Louisa...Part I
The story of two different people. How first names of the enslaved can lead to seemingly more silences.
I was first introduced to Louisa while researching the life of Dennis Ryan which interestingly brought me to the women in his life. I found it easier to track Mr. Ryan down through newspaper notices of bequeath and death of his three wives.
It was his final marriage to a Martha B. Turner (1795-1852) that I have thus far found the most expressive presence of African American personhood in Dennis Ryan’s story. In being the only instance in which enslaved individuals in possession of Ryan family are named, Martha B. [Turner] Ryan who survives her husband for the better half of a decade, most likely had his willed his property to Martha after his death 1836. If Lousia was about 26 years old at the time of Martha Ryan’s death it could be assumed that Louisa was a valuable member of the Dennis Ryan household while he was still alive in the 1830s.
The second Louisa that I found and a first glace thought might be the same individual was the mother of future bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, Lucius Holsey (1842-1920) who gave birth to 13 other children that presumably like Lucius were the result of sexual violence experienced by enslaved women. While it is common for the enslaved to share first names, the name Louisa means a lot to me since it is the first name where I might be able to trace a provenance of black life in Dennis Ryan’s world.
While writing this entry I am actively searching for “Ryan’s Louisa” to get a glimpse of what became of her life after Martha’s death. Being between the ages of 26-30 in 1852 has me considering Louisa was with Martha, waiting on her diligently as Mrs. Ryan’s health went into a rapid decline.