, on February 18, 1885, was a pivotal turning point in Amanda America's life. Oops, we were unable to send the email. One of the first laws the Georgia State legislature passed after the war reinstated the prohibition against interracial marriage. 0 cemeteries found in Houston County, Georgia, USA. Kent Anderson Leslie's 1995 biography Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893, was written about her life, and from this book came the 2000 film, "A House Divided," starring Sam Waterston and Jennifer Beals as David and Amanda Dickson. Although the will specifically warned Dickson family members not to contest his wishes, 79 relatives filed a lawsuit to prevent Amanda Dickson from inheriting the property. [1]:101102 On October 11, 1886, chief justice James Jackson, and associate justices Samuel Hall and Mark Blanford heard the case following the appeal. And Julia quite openly became his concubine and housekeeper was born in November of...., new York, 1999, film: //www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/amanda-america-dickson-1849-1893/ acres valued at $ 309,543 Eubanks, in 1864 the. Send the email Dickson doted on Amanda, and Julia quite openly became his concubine and.. 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