![]() In February 1818 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, an enslaved woman Agnes (“Aggy”) gave birth to a daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s father was their enslaver Colonel Armistead Burwell making the “relationship,” one over which Agnes likely had no choice. Since her mother was enslaved, Elizabeth (Lizzy) was born into slavery as well. Not initially aware of the identity of her biological father, Lizzy grew up believing him to be Agnes’ later husband, George Hobbs. Hobbs was an enslaved man who lived nearby and with whom she had a close relationship. Growing up on the Burwell plantation, Elizabeth worked with her mother including taking care of the Burwell children. Agnes also sewed for the family and taught this skill to her daughter along with how to read and write. Living on the Burwell plantation, Elizabeth saw the horrors of slavery including lashings and other punishments. She also experienced heartbreak when George Hobbs’ enslaver took him out west and away from the family. They never saw him again. Sadly, Elizabeth experienced further heartbreak when the Burwells separated her from her mother at the age of 14. The Burwells sent her to work for their son Reverend Robert Burwell and his wife Margaret. At Robert Burwell’s home, she continued to experience the horrors of slavery. Robert, his wife, and their neighbor beat Elizabeth arbitrarily and then gave her to work for a local store owner, Alexander McKenzie Kirkland. Over the next four years, Kirkland repeatedly assaulted her and in 1839, she gave birth to a son by him that she named George after her assumed father, George Hobbs. After ten years surviving these horrors, Elizabeth and her son George returned to Virginia when Armistead Burwell died. Burwell’s son-in-law, Hugh A. Garland (who married Elizabeth’s white half-sister Ann) inherited them as property following Armistead’s death. The Garlands moved to St. Louis in 1847 and brought the Hobbs family (Agnes, Elizabeth, and young George) with them. Hugh Garland continued his law practice and his most famous case was serving as the defense attorney for John Sanford, the enslaver of Dred Scott, an enslaved man who became famous for seeking his freedom. While living in St. Louis, Elizabeth became an accomplished seamstress with her wages constituting a major income source for the Garlands, who were increasingly unable to support themselves without her. ![]() Over the next three years, she began slowly saving and raising the money to securing her freedom. Her efforts were repeatedly thwarted by the Garlands, and in the end, she had to appeal to a prominent, sympathetic St. Louis family (Le Bourgois). They came to her aid, giving her money which served as a loan to purchase her freedom. In this way, she finally achieved freedom for herself and her son in 1855. She remained in St. Louis and continued her work as a seamstress and became a successful dressmaker. By 1860, she had repaid the loans and separated from her husband because of his abuse of alcohol that, she noted, made him “a burden instead of helpmate”. With this new independence, she moved to Washington D.C. to work as a dressmaker and began making dresses for the elite of the nation’s capital including Varina Davis, wife of Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis and Anna Custis Lee, the wife of Robert E. Lee. By 1861, she had established a reputation as a prominent dressmaker and caught the eye of the incoming first lady, Mary Lincoln. ![]() Mary went on to hire Elizabeth as her personal modiste (dressmaker). Over the next four years, Elizabeth Keckly made many dresses for Mary Lincoln, and the two women also grew close after the deaths of their sons. George Keckly had enlisted in the Union army (as he passed for a white man) and died at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861. Mary helped comfort Elizabeth after his death. Six months later, Willie Lincoln died in the White House, likely from typhoid fever. Elizabeth helped Mary through this difficult time and accompanied her on her trips to New York City. ![]() On the evening of April 14, 1865, Elizabeth Keckly learned that Abraham Lincoln had been shot and rushed to the White House. The soldiers guarding the White House refused her entry and provided her little information. Mary, a few blocks east in the city, asked for Elizabeth Keckly to be brought to the Petersen Boarding House. Three messengers were sent looking for her, but all went to the wrong address. Elizabeth returned to the White House the following morning to a grieving Mary who asked her, "Why did you not come to me last night, Elizabeth -- I sent for you?" Keckly responded, "I did try to come to you, but I could not find you." ![]() In 1868, Elizabeth Keckly decided to write about her life and her side of the story in an autobiography, Behind the Scenes, Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. In this autobiography, Elizabeth covered her enslaved life but also the years spent in the White House. She was immediately met with criticism. The media criticized it for going into intimate details of her friendship with Mary, arguing that it violated the norms of society. Mary Lincoln expressed her anger about the book as it included the dress-selling scandal. Elizabeth Keckly explained in the preface that she was trying to show Mary in a sympathetic light but to no avail. The two never spoke again. Robert Lincoln, embarrassed by the scandal, used his influence to halt publication of the book and few copies were sold. The book’s scandal damaged Elizabeth Keckly’s reputation, and she lost many of her clients. ![]() |
Last updated: February 15, 2022