In Search of Moses Boone’s Ancestors and Collateral Descendants

My Mount Holyoke College students and I have been fascinated, moved, and deeply distressed by the story of the African American child Moses Boone, 1902-1904. After his death at the age of 21 months, at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC, his brain was extracted by physical anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička to be included in the US National Museum’s (Smithsonian Institution) racial brain collection, where it remains to this day. Moses body (without the contents of his cranium) was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in north Georgetown several days later We are not sure if his family members were informed that young Moses was interred without his brain.

We all hope that H.R.6805 – African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Act (2022) and related legislative remedies will lead to restorative justice for the memory of Moses Boone, his family, and many others impacted by unethical collecting practices related to ancestral remains.

[In Appendix I, I discuss some of Hrdlička’s published work on African American children and adult brains; please note that this section may be extremely distressing for many readers.]

What can be uncovered about about Moses’s parentage and ancestry? I have not seen a birth certificate or other record directly listing Moses’ parents, so we must infer Moses’ parentage indirectly. His District of Columbia death certificate lists his death on February 27, 1904, having been a patient for 23 days at the Children’s National Hospital, suffering from tuberculosis. His home address is given at 514 Ricketts Court. His death certificate records he was buried on March 2, 1904 at Mt Zion Cemetery (Georgetown, District of Columbia). Ricketts Court, which no longer exists, but which, contemporary maps suggest, was between 24th and 23rd street and F and E streets in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood.

Nineteen days earlier, on February 8, 1904 a woman named Estella Boone died. She was buried on February 11, 1904, also in Mount Zion Cemetery. The Evening Star on February 12 also reports her address as 514 Ricketts Court; the 1900 census indicates she had given birth to five children, one as recently as October 1899. We may thus safely conclude that Estella Boone, the wife of Victoria Emmanuel Boone, was the mother of Moses Boone, born 1902.

The 1902 city directory lists both Estelle and her husband Emanuel Boone as residing at 2411 Snow’s Alley, NW which was between K and I street, just west of 24th, so within a couple of blocks of Rickett’s Court. So it would appear the Boone family had recently, just before Moses and Estella’s deaths, moved a short distance within the neighborhood

Moses’ father was clearly Victor Emmanuel Boone, who according to the 1900 census was born June 1862 in Maryland. he died 28 July 1905 in Washington DC. The widowed Victor Emmanuel Boone took his own life; according to the newspaper account this was over his continuing illness and an inability to secure employment.

Moses’s Father’s Side

The first reference to Moses’ father (Victor) Emmanuel (Emanuel) Boone is in the 1870 census in District 3, Talbot County, on Maryland’s eastern shore. The eight year old Emanuel Boone, appears as the only child listed in the household of black couple Daniel Tilghman born 1825, and his wife M Elisabeth Tilghman. It seems likely that Daniel and Elisabeth were the grandparents of Emmanuel, who had been mothered by their daughter.

A possible candidate for Emmanuel’s mother is the black free female Mary J Tilghman, listed as 6 years old in the 1860 census in Easton, Talbot, Maryland, living in the home of the free Black couple Vincent and Jane Needles. She next appears as Mary Tilghman, age 12 in the 1860 census. In 1860 is residing in the household of the white planter Robert Hughey, in Easton Talbot county, Maryland. Perhaps given the precarious nature of life from free Black families on the antebellum eastern shore of Maryland, her parents had placed her out, first with Black relatives and then with a white farmer. If she was the mother of Emanuel, born around 1862, she might have been about 17 years old when she gave birth.

Vincent or Vinson Needles also appears as a free Black man in the 1840 census, in a household of six free Black people (an adult woman, two daughters, and three sons) in District 4, Talbot County, Maryland.

A reasonable candidate for Emmanuel’s father is James Boone, who in the 1860 census is listed as a free Black man age 30, born 1830 residing in Trappe, Talbot County, in household 777, headed by the free Black farmer Wesley Pierce.

In 1870, evidently the same man, a black James Boone, born 1820, was residing in Queen Anne’s County, just north of Talbot County, married to Maria Boone, with children Laura Boone, 8, and William Boone, . It is possible that Maria is the same person as Mary Tilghman. Or it may be that Emmanuel’s mother had died after his birth in 1862, and the boy was being raised by his maternal grandparents, the Tilghmans.

This James Boone, possible father of Emmanuel, seems likely to be related to an older free black James Boon, born 1814, listed in the 1850 census, residing in adjacent Caroline County. married to Henriett Boon with their one year old child Isiah Boon. This older James Boone also seems to appear in the 1880 census in Church Hill, Queen Anne’s county, Maryland, born 1810.

In 1860, it seems significant that James Boone resided two households away from the white enslaver Owen Boon, who in 1860 owned three slaves: a 30 year old male, a 15 female old female, and a 10 year old male.

In 1870, there was one black family with the surname of Boone in Talbot County, Harrison Boon, b 1840, wood sawyer. and his wife Patience, b. 1842, residing in the county seat of Easton. It is possible that Harrison had been enslaved by Owen Boone, noted above.

The Black Tilghmans.

Daniel Tilghman, with whom young Emmanuel was residing in 1870s, has earlier had appeared as a free black man in Talbot County in the 1850 and 1860 censuses.

He would seem to be the son of Daniel Tilghman (Sr) who appears in the 1830 census in Talbot County, as a free Black man born between the ages of 36 and 54, living with a free black woman; he also appears in the 1840 census in Caroline County, Maryland, in a household of three free Black persons, a man over 55, a woman over 55, and a girl over 10.

This older Daniel is evidently referenced in a document attesting to the freedom of Daniel Tilghman. dated July 25, 1809 reference then as 26 years old, so born around 1793. He is recorded as born and raised in Talbot County, Maryland, black, height 5’6.5”, with a “pretty large scar on the outward part of his left thigh, about six inches above the knee:.”(Maryland State Archives,:*C1842-1, Entry 1, p 22, witnessed by Jonathan Ozom)

Another Daniel Tilghman, was manumitted by the last will and testament of Henry Lowe Hall. in Prince George’s County bearing the date May 06, 1817. He is described as a “Bright Mulatto” 5’0’, with a small scar over his right eye. (p 78)

The White Tilghman Family

These multiple free Daniel Tilghmans must have been closely connected to the prominent white TIlghman family of Talbot County, Maryland, descended from Richard Tilghman (1626–1675) a surgeon in the British navy who founded a plantation at the Hermitage. near Centreville in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland. Many of the white Tilghmans were extensive enslavers. The Tilghman family seat, the Hermitage plantation on the eastern shore, held dozens of enslaved people in the late 1700s. A grandson of Richard was James Tilghman (1743-1809), who owned 50 slaves in 1790.

It is interesting to note that the Richard Tilghman descendants were divided between Loyalist and Patriot sympathies during the Revolutionary War period. Richards’s grandson, Matthew Tilghman was the de facto leader of the Revolution in Maryland, heading the Committee of Safety and representing Maryland in the Continental Congress, 1774-1776 (he voted for the Declaration of Independence but was not one of the actual signers). safety In the Annapolis Convention he played a leadership role in the establishment of the Maryland Constitution, Matthew’s nephew and son in law was Lt Colonel Tench Tilghman (1744-1786), Aide-de-Camp to Gen. George Washington during the Revolutionary War. He famously carried Lord Cornwallis’s surrender papers from Yorktown to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. See; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tench_Tilghman.

in summary, a possible scenario is that Victor Emmanuel Boone’s mother was a daughter of Daniel and Elisabeth Tilghman, possibly named Mary Tilghman, and that she died after she gave birth in 1862, leaving the boy to be raised by his grandparents Daniel and Elisabeth. Perhaps Victor Emmanuel’s father was James Boone, who had been free as early as 1860, but who remarried, leaving his son Emanuel to be raised by his maternal grandparents. Or perhaps Emmanuel’s mother became Maria Boone, and she and husband for some reason entrusted the Tilghman’s with raising Emmanuel.

Moses’ Mother’s Side.

Moses Boone’s mother Estelle Berry first appears in the 1870 census in Alexandria Ward 4, Virginia (the city had been retrocessioned from the District of Columbia in 1832). 4 year old Estelle is residing in dwelling 44, the household of the Black male wood sawyer John Young, 61, born Maryland, and his presumed wife Sarah Young, 53, born Maryland, along with Estelle’s siblings Mary E Berry, 6, and James Berry, eight months old, and 12 year old Milly Fudge, 12, All three of the Berry children are listed as born in West Virginia, so they evidently only came to Alexandria at some point after September 1869, when little James was born. As was the case with Victor Emmanuel Boone, it seems likely that Estelle and her siblings were being raised by their grandparents.

(This John Young may have been one of several John Young’s whose served in Maryland’s US Colored Troops during the Civil War but I am not sure of this. )

The most likely candidate for Estelle’s mother is Anna Berry, who in 1870, was also living in Alexandria, Ward 4, in household 287, that is to say in the neighborhood of Estella and her siblings. Anna is employed as a domestic servant in the household of white clergyman Rev. J.S. Johnson, born in Georgia, and Jane Johnson, born in New York. Anna Berry is listed as age 20, so born around 1850, Virginia.

A decade later, the 1880 census records a “Hester Berry,” born West Virginia, 1867, who is evidently the same person as Estelle Berry. She is a servant at 112 Prince Street, Alexandria, in the household of the white government clerk Thomas Foster.

The 1880 census also indicates that James Berry is still living with his “grandparents”, Sarah Young and John Young, nearby at 41 Prince Street, Alexandria. Also living in the household is Sarah Young’s son John Berry, 22, a widower and a wood sawyer like his father. In 1881, the Alexandria City Directory indicates John Young and John Berry, both Black laborers, are both residing at “s s Prince, 3e West” in Alexandria. I am not sure why the two Johns, father and son, have different surnames. Living there as well is 10 years old James Berry, who was an infant in the 1870 census. Also in this household are Millie Fudd, 15, Sarah’s daughter; Annie Fudd, Sarah’s granddaughter, age 10; and eight month old, Issac Fudd, born September 1879, all presumably related to the older “Millie Fudge: of the 1870 census.

John Berry, only 22 in 1880. seems too young to be an actual parent of Estelle, Mary or James, but he might be one of their paternal uncles. This would seem to suggest that John and Sarah Young were Estelle’s paternal grandparents. In other words, their son had married the mother of Estella, Mary, and James, who may well have been Anna. As of this writing, I am not sure of Anna Berry’s maiden name.

This same year, 1880, Estelle’s possible mother may appear as Anna M Berry age 36, in the 1880 census residing at 173 Staunton Avenue, Hillsdale, Washington DC, married to Richard Berry, with a daughter Mary M Berry, 10 years old. who would seem to be too young to the same person as earlier Mary, sister of Estella. Also living with them are Richard’s adopted daughter Sarah Meads, 14 and Mary Meads, 14.

In any event, Estella Berry and Victor Emmanuel Boone married one another on 15 June 1885 in the District of Columbia. By 1887 the couple was residing in Snow Alley. In 1888 and 1889 they are living at 1122 Connor Alley, NW.

The 1900 census records Emmanuel and Estella Boone, 30 years old, residing once again in Snow’s Alley, with their children Priscilla, 13, Emmanuel Jr, 8, Marie, 5, Leis 3, and George, 1. Moses, born 1902, was of course not born at the time of the 1900 census.

Moses’ name is listed, as far as we know only in the city’s death certificate and the Smithsonian racial brain collection records, and in several newspaper death announcements

Victor Emmanuel’s final address in the 1905 City Directory was 1147 Government Alley, NW, slightly different than the address given on his death certificate 1137 Government Alley.

Estella’s Siblings

What became of Estella Berry Boone’s siblings, Mary E Berry, born 1864, and James Berry, born November 1869?

I have not yet traced Mary Berry, after her 1870 residence in Alexandria, Virginia. She is clearly different than the Mary Berry, b. 1859, daughter of Jacob and Eliza Berry, living in Baltimore Ward 5 in 1870.

As seen above, James Berry, born 1869, in the 1880 census was still residing with his grandparents Sarah and John Young in Alexandria.

It should be noted that this is a different James Berry than the slightly younger James W Berry born in December 1864, who in 1880 lived on Columbia Street in Alexandria. This alternate James Berry married Mary L Washington in Alexandria in 1893, and lists on his marriage license his parents as William and Annie Berry.

Also different would seem to be the James Berry, born West Virginia, listed in the 1900 census a incarcerated in New Jersey State Prison, and in 1910 in the Beaver County jail. However, this man was listed as born in June 1872. His death record in 1912 lists his father as “George”.

Nor is this John B Berry, born 1858 in West Virginia, who in 1870 resided with his parents Thornton and Harriet Berry, in Washington Ward 1.

The 1887 census lists two Black men named James Berry in Alexandria, both laborers, one residing at 80 n Fairfax and the other residing at Gibbon nr St Asaph (the ams addresses of Phillip Berry). The first of these is more likely to be “our” James Berry.

Collateral Descendants of Moses Boone

On February 8, 1922 four of Estella’s children published the following memorial in The Evening Star (p. 7)

Boone, Sacred to the memory of our dear mother, ESTELLA BOONE, who departed this life eighteen years ago today, February 8, 1904.
Gone to a land of pure delight
where souls immortal reign;
Infinite day excludes the night
And pleasures banish pain

Her devoted children Pricilla Edmond, Marie Arnold, Emmanuel and Louis N Boone

The *Evening*, Sart. Feb 8, 1922, p. 7 (

What do we know of the lives of the children of Estella and Victor Emmanuel Boone, the siblings of Moses Boone?

Moses’ eldest sibling, Priscilla Boone (1887-1948) married Walter Edmonds (b 1885). Their children were: Isaiah Edmonds, 1910-1939, and Walter Nathaniel Edmonds (Jr), 1915-1985. She later married Augustus Wilson, on August 10, 1938 and took the name Priscilla Edmonds Wilson. (She had no children with Augustus Wilson; this was his third marriage).

Isaiah Edmonds married Henrietta Waynes on October 3, 1928. Their son was Roland Edmonds.

Isaiah’s brother Walter Nathaniel Edmonds (Jr) married June Louise Potts. Their daughter Jean Marion Edmonds (1932-2020). married Leroy Clifton Jackson (1929–2000). Their children included Karen Denise Jackson Sellman (1951-2018), Clifton Ranard Jackson, 1952-1991, Candace Jackson, and Cheryl Jackson.

In 1950, Walter N Edmonds (Jr) placed a memorial notice in the Evening Star: “In sad but loving memory of my dear mother Priscilla Edmonds Wilson, who departed this life two years ago today, September 4, 1948. Mother you left a beautiful memory/A sorrow to great to be told/But to us who loved and lost you/your memory will never grow old. SON, WALTER N EDMONDS” (Evening Star, September 4, 1950, p. 4)

Moses’ sister Marion or Marian Edmonds married Benjamin F. Arnold, 1895-1937 in Hamilton, Ohio, and later married Reuben C Miller (b 1875) in 1938 in Washington DC. In 1930 she worked as a live-in cook for white architect Phillip Frohman on Macomb Street in Cleveland Park. In the late 1930s, she worked at 3238 R Street in Georgetown, as a live in servant for Howard Davidson, Colonel Army Air Corps. The 1940 census has two entries for her: under her earlier name of “Marian Arnold” in Georgetown in the Davidson household, and under “Marian Miller” with her husband Reuben Miller and three of his children by a previous marriage, two sons Douglas Leroy Miller and Rude Miller , and daughter Iney Miller. Marion’s adopted son Douglas Leroy Miller later worked as a cook in California, married to Dorris, with children David, Maria and Timothy. Douglas died on 21 Feb 1993 in Hayward, Alameda County, California.
Moses’ brother Emmanuel Boone, Jr. married Cora Johnson (b. 1890). Their children were Nathaniel Boone, b. 1914 and Mildred Boone Sims, b. 1923, to whom Emmanuel was a foster father.

Emmanuel Boone Jr served in Europe in World War One (Company “A”, 343rd Labor Battalion Quartermaster’s Corps) and died at the US Veterans Hospital in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania on April 6, 1936. He worked as a laborer; his final address was 406 21st NW in the District.

In the 1950 census, Mildred Boone Sims was living with her widowed mother Cora Johnson Boone at 426 New York Avenue.

Moses’ brother Louis Napoleon Boone (1897-1982) married Pearlie Boulware Pratt, 1907-2007. Their son was Paul Boone (1924-1970)
Moses’ brother George Boone, born October 1899 appears to be the George Boone who died December 14, 1912, age 13, in Freeman’s Hospital (Evening Star, December 19, 1912) who was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery (West), presumably with his mother Estella and brother Moses. His residence is given as Annandale, Virginia. Perhaps the orphaned George was living with an uncle or aunt.

Finally, what became of the Fudd family, that is to say, Estelle Berry Boone’s apparent aunt Millie and cousins Alice and Isaac Fudd. and the “Millie Fudge” of the 1870 census?

Isaac Fudd, the grandson of Sarah and John Young, born September 1879, sadly seems to have spent his life in public institutions. The 1900, 1910 and 1920 censuses record him as an inmate at the Pennsylvania School for Feeble Minded Children. By 1930 he had been transferred back to the District of Columbia, and resided at the Home for Aged and Infirm in D.C.

Appendix I. Hrdilicka’s Records

Please note that this section may be extremely distressing to read.

Smithsonian anthropologist Ales Hridilicka describes his process for extracting, analyzing and preserving mammalian and human brains in: his book Brains and Brain Preservatives. Proceedings of the US National Museum, 1906.

A section of the book describes brains removed from child and adult Black children. On p. 264, Hrdlička reviews the conditions of several autopsied brains of Black persons. It is possible that one of these may refer to the brain of Moses Boone, who died, as noted above, on February 27, 1904. On March 23, 1904, he autopsied the brain of a child whom he referred to as “Colored Child” (about one fourth white), estimating the age at 3 years. He does not give the name of the autopsied subject.