The Townsend Family Legacy

07/25/22 • 45 min

1 Listener

When Alabama plantation owner Samuel Townsend died in 1856, he willed his vast fortune to his children and his nieces. What seems like an ordinary bequest was anything but, since Townsend’s children and nieces were his enslaved property. Townsend, who knew the will would be challenged in court, left nothing to chance, hiring the best lawyer he could find to ensure that his legatees received both their freedom and the resources they would need to survive in a country that was often hostile to free African Americans.

To learn more about the Townsend Family, I’m joined in this episode by public historian Dr. R. Isabela Morales, the Editor and Project Manager of The Princeton & Slavery Project, and author of Happy Dreams of Liberty: An American Family in Slavery and Freedom.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode image is “Fugitive African Americans fording the Rappahannock,” photographed by Timothy H. O’Sullivan in August 1862. The image is in the public domain and available via the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division

Additional Sources:

“An enslaved Alabama family and the question of generational wealth in the US,” by Isabela Morales, OUP Blog, June 15, 2022.
“Estate of Samuel Townsend,” The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections, Septimus D. Cabiness papers.

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Additional Sources:

“An enslaved Alabama family and the question of generational wealth in the US,” by Isabela Morales, OUP Blog, June 15, 2022.
“Estate of Samuel Townsend,” The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections, Septimus D. Cabiness papers.

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Previous Episode

The Unusual Codicil in Benjamin Franklin's Will

When Benjamin Franklin died in April 1790, his last will contained an unusual codicil, leaving 1000 pounds sterling each to Philadelphia and Boston, to be used in a very specific way that he hoped would both help tradesmen in the two cities and eventually leave the cities, and their respective states, with fortunes to spend on public works 200 years later. At a moment when it wasn’t clear whether the United States would survive at all, Franklin made a gamble on the American spirit.

To learn more about the fascinating tale of Ben Franklin’s will, I’m joined by Michael Meyer, Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, and author of Benjamin Franklin's Last Bet: The Favorite Founder's Divisive Death, Enduring Afterlife, and Blueprint for American Prosperity.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode image is a painting of Benjamin Franklin, by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis. It is available in the Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Additional Sources:

Library of Congress Benjamin Franklin Papers
Franklin Timeline, The Benjamin Franklin House
Last WIll & Testament of Benjamin Franklin, Living Trust Network
“From Ben Franklin, a Gift That's Worth Two Fights,” by Fox Butterfield, The New York Times, April 21, 1990
“How a 200-Year-Old Gift From Benjamin Franklin Made Boston and Philadelphia a Fortune,” by Jake Rossen, Mental Floss, August 20, 2020

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Next Episode

Filipino Nurses in the United States

A February 2021 report by National Nurses United found that while Filipinos make up 4% of RNs in the United States, they accounted for a stunning 26.4% of the registered nurses who had died of COVID-19 and related complications. Why are there so many Filipino nurses in the United States and especially so many of the frontlines of healthcare? To answer that question, we need to look at the history of American colonization of The Philippines, United States immigration policies, and the establishment of the Medicare and Medicaid programs in the US.

Joining me to help us learn more about Filipino nurses is Dr. Catherine Ceniza Choy, Professor of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies and Comparative Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of the 2003 book, Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History, and the new book, Asian American Histories of the United States.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode image is “Baby show arranged by Red Cross nurse, Phillipines [sic] Chapter, P.I. Philippines, 1922,” Courtesy of the Library of Congress, No known restrictions on publication.

Additional Sources: