AnnaKingsley:FromSlaveto Woman of Distinction

The mistress of North Florida's Kin8sley PlantaUon

wielded 8reat power and left a tremendous le8acy. J

By Antoinette TacksonIllustration by Rossie Newson

Deep down, Anna sensed that this was an argu-ment she maybe could not win. She was beingasked to make a decision that would greatly

affect her future and that of her family.Could she endure another move from a place she

considered home? Could she state her case convincing-ly to persuade Zephaniah so that he would sympathizewith her concerns? She wasn't sure she could, but shewould try to make him understand.

She steeled herself, heaved her chest, lifted her proudhead, and turned slowly to face him.

"I don't know Zeke. Florida is my home now," shesaid. Her usually strong voice cracked slightly in thesilence of the suddenly empty kitchen.

Anna had been supervising the preparation of theevening meal. But sensing the tension in the air, every-one scattered from the room upon Zephaniah's arrival.They did not want to anger the master nor the mistressby getting in their way.

The diminutive figure of her plantation owner hus-band stepped from the doorway into the middle of thehot kitchen house. He was formally dressed anduncomfortable in the heat. Plus, he was agitated by theprolonged discussion, which caused Anna to becomealarmed. Nonetheless, she pressed on.

"I don't want to move again unless it's back to Sene-gal," she continued. Zephaniah stood still, his handsclutching a damp handkerchief. Slowly nodding hishead, he mopped his brow, allowing her to have hersay. He trusted her judgment and listened as sheexpressed her reservations about moving the familyand business to Haiti.

For 29 years, North Florida had been home to AnnaMajigeen Ndiaye, a West African woman presumed tohave had royal lineage. She was enslaved as a little girl,and in 1806 Zephaniah KingsleyJr. bought her at age13. Anna, two other Africanwomen and an assortmentof supplies were among the items he purchased whileon a business trip to Havana, Cuba.

When Anna arrived in Florida from Havana, shefound herself the mistress or wife of Zephaniah Kings-

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ley. She gained her freedom five years after arriving inFlorida and she went on to successfully run his variedbusinesses, manage his extended family household,bear him four children and enjoy land ownership andwealth, herself perhaps not unlike the prosperity andstatus she might have enjoyed in Senegal as a womanin a position of royalty.

Now at age 42, she felt a move could threaten thesecurity she felt and the familyshe had labored to keeptogether in Florida. Moving also would jeopardize herchances of maintaining U.S. government compensationfrom the Patriot War damage claim she had won aftershe had burned down her home to keep it out of thehands of misguided rebels. She thought it might makea difference to remind him of her courageous act.

"Youpromised that 1would get paid," she said, "and1 did like you. and all the others. Remember you saidthat burning down the house was a smart thing to do-a brave thing to do since 1 saved the house, my veryfirst house apart from you as an African woman inAmerica, from being used by them."

Zeke was unmoved. So, she continued, this timehoping he could be swayed by the social and emo-tionalloss she would have to bear by relocating.

"Anyway,what about Mary and Martha?"she asked."They are my only daughters and 1would miss them so.They have their own families now and are well estab-lished in Arlington and Mandarin. You would never beable to persuade them to move to Haiti. 1would be solonely there without them Zeke. They are the only ones1can really talk to about things, about the way life is forme, for women like us, living as we do here, ...as freecolored women with white men. The others look downon us and it's hard to make friends. You don't under-stand. You are gone most of the time anyway."

If he was touched, he did not show it. He took adeep breath and mustered a degree of finn fmality inhis voice. But he tried to temper his stance with sometenderness and concern for her welfare.

"Anna, I've made up my mind. Business is busi-ness," Zephaniah said. "Haiti is an independent coun-

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try now. I will be free there to do business as I want, and you, as mywife, will be able to manage my affairs and yours without beinglooked down upon or restricted in any way because of your color. Iwill fIxyou nicely in Haiti. You will be happy there."He stepped closer to Anna, who was standing behind a large wood-en table with her arms folded. This would be his last overture to per-suade her. His eyes lit up as he tried to paint a picture of her newhomeland.

"It is a fme, rich valley," he said, stretching his beefy arms todemonstrate the expanse of land, "about 30 miles from Port Plane;heavily timbered with mahogany all around; well watered; flowers sobeautiful; fruits in abundance. Our laborers in Haiti will not be slaves.They will never be sold nor taken away from the island against theirwill. They will be, well let's say they will be indentured apprentices.I will give them land and they will bind themselves to work for me.I will even build a school. Anna, our sons will prosper there as every-thing is improving. Would you think of them?"

Anna's mental resistance slackened. so did her stiffphysical appear-ance. While he briefly described his Haitian acreage, her mind hadtaken flight, bringing back momentary flashes of the lush landscapeof her childhood in Senegal. Maybe, she began thinking, this couldbe the fulfillmentof a life she had envisioned when she was so veryyoung.

"Okay, Zeke. Perhaps you are right. Maybe Haiti would be bet-ter for John and George ... and I could have my own place again.. .and help with the children. Now explain to me again why you willbe living in New York and only visiting us in Haiti.. .?"

Anna did move to Haiti and lived there until the 1850swhen shereturned to Duval County. Shedied in 1870 at about the age of

77.She is said to have lived out the last

years of her life in the home of herdaughter, Mary Elizabeth Kingsley Sam-mis.

The house, known today as the oldSammis house, is located in Clifton, asubdivision of Arlington, in Jacksonville.Anna's story is much different from theThomas Jefferson/Sally Hemming drama that has come to typify mas-ter/slave/mistress relationships of the time.

She understood power very well - and more importantlysheunderstood how to manipulate power, such as the power of her posi-tion as mistress of the "big house," to her benefIt and advantage.For example, she managed to secure her freedom and that of her chil-dren. In 1811, Zephaniah signed her emancipation papers and shebecame a free woman of color and wealth, as well as an eventualowner of enslaved Africans herself.

Anna consciously used her knowledge, her beauty, and her posi-tion to secure a future for herself and her children. Florida and indeedthe world owes Anna a nod of recognition (at least) for the life shesurvived, in her own way, moment by moment until she died far, farfrom her West African birthplace of Senegal.

What treasures did she leave to merit the respect of Floridians inparticular and black and white and Americans in general? Anna lefta very precious legacy indeed. She left children and grandchildren,who have gone on to contribute much to Florida life, history, and cul-ture and much to the history of Africans in America.

Dr. Johnnena Betsch Cole, former president of Spelman College,along with her sister and environmental activistMaVynee Betsch, andtheir brother and accomplished musician, John Thomas Betsch, arethe great grandchildren (7th generation descendants) of Anna andZephaniah Kingsley.

In fact, their great grandmother, Mary F. Sammis was the fIrstwifeof A.L. (Abraham Lincoln) Lewis, one of the founders of the AfroAmerican LifeInsurance Company, - they married in 1884.

And who was Mary F. Sammis in relation to Anna? She was the

daughter of Edward Sammis, a Duval County justice of the peace, thegranddaughter of Mary Elizabeth Kingsley Sammis and John S. Sam-mis, and the great granddaughter of Zephaniah and Anna Kingsley.

The A.I. Lewis and Mary Sammis Lewis union formed one of themost prominent dynasties of wealth and influence and power in Flori-da's AfricanAmerican community. AL. Lewis,a self-made millionaire,amassed large sums of property in Jacksonville and throughout Flori-da, and operated many successful business ventures. He alsoacquired what is now known as American Beach, which during seg-regation was the only public spot blacks in the area had for seasiderecreation.

Mary F. Sammis Lewis, who died in 1923, was very active in theJacksonville community. Amongst her many civic, social, and busi-ness activities she served on the Deaconess Board of her church,Bethel Baptist Institutional Church, for over twenty years.

Camilla Thompson, historian and archivist at Bethel Baptist,recounts that "MaryLewiswas the wife of Mr. AL. Lewis ... And shewas one of the deaconesses of the church and very active, and so herhusband, although he was a member of the Mount Olive AMEchurchsupported Bethel quite well because of the fact that his wife was amember. And Mrs. Mary Lewis traces her ancestry back to Kingsley,of the Kingsley Plantation. She was a Sammis, and the Sammis' aredescendants of the Kingsleys."

Mary Sammis Lewis and A.I. Lewis had one son, James HenryLewis. He had two children-James Leonard Lewis and Mary FrancesLewis.

The Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betschlegacy today is continuedthrough Johnnena Betsch-Cole, MaVynee Betsch, and, John ThomasBetsch, the children of Mary Frances Lewis-Betschand her husband,

John Thomas Betsch, Sr.Marsha Dean Phelts, author of thebook, An AffU!ricanBeach for Afrn:anAffU!ricans, who grew up in Jack-sonville and knew members of theLewis-Betschfamily, said"... they werepeople that we loved to watch andloved to read about, to hear about...They were extremely admired andrespected."The Afro and the Lewis' made great

contributions, they really did. And as I look at AL. Lewisand his phi-losophy and his way of doing things, A.I. Lewis just stretched hishands out and wherever you could be helped, wherever you hadsense enough to be able to take advantage of these enterprises, thenit was available to you because of his broad sense of bringing a com-munity along."

"He was not rich by himself," she added. "A whole lot of peoplebenefIted from his business acumen."

Anna understood power very well - andmore importantly she knew how tomanipulate power, such as the power ofher position as mistress of the "bighouse," to her benefit and advantage.

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Few wrinen records of Anna and Zephaniah remain and noknown pictures of them have been recovered at this time,although their signatures can still be found on some court doc-

uments.The best physical description of Anna was provided by Zephaniah

himself, who in an interview in 1842 described her as, "a fme, tall fIg-ure, black as jet, but very handsome." .

In contrast, the caricature representations of Zephaniah describehim as a man of small stature, who usually appeared in public on awhite horse, wearing a Mexican poncho hat, high heeled shoes withlarge silver buckles, and a bright green riding coat.Zephaniah Kingsleydied in 1843 in New York at the age of 78.

The story of Anna Majigeen Ndiaye and Zephaniah Kingsley is acomplex one. It is a story that speaks to the precarious and preciousnature of freedom-freedom lost, freedom won, and freedom chal-lenged.

"It is obviously a profoundly moving story," said Johnnena BetschCole. "It's also a story, which in my view, has extraordinary com-plexity and contradictions. My great grandmother was not only a

slave, she owned slaves. And I would hope that for each of us as anAfrican American if there is any specificity to what is the generalknowledge, that black people owned slaves, that we would havesome contradictory feelings about that."

Anna was an African woman in a demanding situation. She madesome hard, and in hindsight, perhaps some questionable choices.But, how she managed to survive so that others could live is triumphinside of tragedy.

On November 19, 2001, the writer visited the house at the invi-tation of the current owners. Although Anna's voice has sel-dom been heard, the writer found a sense of her presence

in the home. She captured her feelings in poetry. .

Descendant debunks romanticizedviewToday, MaVynee Betsch, environmental activist and Amelia

Island resident, popularly known as "the beach lady" and herniece, Peri Frances Betsch, continue to work to keep Anna'smemory alive.

MaVynee, great granddaughter of Anna Majigeen Ndiaye andZephaniah Kingsley, often pays tribute to Anna by performingskits and reciting poetry in her honor at the Kingsley PlantationHeritage Celebration, sponsored by the National Park Serviceand held annually on Fort George Island in October.

However, Peri Francis, an 8th-generation descendant ofAnna, is on a mission to fmd out more about her family's ances-tral connection to Anna Majigeen Ndiaye.

Not much is really known about Anna. She arrived in theAmericas from Senegal. She lived life as an enslaved Africanwoman and as a free woman of color and wealth in Florida atLaurel Grove Plantation and Kingsley Plantation in the Jack-sonville area and in Haiti.

She was the acknowledged wife/mistress of Zephaniah Kings-ley, Jr. with whom she had four children.

Peri journeyed to Senegal, West Africa in the summer of 1998in search of information about Anna's life before she wasbrought to Florida.

Peri says that she did not find those storybook romance por-trayals of Anna's arrival as an enslaved African woman and lifeas mistress to Zephaniah Kingsley very believable.

Regarding the circumstances of Anna's initial encounter withZephaniah and her life in Florida, Peri said it was not a roman-ticized tale.

"I don't think it was like some.. .'1 saw him across the crowd-ed slave market, and he winked at me.' That's ludicrous. I can'tbuy into that. And also you've got to think, like I would imag-ine, these people looked crazy to her, like who are you?

. .. I imagine some redheaded white guy with a beard, wearing funnywoolen clothing, and she must have been like... 'You want me todo what?' I just can't picture it," Peri said.

Peri adds: "But I really always wonder what was she thinking, andwhen the whole celebration (The Kingsley Heritage Festival) wasgoing on and all these people were talking about her... Is shepleased? I'm sure she has got to be more pleased than when therewere all these stories of her wearing peacock feathers and fanninghim and just some exotic bird or whatever."

Like her Aunt MaVynee, it is Peri's personal connection to the his-tory of the enslavement and dispersal of African people, as well asher desire to honor the memory of her great grandmother, which hasmotivated and inspired her to seek the truth about her family's his-tory. .Anna Waits in the Old Sammis House

When I entered the Sammis house

she spoke to me...not me really but through meas I only felt her and knew notwhat to say.In the oldest parts of the housewhere she walked and slept and dreamedI could sense her quiet resolutionthat what she came here for

was nearly complete...I felt her sigh, not a heavyburden of a sigh buta sigh full of love untapped,of love bottled up and saved foranother day.A sigh that perhaps todayis her day at lastto escape the storybook love talesto escape the day her heartstood still, that last day in Africa,before the ship set sail.The last day she reallyloved anything with any passion ...at all.The sigh I felt in the Sammis housewas a hopeful onesent by one who's packed andready to go and sitsand waits forone more breezeto open one more door...hoping that perhapsthis time, this doorwill be the way Home.

- Antoinette T. Jackson

Antoinette T. Jackson is a University of Florida doc-toral candidate in anthropology. This article is basedon some of her research for the Ethnohistorical

Study of the Kingsley Plantation, undertakenthrough the National Park Service. Acknowledge-ments to Marsha Phelps, Allan Burns, Ph.D., andIrma McClaurin, Ph.D.

SUMMER 2002 . PAGE 21