| 7. |  Jane Morris was born on 5 Jul 1801 in 38 North Gay street, Baltimore, Independent Cities, Maryland, USA; died on 19 Mar 1894 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; was buried in 201 South 30th street, Penbrook, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA. Other Events:
- Name: Jane Aunty Chester
- Name: Jane Chester
- Name: Jane M. Chester
- Name: Jane Maria Mars
- Name: Jane Russel
- Occupation: Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; Restaurateur and Caterer
- Enslaved: 1801, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Maryland, USA; Was born in Baltimore, Md., No. 38 North Gay street, and belonged to the family of the then well known and opulent Judge George Pressbery
- Underground Railroad: 1818, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Maryland, USA; Escaped Slavery traveled from Baltimore to York, and then on to Harrisburg by Stagecoach.
- Residence: 1850, East Ward, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA
- Residence: 1870, Ward 3, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA
- Residence: 1880, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; Marital Status: Widowed; Relation to Head: Self
- Residence: 1894, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA
- Obituary: 19 Mar 1894, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; Self-Emancipation, Life and Death of Mrs Jane M Chester and Mr. George Chester
- Obituary: 20 Mar 1894, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA; Has names of two of her former slaveholders.
Notes:
My Contribution: Along with my husband, I contributed to the abolitionist cause through connections to The Liberator and the Underground Railroad. I catered numerous weddings, funerals, socials, and other events for all of Harrisburg, white and black. I owned my own home, where I raised children with great success, took on boarders, hosted events, and made my own taffy.
My Legacy: I escaped enslavement in Baltimore and made a treacherous journey north to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where I met the man I married, George Chester, and collaborated with him in the work of operating a restaurant and combatting slavery. After George’s death in 1859, I developed a formidable reputation of my own in Harrisburg. The home I owned on Chestnut Street served as a gathering place for the city’s organizations, churches, and changemakers, and my catering business served white and black, young and old, and policymaker and commoner. The Capital Presbyterian Church is still in existence, thanks to my support of the Elder Street Presbyterian Mite Society shortly after an 1890 fire destroyed the church building. My husband and I passed our passion for abolitionism on to our son, Thomas Morris Chester, who had a significant impact on African American history in our nation.
About Me: “No colored woman a resident of Harrisburg was better known or more highly respected than Mrs. Chester…. Her life was useful and creditable and she devoted herself to her children for whose good she made many sacrifices. Always pious, charitable and neighbourly, Mrs. Chester was never without devoted friends, and by those who survive her, death will be sincerely mourned.” The Harrisburg Daily Independent, March 19, 1894.
Full Name: Jane Maria (Morris) Chester
Birth Date: 1800-1805 (approximate, most likely 1801)
Death Date: April 20, 1894
Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland
Sex: Female
Race: “Colored” (1840, 1850, and 1860 Federal Censuses); Black (1870 and 1880 Federal Censuses)
Places of Residence: Gay Street, Baltimore, Maryland (while enslaved); 305 Chestnut Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Connection to the Old Eighth Ward: Resident on Chestnut street two blocks southeast of the Eighth Ward. Operated restaurant, the State Capitol Hotel, in Eighth Ward; belonged to Wesley Union A.M.E. Zion Church, connected with Elder Street Presbyterian Church.
Family Members: Husband: George Chester. Children: Charlotte Chester, Thomas Morris Chester, David Chester, Harriet Chester, Maria(h) Chester, Amelia Chester, Eliza Chester Zendricks (Note: the Chesters had several other children who did not live to adulthood).
Education: No education listed on federal census records.
Occupations: Restaurateur. Caterer. Homemaker. Boarding House Operator.
Church Membership: Wesley Union A.M.E. Zion Church (member) and Elder Street Presbyterian Church (supporter)
Activism: Involved with the distribution of the Liberator and likely the operation of the Underground Railroad; hosted the Mite Society for Elder Street Presbyterian Church.
Connections: T. Morris Chester (son), David Chester (son), Amelia Chester (daughter-in-law), Eliza Chester Zendricks, Anne E. Amos (Mite Society), and James Auter.
“Jane M. Chester,” Digital Harrisburg (blog), October 15, 2020, https://digitalharrisburg.com/jane-m-chester/.
Obituary Notes:
AN OLD EX-SLAVE
Death of Mrs. Jane M. Chester-A Bright Son
Has names of two of her former slaveholders:
--'Squire Presbury (Baltimore?)
--Sold to Dennis A Smith "when very young"
Self-Emancipated through Escape to Freedom in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Buried:
Lincoln Cemetery
Died:
Date of birth on death certificate does not match her stated age at death, which is more consistent with her records.
Children:
- Charlotte Elizabeth Chester was born on 14 Aug 1829 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; died on 8 Jul 1882 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; was buried in 201 South 30th street, Penbrook, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Moses S Chester was born in 1830 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; died in Oct 1849 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; was buried in 1867 in 201 South 30th street, Penbrook, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Thomas Morris Chester was born on 11 May 1834 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; died on 30 Sep 1892 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; was buried in 201 South 30th street, Penbrook, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA.
- David R Chester was born on 11 Aug 1835 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; died on 10 Dec 1889 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; was buried on 15 Dec 1889 in 201 South 30th street, Penbrook, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Harriet Jane Chester was born about 1837 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; died on 24 Apr 1928 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; was buried in 201 South 30th street, Penbrook, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Maria Chester was born on 14 Sep 1841 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; died on 9 Jun 1914 in New York, New York, USA.
- 3. Eliza Chester was born in Mar 1846 in Pennsylvania, USA; died on 30 Oct 1918 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; was buried in 201 South 30th street, Penbrook, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Agnes Chester was born about 1849 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA; died in Feb 1850 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA.
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