Our Family History

A brief, sanitized version of our family's history for public consumption

Life Story of Mary Jane Harris Palmore

An African-American woman born in Powhatan County, Virginia in 1845

The Mary Jane Palmore Center is dedicated to preserving the legacy and heritage of Mary Jane Harris Palmore and her descendants. As the family's researchers continue to uncover more about Mary Jane's life and her children, our mission is to share this information with our extended family and future generations. Through this website, we hope to connect with additional relatives who wish to join us in unraveling the rich tapestry of our family tree. Join us on this journey of discovery and connection.

Born in 1845, Mary Jane Harris Palmore is the mother of 11 children who our family's researchers have been able to identify through various records.  Mary Jane's known children are Amanda, Jennie, Sallie, George, Robert, Mitchell, Eddie, Eliza, Bernard, Burrell, and Lillie. Their years of birth start in 1862 and end in 1888.

Mary Jane is recorded as having children by 3 different fathers.  The exact relationships between Mary Jane and the fathers of her children are hard to determine from the avaiable records. Given that she was born during the era when chattel slavery was still in full effect in the United States, we believe, and with good reason, that Mary Jane spent a significant portion of her life as an enslaved person.

As her current day family, we continue to seek clarity in these details so that we can share this information with our off-spring and future generations.  We offer a limited view of this information here in the hopes of finding additional relatives who wish to connect to the family tree.

 

Placeholder: Fact About MJHP

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Placeholder: StoryAbout MJHP

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Key Stories About Mary Jane's Children

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Amanda Was Her First Surviving Child

Amanda is the oldest child mentioned in all of the census records that we could find for the family. This is not to imply that others preceded her but did not live.  This is merely to acknowledge the inherent weakness of relying primarily upon census records to gather family history.

Eddie Was An Excellent Carpenter

It is told that Eddie was the carpenter who led the construction of numerous buildings: Little Zion Baptist Church, his own home, the home of his brother Bernard, to name a few known structures.

Bernard Was A Barber

Bernard got his barber training in Chicago while keeping his African-American heritage a secret from his classmates and instructors per direction from the school's owner who told him "Just don't tell anybody else and you'll be fine."  In other words, the owner approved of him attending the barber school while keeping his ethnicity a secret. This worked because Bernard's appearance (same as most of his siblings) could easily have been taken as that of a full-blooded white person.

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Amanda

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Jennie

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Sallie

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George

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Robert

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Mitchell

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Eddie

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Eliza

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Bernard

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Burrell

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Lillie

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MJHP Child 12

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