"Henrietta-Smith-Bowers-Duterte" (July 1817-December 23 1903)

The first female undertaker in the nation,was born free in

Philadelphia,Pennsylvania.She was of 13 childrens born to John Bowers & Henrietta Smith Bowers.The Bowers family was originally from Baltimore, Maryland  they settled in Philadelphia around 1810.Henrietta daddy became the sexton of the African Episcopal Church of St.Thomas.

Henrietta grew up in Philadelphia's "Seventh Ward," a long narrow strip in the center of the city that for nearly two centuries was home to the city's most prominent African American neighborhood.Seventh Ward was the section where scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois lived and wrote The Philadelphia Negro,the nation's first major study of African American urban life.

Henrietta was a tailor who made capes,coats,and cloaks for the city's middle and upper classes.In 1852 at the age of 35 she married Francis Duterte,a Haitian-born local coffin maker.Together they had several children,none survived  infancy.Francis was a member of the Moral abolition of slavery and equal rights for women.

After the death of her husband in 1858,she defied the gender restrictions of her era by assuming control over her late husband's business.In doing this,she became the first woman undertaker in the city,and the first woman undertaker in the nation.Henrietta conducted business in her own name.A surviving document,donated to The Library Company of Philadelphia,has this heading  "To H.S. Duterte,Dr,;General Undertaker,Address No.838 Lombard Street."

Like her husband,Henrietta worked to abolish slavery.She became an agent of the Underground Railroad,often hiding runaways in coffins or disguising them as part of funeral processions to ensure their safe passage through the city.She also supported the African American community through philanthropic projects.For example she helped financially supported the the AME Church Church of St.Thomas and raised funds to pay the pastor's salary.Henrietta also fundedStephen's Smith's Philadelphia Home for aged and Infirmed Colored Persons and in 1866 she helped create the Freedman's Aid Society Fair to assist formerly enslaved people in Tennessee.

She remained socially active throughout her life,Henrietta gradually transferred the management of the business to her nephew,Joseph T.Seth.By the time of her passing,the company had become one of the city's most successful African American businesses,taking in about $8,000 per year by burying both African Americans and whites.


Henrietta died in Philadelphia.In the 1903 Register of Death in the City of Philadelphia,Henrietta is listed as the undertaker for a young African American man who died just two days before her own death.When she died her estate included the undertaking business,hearses,horses,carriages,burial lots in four cemeteries,and houses.Joseph continued to operate the business until his death in 1927.She is buried in Eden Cemetery,the oldest African American cemetery in Philadelphia.