Phebe Ann Jacobs
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Phebe Ann Jacobs | |
|---|---|
 The first page of Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs | |
| Born | July 1785 Hanover Township, New Jersey, U.S. (later Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey) |
| Died | February 28, 1850 (aged 64) Brunswick, Maine, U.S. |
Phebe Ann Jacobs (July 1785 – February 28, 1850) was an American Congregationalist, laundress, and free woman. Best known for her posthumous biography Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs, Jacobs was born into slavery on the Beverwyck plantation in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey.
During her life, she was enslaved by the family of the President of Dartmouth, then the President of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. In the final years of her life, she achieved emancipation and worked in Brunswick laundering clothes for students of Bowdoin.
In 1919, the New Jersey Historical Society claimed Jacobs was significant for "her rare attainments as a Christian, the strength of her faith, and her spirit of devotion."[1]
Early life and slavery
Jacobs was born a slave on the Beverwyck plantation in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey, in 1785.[2][3] Jacobs did not receive an education;[4] she was instead trained to become a domestic slave.[5] She had a sister named Peggy, who different persons presumably owned.[1] Her parents' names are not stated in sources.
When Jacobs was a child, she was owned by Maria Malleville, daughter of President Wheelock of Dartmouth college.[2] Maria Malleville was born on February 3, 1788; Malleville was three years younger than Jacobs.
On January 28, 1813, Maria Malleville married William Allen, president of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.[6][2][7] Jacobs was 28 years old and continued to be owned by the Allens after they moved to their new home in Pittsfield, Maine.[6]
Although some sources indicate Jacobs became free in Maine, her emancipation status was complicated. According to Professor of History James J. Gigantino II of the University of Arkansas, "Like many free blacks, [Jacobs] continued to serve her former owners as a domestic servant since, while free, she faced racism and a lack of economic opportunities."[8]
Later years
Likely due to indentured servitude, Jacobs remained with the family until the death of her owner, Maria Allen.[9]
For the last years of her life, Jacobs lived independently, washing and ironing clothes for students of Bowdoin.[5] She lived in Pine Grove in a small cabin on a blueberry plain, now an airport site.[9]
Shortly before 1850, Jacobs met Phebe Lord Upham, possibly because they both attended First Parish Church.[10][2] Upham was a theologian, poet, and social activist best known for The Crystal Fountain (1887).[11] A native of Kennebunkport, Upham married Bowdoin professor T. C. Upham.[10] Around this time, Upham may have begun writing Jacobs's biography. Some sources describe the narrative as dictated, so it can be assumed that Jacobs was telling Upham her life stories to be recorded.[12]
Jacobs died in Brunswick, on February 28, 1850, of an unspecified heart condition.[4]
