Richard's history of forty two years experience of eastern and southern and western life of its advantages and disadvantages and narrow escapes in different ways and the way of living in each part

Containers:

Box 102, Shelf Bound Manuscripts/Ledgers

Extent:

186 pages

Scope and content:

Richard Roberts was the son of Richard Roberts (1808-1876). His mother died when he was five years old and the family left New Jersey a few years later. Likely they joined the Quaker community which had established itself in Alexandria in the 1850s, the pacifist Woodlawn Quakers. This group lived near the village of Accotink, a place mentioned several times in Robert's autobiography. According to a history of the Alexandria Quaker Meeting by Martha Claire Catlin, the group befriended and supported the economic independence and land ownership of the free African Americans in the area. The 1870 census shows Richard Robert's family living on real estate valued at $7,250, on a portion of Mount Vernon where they had numerous African American neighbors. Given the descriptions in the text, the Roberts farm may have been part of Washington's "Muddy Hole" or "Dogue Run" property. Roberts provides descriptions of his life there, the estate, and inhabitants, just after the Civil War.

Language:

English .

Physical facet:

bound manuscript in tan cloth with leather outer corners and black scallop decorations on covers

Dimensions:

31 x 20 cm

Places:

Mount Vernon (Va.)

Access and use