Early Life & Family
Lizzie in an undated photograph
What was life like for Elizabeth “Lizzie” Breckenridge (1843-1910), an African American woman who spent most of her life living with and working as a paid domestic servant for the Theophilus Wylie family? Pulling from a variety of primary sources, this exhibit pieces together her life experience in the second half of the 19th century in Bloomington, Indiana. Research is ongoing.
It is important to note that, while records confirm that Lizzie was paid by the Wylie family, many African Americans living in Indiana were forced to do unpaid labor in similar situations. Indiana prohibited slavery when it became a state in 1816, but indentured positions were often another form of enslavement in practice. In addition, federal laws, Indiana Black codes, discrimination, and violence made life incredibly difficult.
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Breckenridge
Little is known about Lizzie Breckenridge's childhood. She first appears in the 1850 Federal Census as "Elizabeth Brackenridge," the eight-year-old daughter of Hannah Brackenridge. Her birth date is recorded as July 5th, 1843 in Bedford, Indiana, a town approximately 30 miles south of Bloomington. All five family members (Hannah, Lizzie, and three other children) are listed as mulatto. They lived next door to Lizzie's grandparents, Hannah's mother and step-father. While records indicate that Hannah's step-father was born enslaved and later freed, Hannah and her mother's history is less clear.
Hannah (Collins) McCaw
Lizzie was born to Hanna, a woman who raised several children and grandchildren, survived two husbands, and is documented as having been significantly involved in the Underground RailRoad.
Marriage records show that Lizzie's mother, Hannah Collins, married Edmund Breckenridge in 1842, a year before Lizzie's birth. Hannah was twenty-two years old at the time. Lizzie is listed as the second-eldest child in the 1850 census record, suggesting that her brother, Armstead, was likely her half-brother, as he would have been a toddler when Hannah married Edmund. Though his last name is listed as "Brackenridge" in that census, Armstead appears in other sources, such as later census and military records, with the last name of Percell.
Hannah does not appear in records with the last name of Percell; though, a white man with the last name of Persell lived in the same town as Hannah at the time of Armstead's birth. By 1852 Hannah is married to Henry McCaw and living in Bloomington. No further record of her first husband (and Lizzie's father), Edmund, appear after the 1840 census listing.
The 1850 Federal Census lists Hannah Brackenridge as the head of household and names Lizzie along with three other children, presumably her siblings.
The 1900 Census, taken two years before Hannah's death at the age of eighty-one, listed her as a widow and mother of nine children, five of whom were living at the time and named in her will. Lizzie was 59 at the time and still living with the Wylie family in Bloomington. Hannah was living in Indianapolis with another one of her daughters when she died, beneath what is now the I-65/West Street junction. The house no longer stands.
In 1901, a newspaper article in the Indianapolis Recorder Hannah's grandson, Willis O. Tyler, refers to her as having "charge of a station" of the Underground Railroad while she lived in Bloomington. For more information on Hannah and the Underground Railroad in Monroe County, visit the Monroe County Timeline compiled by the Monroe County Public Library. The Wylie family was also identified as “in on” the Underground Railroad by Walter Borland, a white man who grew up in Bloomington just after the Civil War.
Edmund Breckenridge
Aside from his marriage to Hannah, Edmund Breckenridge is not found in public records. The only other piece of information known about Edmund appeared in a news article about Lizzie’s service to the Wylie family, which reads: “Her father was an ex-slave, and coming North, married and settled down at Bedford, where for some time he was a shoemaker. In 1852, he moved his family to Bloomington.” It does not appear that Hannah and Edmund were still together by 1852 though. Hannah is listed as the head of household in the 1850 Federal Census and Edmund is not listed at all. The Lawrence County Marriage Book shows that Hannah married Henry McCaw on April 29, 1852 and moved to Bloomington, thus undergoing another name change and relocation. The reason why the article mentioned Edmund moving to Bloomington is unclear. Perhaps this was an error on the part of the author, or there is more information on Edmund that has yet to come to light.
Siblings
Lizzie had several siblings and half siblings, many of whom she remained close to throughout her life. Lizzie's brothers Armstead and Zacharia both served in the 55th Massachusetts Colored Infantry during the Civil War. Her sister, Maggie, was one of the first Black women to attend Indiana University's prepatory school, and her son, Willis O. Tyler is among the first African Americans to graduate from Indiana University. He went on to Harvard Law School and became a prominent Civil Rights lawyer in California. Maggie's grandaughter (and Willis's niece), Helen Wheeler Riddle, was the first African American female to graduate from the University of Southern California's law school.
Wylie House staff continue to research into their lives and the lives of others in Lizzie's family and social life.