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A History

 

People have always lived in the interstices between black and white.

My family is descended from slaves and slave owners who lived in Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina. They settled in Washington, D.C. in the nineteenth century. 
Herbert Harris I.jpeg

In 1835, my grandfather’s grandfather, an eighteen-year-old slave named Herbert Harris, is brought to the District of Columbia. His master dies, and Herbert is able to obtain his freedom through the courts. He builds a prosperous real estate business and marries Ellen Carroll.

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Charles M Wilder

1837-1902

Herbert Harris (center)

1816-1879

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Caroline Wilder Harris

1865-1939

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Herbert Harris II

1894-1966

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Minnie Carsten Welsh.jpeg

Minnie Carsten

1862-1933

Bertram Welsh

b. 1901

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Ellen Carroll Harris

b. 1826

Charles M Wilder (1837-1902) born a slave in Sumter, South Carolina, Wilder was a self-educated carpenter who represented Richland County in the Constitutional Convention of 1868. He served as deputy marshal and postmaster. He held many party offices during the Reconstruction and was a Director for several white-controlled businesses. After the Reconstruction, Wilder received several appointments from Governor Wade Hampton.

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William Harris

1854-1928

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Alice M Harris

1900-1999

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Frank Nell

1896-1918

Charles M. Wilder

1837-1902

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