Amanda America Dickson (November 20, 1849 - June 11, 1893) was a mulatto or mixed-race 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. Amanda America Dickson. . BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. She left home briefly, between the years 1876 and 1878, to attend the Normal School of Atlanta University. [2] After Amanda was weaned, she was taken from her enslaved mother and maternal grandmother, Rose, to be raised in the household of her white paternal grandmother and mistress, Elizabeth Sholars Dickson. In her late 20s, Dickson attended the normal school of Atlanta University, a historically black college, from 1876 to 1878. In today's episode, we are looking into the life of Amanda America Dickson a slave who inherited her fathers fortune becoming one of the wealthiest African Americans in the country! In New Georgia Encyclopedia. [1]:119 Charles Dickson conspired with his brother-in-law Dunbar Walton, his sister-in-law Carrie Walton Wilson, and a hired man, Louis E. Frank, to kidnap Mamie Toomer. 20072023 Blackpast.org. Have you taken a DNA test? . Eubanks. From 1876 to 1878 she left the plantation to attend the Normal School of Atlanta University. Some of the businesses that were destroyed included several . [1]:117 Nathan Toomer was a wealthy, educated African-American man of her class. Amanda America Dickson, the daughter of an enslaved woman and her enslaver, became one of the wealthiest Black women in nineteenth-century America when the Georgia Supreme Court upheld her claim to her father's contested will. 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. 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. [3], A House Divided (2000) is the television movie that depicts the life of Amanda America Dickson. Upon John Toomers death in 1859, his brother Colonel Henry Toomer purchased Nathans mother, Kit, and seven of her children from the estate. Amanda America Dickson spent her childhood and adolescence in the house of her white grandmother and owner, 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 slave. Try again later. Dickson was the daughter of wealthy Georgia plantation owner David Dickson (Sam Waterston), and his slave, Julia (Lisagay Hamilton). Toomer was born in 1839 in Chatham County, North Carolina, the slave of Richard Pilkinson. Ashlee and Nesia discuss life as the owner of a basketball team, retirement and more. Amanda America Dickson, the slave daughter of her owner, became one of the wealthiest black women in nineteenth-century America. In her youth, Amanda was taken into the Dickson family home and raised by her paternal grandmother where she was taught to read, write, and play the piano. As a young man, Nathan had served as the personal assistant to Colonel Henry Toomer, and in that capacity learned the ways of white upper-class gentlemen. Julian married Eva Walton (1868-1933) and they had 5 children, Julia Frances II, David II, Henry, William and Isabel. [1]:80 In November 1885, the trial in the Superior Court of Hancock County began, with the eventual ruling siding with Amanda America Dickson and her two sons. 95822. This house still stands on 452 Telfair Street. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. When Julian Henry Eubanks Dickson was born in May 1866, in Georgia, United States, his father, Charles Henry Eubanks, was 29 and his mother, Amanda America Dickson, was 16. For newspaper articles concerning the Dickson estate and will, and Amanda Dickson, refer to The Atlanta Constitution June 12, 1893; June 14, 1887; June 19, 1887; November 15, 1885; July 5, 1885. The issue was settled when Charles died in 1871. Her independence allowed Amanda to further her education when she attended Atlanta University from 1876-78. She was buried in her wedding dress, in a metallic coffin, which was lined in rose colored plush fabric. 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). 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. Venus Morris Griffin, one of the top real estate agents in the Augusta area, stops by our front porch to talk about her success and her upcoming book. [1]:117 Her health was fragile throughout her second marriage, as she had several health problems which required the continual attention of her family physician, Thomas D. Amanda America Dickson spent her childhood and adolescence in the house of her white grandmother and owner, 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 slave. Toomer was also of mixed race. Her younger son, twenty-three-year-old Charles Dickson, who was married to Kate Holsey, became infatuated with stepsister Mamie Toomer, who was only fourteen years old. Press release from the City of Menifee: MENIFEE - Menifee's street projects and construction updates are getting an upgrade! Legally, Amanda was still a slave until her grandmother's death in 1864. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Monday/Tuesday - closed. [1]:69, Years after having completed her teaching degree, Amanda America Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Amanda Toomer (10337890)? All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to Georgia Historical Society. David Dickson is a wealthy plantation owner in antebellum Georgia who fathers Amanda by raping one of his slaves, Julia. The funeral was held at Trinity Colored Methodist Church, and she is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Richmond County, Georgia. Born November 20, 1849, on the Dickson Plantation, near Sparta, Georgia (Hancock County), Amanda America was the product of her 12-year-old mother, an enslaved house servant, Julia Francis Lewis, and 40-year-old David Dickson, a well-known agricultural reformer of that era and one of the wealthiest planters in the area. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. When John Toomer died, he became the property of Colonel Henry Toomer, Johns brother. Dickson became a member of the elite black community in Augusta, Georgia. [1]:123, Amanda America Dickson Toomer's funeral took place at the Trinity Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in Augusta, Georgia. . Sho was Mrs, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. shows how strong-willed individuals defied racial strictures for the sake of family. 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). woman in the (Ti i ted .states has just died. He married Eva W. Walton on 10 December 1885, in Richmond, Georgia, United States. married a second time, on July 14, 1892. Amanda America was born to 40-year-old slave master David Dickson and 13-year-old slave, Julia Lewis in 1849.Legally, Amanda was still a slave until her grandmother's death in 1864.By the 1860s David Dickson was the richest planter in Hancock County, with 150 slaves, 350 cattle, 600 hogs, 200 sheep and 57 mules and horses.Amanda was still a teen-ager when she married her father's nephew . Get a one year print subscription (8 issues) for only $24! . Julia relinquishes Amanda to the Dicksons, realizing that her baby will be raised free because she was born with fair skin. Old scuppers and downspouts have been removed. Her birth was the result of the rape of her enslaved mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, when Julia was twelve years old. February 27, 2023, 4:41 PM. Understanding that the Anderson and Jeffers family is an interracial family they are challenged with many difficulties and . A few days later he became ill with pneumonia and died. Dickson's family members appealed the lower court decision and the case wound up in the Georgia Supreme Court. Heiress, Socialite. In 1892, she married Nathan Toomer of Perry, Georgia. The votes are in! A Loving Wife. Who was Amanda America Dickson Toomer? The first such family was that of Captain Benjamin Fulsam, his wife, one son, and three . She was born on November 20 or 21, 1849, on the Hancock County plantation of her father, the famous white agricultural reformer, David Dickson (1809-85). Amanda America Dickson's life reflected the power of family and class to erode the boundaries of race in the nineteenth-century South. I am proud to be a Dickson.I am John R. Dickson's daughter's child. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. It stars Jennifer Beals as Dickson, Sam Waterston as David Dickson, LisaGay Hamilton as Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, and Shirley Douglas as Elizabeth Sholars Dickson.[6]. Wife of Charles Henry Eubanks and Nathan Toomer While more than 0 listings in Dickson, TN in January . Try again. Kent Anderson Leslie uses the events of Dickson's life to explore the forces driving southern race and gender . The white members of the Dickson family appealed to the Superior Court of Hancock County and to the Georgia Supreme Court. I am so glad that a his torical marker has been placed at her home in Augusta.. Born on November 21, 1849, baby Amanda's parents couldn't be more dissimilar her father, the renowned white agricultural plantation owner, and writer, David Dickson; her mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, was an enslaved child-servant to Dickson's mother Elizabeth Sholars-Dickson. Amanda, then15, had a relationship with her 29-year old white cousin Charles Eubanks and had two sons, Julian and Leslie, near Rome, Georgia. 16 mm, 101 min. Hancock was a rich county and one of its wealthiest planters was David Dickson. As Amanda grew, her grandmother used her as a domestic servant. The son of this marriage was Jean Toomer, the author of the novel Cane (1923). Her education also included knowledge of finance and business important skills in her adult life. We extend our congratulations and best wishes; 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. [1]:127 Ultimately, Julia Dickson, Nathan Toomer, and Amanda America's younger son, Charles Dickson, settled the dispute over Amanda America's estate amicably out of court. Find-A-Grave, Amanda America Dickson Toomer, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13428942; Mark Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. As a consequence, Amanda America Dickson's life unfolded within the boundaries of her father's social and economic power, her mother's conflicting loyalties, and her own evolving sense of self" (Page 32). Hancock County, Georgia, US. He never woke up. 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. Amanda America Dickson, conceived as a result of her forty-year-old white father's rape of her thirteen-year-old enslaved mother, became the pet of her white grandmother and her father. The higher court stated that the rights of each race are controlled and governed by the same enactments or principles of lawin other words, whatever rights and privileges belonged to a bastard white child belonged to a mixed-race child as well. His white relatives challenged the will but Dickson ultimately won a successful ruling in the case. Her birth was the result of the rape of her slave mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, when Julia was twelve years old. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. After her father's death in 1885, Amanda Dickson inherited his estate. The Supreme Court ruled in 1887 that Amanda was legally entitled to the inheritance under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that property rights are equal for blacks and whites, including the offspring of black and white citizens. Buy Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-93: Read Books Reviews - Amazon.com . When her father died on February 18, 1885, Amanda became the center of a famous lawsuit. She learned to read and write, and assumed the social graces of white Southern affluence. [2] In what became known as the David Dickson Will Case, seventy-nine white relatives of David Dickson disputed the will in court, mainly arguing that David Dickson was not of a sound mind when he wrote the will, that he was "unduly influenced" by Amanda America and Julia Dickson, and that Amanda America was not his child. As her father quickly began to rebuild using tenant farmers and establishing businesses including the Dickson Fertilizer Company in Augusta, Amanda also began to build her new life. from funds loaned by planter David Dickson. 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. Dicksons social status may have enabled the child to live a life of relative privilege while enslaved. Amanda is raised and educated by her father and grandmo Cast & Crew Read More John Kent Harrison Director . In 1865 or 1866 Dickson married her white first cousin, Charles Eubanks, a recently returned Civil War (1861-65) veteran. Come celebrate the 2022 results. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. . I read Dr. Kent Anderson Leslie's biography of Amanda Dickson Toomer several years. 1., ed. Try again later. My father ( who's grandmother was a slave of David Dickson) married my mother who is a descendant of Amanda Dickson. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? Born on November 20, 1849, Amanda America Dickson was David's daughter, the product of his rape of thirteen-year-old Julia Francis Lewis, the enslaved property of his mother. [3][4] Charles Green Eubanks married Kate Holsey, the daughter of Lucius Holsey, a bishop in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church,[5] and his wife Harriet. Amanda America Dickson, the daughter of a slave and her owner, became one of the wealthiest black women in nineteenth-century America when the Georgia Supreme Court upheld her claim to her father's contested will. GREAT NEWS! Her enslaved mother, Julia Frances Lewis Dickson, was just 13 when she was born. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Museum Address. Read all Director John Kent Harrison Writers Heiress and socialite Amanda America Dickson Toomer was, in her time, the wealthiest woman in Georgia, and one of the wealthiest women in the United States. Died: June 11, 1893 (aged 43) Alma mater: Atlanta University: Spouse(s) Charles Eubanks; Nathan Toomer . 1900), who married Kate Holsey, the daughter of Harriet and Bishop Lucius Holsey of Augusta. One of the first laws the Georgia State legislature passed after the war reinstated the prohibition against interracial marriage.In 1873, Mr. Dickson deeded 1,560 acres of land worth $10,000 to Amanda.On Feb. 18, 1885, Mr. Dickson took his morning ride over the farm, came home, said he was cold and lay down for a nap. Failed to remove flower. Amanda America Dickson was born to 40-year-old slave master David Dickson and 13-year-old slave, Julia Lewis in 1849. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Gabriel moved to Emanuel County, Georgia after his fathers death.David Lipscomb College, TN~ 1939 (Edna Waters)Harding College, Se One obituary said: though in possession of such riches, she made no gaudy display but lived a quiet, easy, and unpretending life. In. A Biracial socialite, she was one of the wealthiest women of the 19th century. Jonathan Bryant, Race, Class, and Law in Bourbon Georgia: The Case of David Dicksons Will, Georgia Historical Quarterly 71 (summer 1987): 226-42. Dickson was born in 1849 to prominent Hancock County plantation owner David Dickson and a 12-year-old slave. 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. 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