![]() Sengstacke settled there, and he allowed his new friend Flora Abbott and her infant son to move into a house on the property before they married in 1874. ![]() He eventually received the store that his father had run in a black settlement in Savannah. In 1869, John Sengstacke returned to the United States to investigate what had become of his father’s estate in Savannah. Herman Sengstacke took both children back to Germany. John Herman Henry was born the following year, and Tama died giving birth to a daughter in 1849. The two traveled to South Carolina, where interracial marriage was legal, married, and returned to Savannah. Angered by the poor treatment of black women being auctioned as property, he bought and freed a woman named Tama Melrose. His father, Herman Henry Sengstacke, a German sea captain had immigrated to the United States and was working as a merchant when he attended a slave auction in 1847. Sengstacke, had an unusual family history. She was aided in the ensuing custody battle by John Henry Hermann Sengstacke (1848-1904), and the two married July 26, 1874. When Thomas died of tuberculosis in 1869, less than a year after Robert’s birth, Flora took her infant son back to Savannah. Simon’s Island and opened a small grocery store. Whereas Thomas had been taught to read and write by his master, Flora had taught herself to read and write in secret, and attended a clandestine school for slaves. Flora had been born a slave in Savannah her parents had both been born in West Africa. After Emancipation, Thomas moved to Savannah, Georgia, and met Flora Butler, the daughter of Harriet and Jacob Butler. Thomas Abbott and his family had been owned as slaves by Captain Charles Stevens, who had a plantation on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, the second child of Thomas Abbott (?-1869) and Flora Butler Abbott (1847-1932). Robert Sengstacke Abbott (November 28 or 29, 1868-February 29, 1940) was born in Frederica, St. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, CPL Supervised by: Michael Flug, Senior Archivist, Vivian G. Mapping the Stacks Staff: Melissa Barton, Doron Galili, Moira Hinderer, Celeste Day Moore, Traci Parker, Christina Petersen, Marcia Walker. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Abbott-Sengstacke Family Papers,, Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Sengstacke donated the family papers to the Chicago Public Library. He inherited the papers of Myrtle Sengstacke separately after her death in 1990. The inventory of John Sengstacke’s assets listed these archival materials separately, and the probate judgment awarded them to Robert A. Sengstacke upon John Sengstacke’s death in 1997. Those separately housed papers, both Abbott’s and John Sengstacke’s, were willed to Robert A. After the Defender moved to 2400 South Michigan Avenue, John Sengstacke housed the materials in the building’s “tower,” a space to which only he controlled access. Beginning in the 1940s, he separated many of Abbott’s papers and some of his own papers and housed them in a location apart from the files of the Chicago Defender. John Sengstacke inherited the papers of Robert Abbott upon Abbott’s death in 1940. Halsted Street, Chicago, Illinois 60628ĭonation of Robert A. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, 9525 S. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |