My Mount Holyoke College students and I have been intrigued and moved by the story of Joseph Anderson, an African American laborer buried in Mont Zion cemetery in north Georgetown, Washington DC. Like Moses Boone, Joseph Anderson was interred without this brain, which had been extracted by a Smithsonian anthropologist in 1904 for the “racial brain collection.” As of this writing, the brain remains in the biological collections of the National Museum of Natural History. We hope progress is being made towards repatriation, in eventual consultation with descendants.
Joseph’s Ancestry
The precise circumstances of Joseph Anderson’s birth and parentage are somewhat murky. His 1895 marriage license to Laura V Chinn in Alexandria, Virginia lists his birthplace as “Canada” and his birth year as 1865. His parents are listed as “Henry” and “Henrietta”. Five years later, in the 1900 census he lists his birthplace as District of Columbia, birth date December 1862. He may also appear in the 1870 census, as born in Virginia, although this maybe a different Joseph Anderson.
If Joseph really was born in Canada, that might suggest that his parents had escaped on the Underground Railroad and eventually made their way to safety in Canada. That could be consistent with a free Black couple Henrietta W Anderson, 20 (b. 1840, in the District of Columbia ) married to Norman Anderson, barber, 36 (born Virginia) [who is perhaps the same person as “Henry” in the 1895 marriage record of Joseph] —residing in the 1860 census residing in Appleton Ward 2, Wisconsin, living with their son, two year old William Anderson, born in Canada, 1858. So perhaps the family moved in and out of Canada at some point, and Joseph, like William was born there. Two decades later in 1880, Henrietta, widowed, resides in Georgetown DC. as a housekeeper in the household of the Black male laborer, Robert Robertson, at 189 N. 26th street. I am not sure what became of Henrietta and Norman’s son William (note that the name William is repeated through the subsequent family line.)
Joseph Anderson in the DC Area
On 7 June 1892, Joseph Anderson married Mary E Harris in the District of Columbia , but, according to her divorce filing. he deserted her after a month. Joseph later remarried, to Laura V Chinn on 7 March 1895, who had been working as a domestic in the District. (Mary Harris Anderson charged that Joseph had failed to first obtain a divorce from her, and she sought court permission to return to her maiden name.)
In 1900, Joseph and Laura Chinn Anderson were residing at 1117 L St, NW. Joseph was working as a barber, like his apparent father or stepfather Norman Anderson, Joseph and Laura resided with Laura’s parents, John F Chinn and Laura Chinn, and her brothers Clarence Chinn and Raymond Chinn (mentioned below).
Joseph Anderson’s death certificate indicates he had been a patient (“inmate”)
at Freedman’s hospital for seven days, before dying of acute interstitial meningitis on 30 July 1904. The extraction and autopsy of his brain presumably took place soon after his death. He was buried in Mount Zion on August 1, 1904.
Joseph Anderson and his wife Laura Chinn Anderson evidently only had one child, William James Anderson (Sr), evidently born January 3, 1900 (four years before his father’s death).
After Joseph’s death, Laura supported herself and her son as a dressmaker. and by taking in lodgers On May 1, 1906, she had another son, William Ralph Grayson, evidently out of wedlock. On December 29 1931, William married Celeste Johan Biscoe. William Ralph Grayson died 4 February 1990 in the District of Columbia. The couple was evidently childless. (His 1990 obituary, it is interesting note, references him as the son of John F and Laura Williams Chinn; although the 1939 obituary of their daughter Laura Chinn Anderson Robinson, refers to him as her own son.)
On February 28, 1912, Laura Chinn Anderson remarried, to the carpenter Wellington C. Robinson, who died May 5, 1927. Laura died October 4, 1939 at her residence 1925 2nd St, NW.
Let us return to Joseph and Laura Anderson’s son, William James Anderson, Sr. He married Leah (Lee) Lewis (of Berkeley, Spotsylvania, Virginia) on 3 Aug 1922. in DC. They are recorded as a couple with children in in the 1930, 1940, and 1950 censuses. In 1960, William J Anderson plasterer, and his wife Leah B Anderson, resided at 1630 and a half, 10th st, NW. Leah died in the District of Columbia 11 Sep 1996. I am not sure of the death date of William James, Anderson, which must have been at some point after 1960.
William James Anderson, Sr and Leah B Lewis Anderson had at least nine children:
- Mary F Anderson, b 1924, who in the 1930 census is living with her parents William and Leah Anderson at 941 Florida Avenue. In 1950, she was still unmarried at age 27, residing in a basement apartment on 13th street, NW. She might be the Mary F Anderson in the 1954 city directory residing at 1458 Columbia Rd, apt 201.
- William James Anderson, Jr. 9 DEC 1927- 29 NOV 1975. In 1930 and 1940, he was living with his parents and siblings. He married Ruth Naomi Campbell (1929-2017) on 28 Dec 1945 Children included Vermel Anderson. July 1, 1960 – March 16, 2023, William James Anderson III, d. before 2017 and Leona Anderson, d. before 2017
- Harvey Anderson. b. 1930. In 1960 Harvey Anderson Sr. and his wife Lillian Anderson were residing on G Street West, with two year old Harvey Anderson (Jr) in the home of Harvey’s uncle Theodore Butter, at342 G St SW, #2.
- Rogers Anderson, b. 1934
- Lillian R Anderson, b 1936
- Frank M Anderson, b 19387 Samuel M Anderson, b 1941
- Samuel M Anderson, b 1941
- Marcellus Anderson, Sr. 1943-2012 (Temple Hills, Maryland; buried Lincoln Cemetery. )
- Burnell Anderson, b 1945
Collateral Chinn Relations
Joseph Anderson’s in-laws, the Chinn’s, were members of an extensive African American family with roots in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Joseph Anderson’s wife Laura V Chinn’s siblings, the other children of John F Chinn and Laura Williams Chinn, included:
- John Franklin Chinn (Jr), b 1868 Virginia, died 20 Apr 1945. Enlisted in US Army 1896. Married Mary. Married Emily Jackson. On May 20 1907, married Mary Schureman. Children included: Henry S (1884–); Bertha Beatrice (1889–1931); Arthur Franklin (1892–1953); Ethel Martha (1893–); Crystal C (1897–)’. Also appears to have married a Laura Williams, and had a son Raymond Chinn, b, 16 MAR 1894 in Alexandra, Virginia, and died 11 February 1962 in Philadelphia, PA.
2. Raymond Chinn, b 1885, married Lurray Allen.
| 11 Feb 1962 |
3. Ulysses Chinn, b 1885,
4. Magnus Chinn, b, 1876. Enlisted in US Army 1896
5. Clarence Chinn, 1882
Mark Auslander 