"Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (February 1818-May 1907)(sometimes spelled Keckly)

Was a former slave turned successful seamstress who is most notably known as being Mary Todd

Lincoln's personal modiste and confidante,and the author of her autobiography,Behind the Scenes or,Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House.Mrs.Keckley utilized her intelligence,keen business,sawy,and sewing and design skills to arrange and ultimately buy her freedom(and that of her son George as well),and later enjoyed regular business with the wives of the government elite as her base clientele.After several years in St Louis,she moved to Washington,D.C. in the spring of 1860.Utilizing both perseverance and an ability to ingratiate herself with those of influence,she was able to distinguish herself among notable women of society in the nation's capitol who sought out her dressmaking skills.Among her her clients were Varnia Davis,wife of Jefferson Davis,and Mary Anne Randolph Custis Lee,wife of Robert E.Lee.Her relationship with the president's wife,Mary Todd Lincoln was the most noteworthy as it was distinguished not only by its endurance over time but the nature of the association.A mutual respect and trust was established between the two women and Elizabeth was not only dressmaker to the first lady,but an invaluable confidante to Mrs.Lincoln in times of emotional crisis.Elizabeth was born a slave in Dinwiddle County Virginia,just south of Petersburg.Her mother Agnes,was a slave,owned by Armistead and Mary Burwell."Aggy"as she was called,was considered a 'privileged slave",learning to read and write despite the fact that it was illegal for slaves to do so.Her biological father,whose real identity was revealed to her later in life,was Armistead Burwell .In fact,Elizabeth didn't find out Armistead was her until her mother was on her death bed,and announced it to her.The exact nature of the relationship between Agnes and Armistead is unknown.Agnes was later permitted to marry George Pleasant Hobbs.George was also a literate slave,residing at the home of a neighbor during Elizabeth Keckley's early childhood.He was eventually estranged from his wife  and stepdaughter when his owner moved to far away.Elizabeth resided in the Burwell house with her mother,and began official duties at age five when it was decided that,because the Burwells  had four other children under the age of ten,she would become the nursemaid for their infant daughter,Elizabeth Margaret..Taking on the responsibility as a young child,she came to understanding the dynamics of slave's existence early in life.While looking after the baby one day,she accidentally tipped the cradle over to far,and the infant rolled onto the floor.This resulted in the beginning of many painful episodes of abuse that Elizabeth had to endure.In 1832 at age fourteen,Elizabeth was sent to live "generous loan"with the Burwell eldest son,Robert,and wife Margaret Anna Robertson,in Chesterfield County Virginia,near Petersburg.Robert wife demonstrated particular contempt for Elizabeth,and made home life for the next four years most uncomfortable for her.Elizabeth mentioned that Mrs.Burwell seemed desirous to wreak vengeance upon her,and enlisted the help of their neighbor William J. Bingham to help subdue her "stubborn pride."Despite the hardships she hardships she endured,Elizabeth wrote many letters during her time there.When she was eighteen,William called her to his quarters for unexplained reasons and ordered her undress so that he could beat her.She immediately refused,citing that in addition to her being a fully developed woman,that he "shall not whip me unless you prove the stronger.Nobody has a right to whip me but my own master,and nobody shall do so if i can pervent it.He proceeded to bind her hands and beat her,resulting in Elizabeth returning home with bleeding welts upon her back.One week later,Mr.Bingham attacked her again and flogged her until he was exhausted.During these beatings,she refused to show great emotion,and suppressed her tears and voice with all of her will.The following week, after another attempt to"break her",William had to a change of heart "burst[ing] into tears,and declar[ing] that it would be a sin"to to beat her anymore.He stopped beating her,asked for forgiveness.He also declared that he would beat her no longer.Elizabeth claims that he kept his word.Elizabeth then became the victim of sexual abuse while living in Hillsborough,North Carolina.For four years,a man name Alexander M. Kirkland forced a sexual relationship upon her,which she said caused "suffering and deep mortification.She ended up with bearing a son Alexander,naming the child George after her stepfather.George was later killed in action on August 10,1861,while serving as a solider with the Union Forces.After many difficulties in establishing her son's racial identity(He passed as white in order to serve in the Union Army),Elizabeth was able to procure a pension for an initial monthly amount of  $8 (later raised to $12) for the remainder of her life.By early 1842,Armistead Burwell was deceased,and his mistress and her slaves went back to Virginia to live with her daughter,Anne  and son-in-law,Hugh A.Garland.Due to financial difficulties in the Garland family,several decisions were made in order to support the large family and slave inventory.Some of of the slave children were sold,and some were hired out,but Elizabeth and her mother remained with their mother.After many moves,in 1847 the Garlands moved to St.Louis.Anne relied heavily upon Agnes and Elizabeth to help with the care of her children,and to do all of the family sewing.Elizabeth would eventually create opportunities for herself in St.Louis.Working for nearly twelve years in St.Louis afforded her the opportunities to mingle with a rather large free black population as well as establish connections that she would use to become a dressmaker for the town's white upper class women.She met her future husband James,but refused to marry him until she and her son were free.With marriage in mind,she began her campaign for freedom.She approached Hugh Garland and asked if she could manumit herself and her son.Hugh flatly refused.Determined to not let the subject rest,she kept trying to get permission for two years.In 1852,Hugh agreed to release them $1,200.Steadfast in her quest to raise the money needed,she began to entertain the idea of going to New York to "appeal to the benevolence of the people.One of her patrons,Mrs,Elizabeth (Lizzie) Le Bourgeois,Elizabeth to travel "to New York to beg for money" to buy her freedom,stating that she had given the matter some though and that "it would be a shame to allow you to go North to beg for what we should give you.With the help of her patrons,she was able to gather the money to buy her son's freedom,and emancipated in November 1855.She kept her promise to repay her patrons,choosing to remain in St.Louis until this was accomplished.During her final years in St.Louis,Elizabeth worked very hard at making progress in her business as well as personal life.She began to look beyond life in St.Louis.Elizabeth enrolled her son in the newly established Wilberforce University.She also proceeded to make formal plans to Leave St.Louis,leaving her husband after almost eight years of marriage.Her departure from St.Louis in early 1860 took her to Baltimore,Maryland,where she had hoped to form "classes of young colored women"to teach them her system of cutting and fitting dresses.She said that her "scheme was not successful,after six weeks of labor and vexation,she left Baltimore with scarcely money enough to pay her fare to Washington.At the time,Maryland was passing many strict and repressive laws in order to control the free blacks within the state.In-mid 1860,after finding herself unsuccessful in establishing her school in Baltimore,Elizabeth planned to go to Washington,D.C. to start a new life.She intended to work as a seamstress as she had done in St.Louis,yet there was a troublesome obstacle in her way.Almost destitute from her time spent in Maryland.she lacked the money to be able to purchase a license for her to be able to remain in the city for more than thirty days.Always resourceful,Elizabeth found a way through one of her patrons.A Mrs Ringold used her connection to Mayor James G.Berret to petition for a license for Elizabeth;upon her request James not only granted her the license,but granted it free of of charge.With her new license,she was able to concentrate more closely on networking and supporting herself.Commissions for dresses were steadily coming in,but the dresses that she completed for Mrs.Robert E.Lee sparked her business' rapid growth.Elizabeth found most of her work with the women of society by word-of -mouth recommendations;after completing several dresses,she came upon a commission that she almost let go.Mrs.Margaret McLean of Maryland,who was introduced by way of Mrs.Varina Davis,approached Elizabeth with a demand to have a dress made.Elizabeth attempted to politely decline the work,because of her already heavy order commitments.Mrs McLean would not accept no for an answer.She also stressed she needed to complete the dress urgently,all the while reminding her that she had the means to introduce Elizabeth to the people in the White House.After working tirelessly,Elizabeth finished the dress for Mrs McLean,and the following week Mrs.McLean called for Elizabeth and instructed her to go to the Lincoln's,where her presence had been requested by Mrs.Lincoln.Elizabeth was introduced to Mrs. Lincoln on March4,1861 the day of Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration.Mrs.Lincoln,in the midst of preparing for the day's festivities,requested that Elizabeth return to the White House the following morning for an interview.Upon arrival,Elizabeth was dismayed to find other women assembled,all competing to win favor with the new first Lady.For her the day was triumphant-Mrs.Lincoln had chosen her for the position of personal modiste.Leaving the White House that day,Elizabeth carried with her the first of many dresses for which Mrs.Lincoln would require the seamstress's dress making expertise.For the next six years,Elizabeth would become an intimate witness to the private life of the first family.In addition to utilizing her inestimable dress making skills,her other responsibility was to assist Mrs.Lincoln at the start of each day as her personal dresser.This function extended to aiding Mrs.Lincoln as she prepared for her appearance at official receptions and other social events.Mrs.Lincoln who was known for her love of fashion,kept Elizabeth busy maintaining and executing new creations for the First Lady's increasingly extensive wardrobe within four months Elizabeth completed approximately sixteen dresses.Mrs. Lincoln,a woman plagued by anxieties,emotions problems,and subject to inconsistent moods,could be difficult to deal with.It was the opinion of Rosetta Wells that Elizabeth was "the only person in Washington who could get along with Mrs.Lincoln,when she became mad with anybody for talking about her and criticizing her husband.The friendship that grew out of the intimacy that was shared between the two women is what fostered Elizabeth life-long loyalty to the First Lady.During the Lincoln administration (and many many afterward),she was the sole designer and creator of Mary Todd Lincoln's event wardrobe.In January 1862 Mrs.Lincoln posed at Brady's Washington Photography Studio,showing off two of Elizabeth gowns.For several years to come,Mrs.Lincoln would attend many affairs and continue to pose for more portraits showing casing Elizabeth's talent.Elizabeth comforted the first Lady after the President's assassination.Consumed with grief and despair,Mr.Lincoln opted to seclude herself from the world and invite a chosen few into her quarters.Finding her in a critically state delicate state and unstable state,Elizabeth would yet again provide the solace,comfort,and reliability that Mrs.Lincoln so desperately required.