The Women of the Haley Family
The Grove Museum
Peggy Haley (ca. 1835-ca.1870) was born around 1835 in North Carolina. By 1851, she was enslaved by Ellen Call Long at The Grove, where she worked for over twenty years as a domestic servant, both while enslaved and after emancipation. Her husband Hanover was born in Virginia around 1808 and together they adopted one daughter, Amanda (1864-?), who was born at The Grove in 1864 to Margaret Warner, another enslaved domestic servant working in the house. Peggy and Hanover married prior to emancipation, but like many other formerly enslaved couples, they had to officially remarry on May 19, 1866 for their union to be legally recognized in the years following the Civil War. There were few options open to freed African Americans who remained in the South besides remaining in their previous residences and professions. Many did not have the means or desire to move away from their communities and support systems. For the women of the Haley family, life carried on more or less as it had prior to the war, though there were some significant changes. By 1880, Amanda had attended Lincoln Academy, the school established by the Freedman’s Bureau in Tallahassee for African Americans, likely becoming one of the first in her family to have access to education. Visit The Grove Museum to learn more about the lives of African Americans during this period.
