Paul Jennings (1799 - 1874)

Born 1799 in Montpelier,Orange, Virginia

Husband of Fannie (Gordon) Jennings — married about 1822 in Orange, Virginia, United States

Husband of Desdemona (Brooks) Jennings — married 12 Jun 1849 in Alexandria, Virginia, United States

Husband of Amelia (Dorsey) Jennings — married 9 Sep 1870 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Descendants

Died 20 May 1874 at about age 75 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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Biography

Paul Jennings is Notable.

Savior of George Washington's Portrait, at the direction of Dolley Madison during the war of 1812.

Paul Jennings was born into slavery in 1799. His mother, who was African-Native American, told him he was the son of Benjamin Jennings, an English trader.

As a child, he was a companion to Dolly Madison's son, Payne Todd.

As he grew he was trained as a footman and body servant to James Madison. At age 10, Paul went to the White House with Madison and his family. In his 1865 memoir, he stated that the East Room was still unfinished from the first construction and most of the Washington streets were unpaved. He described Washinton, D.C. at that time as "a dreary place".

When Washington was burned in 1814, Paul, with the help of the cook and another servant, saved the famed Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington that we are all so familiar with today. It is the only surviving object from before the War of 1812.

After Madison's second term ended in 1817, Jennings returned to Montpelier. Paul remained the valet of Madison until he died in 1836

Paul married 1st in 1822 to Fanny Gordon. Fanny died on 4 Aug 1844.

Children: ^[1]

1. Felix
2. Frances
3. John, served in the Union army
4. Franklin, served in the Union army
5. William, served in the Union army

In 1844, after James Madison had died, Dolly suffered financially and leased Paul out to then president, James K. Polk as a means to increase her income. Two years later, Dolly sold him to an insurance agent for $200. Six months after that, Daniel Webster bought him and gave him his freedom. Jennings continued to work for Webster to pay back his purchase price of $120.

In 1848, Jennings and his friend Paul Edmonson helped plan a mass escape of 77 slaves from Washington, D.C. Known as the "Pearl Incident" it was the largest slave escape attempt in US history. They were caught and returned and their owners quickly resold them. The freedom of some slaves, including Mary and Emily Edmonson, spoken of most often as the "Edmonson Sisters", was purchased by families and friends

Paul married 2nd on 12 June 1849 to Desdemona Brooks, a free mulatto whose mother was white and free so she and her children were always free.

They had one daughter, Mary.

On 31 Oct 1854, Jennings and Desdemona bought a lot and built a house at 1804 L Street, NW. On 15 May 1856, the deed was paid off and released. On 23 Nov 1856, he purchased the house similar to his own on the piece of land next to him.

He had reunited with his children, and his son John lived with him. His daughter Mary lived next door with her two children. His sons Franklin and William also lived in the area.

After Desdemona's death, Jennings married a third time 09 Sep 1870, to Amelia Dorsey.^[2]

Paul died on 20 May 1874. He was buried at Columbian Harmony Cemetery in D.C. When that cemetery closed in 1959, Jennings' remains (along with others unclaimed by family members) were reinterred in a mass grave at National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, Maryland.

Note: His book was A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison, is described as "a singular document in the history of slavery and the early American republic." ^[3][4]

Slave Owners

1. James Madison Jr. (1751-1836)
2. Dolley Payne Madison (1768-1849)
3. Daniel Webster

Paul was born about 1795.

Savior of George Washington's Portrait, at the direction of Dolley Madison during the war of 1812. She allowed the unchecked rumor that she had herself saved the portrait by cutting it out of the frame, but in fact it was the enslaved footman, Paul Jennings, and two others who removed the 8 ft painting from the wall on 24 Aug 1814, and so saved the only artwork that was present in the original White House, and it was placed there once again after the rebuilding.

Paul Jennings wrote a memoir, after gaining his freedom in 1865, considered the first White House memoir. The name of it is:

"A COLORED MAN'S REMINISCENCES OF JAMES MADISON."

Paul has a well documented family line and current descendants

In 2009 Paul Jennings and descendants were honored at the Obama White House for his act.

Please add to his bio if you can.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Jennings_Paul_1799-1874
2. ↑ District of Columbia Marriages, 1811-1950
3. ↑ Wikipedia:Paul_Jennings_(slave)
4. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/coloredmansremin00jenn#page/n0/mode/2up

• 12 Jun 1849 Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1740-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Dodd, Jordan R., et al.. Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850. Bountiful, UT, USA: Precision Indexing Publishers.
• 1850 United States Federal Census Place: Washington Ward 1, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 56; Page: 48b
• 1860 United States Federal Census Place: Washington Ward 2, Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 586
• 1870 United States Federal Census Place: Washington Ward 1, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: M593_123; Page: 75B
• 1871 Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. Check the directory title page image for full title and publication information.
• United States Census, 1870
• Taylor, Elizabeth Dowling. A Slave in the White House. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012.
• http://www.pauljennings.info/