Elizabeth Keckley - Early Life

Early Life

Elizabeth Keckly was born a slave in February 1818 in Dinwiddie County Court House, Dinwiddie, Virginia, just south of Petersburg. Her mother, Agnes, was a house slave owned by Armistead and Mary Burwell. 'Aggy' as she was called, was a 'privileged slave', as she had learned to read and write although it was illegal for slaves to do so. Elizabeth's biological father, whose identity was revealed to her only late in life, was her master Armistead Burwell, a planter and colonel in the War of 1812. Keckley's mother did not tell her the father's identity until on her deathbed, although it was "obvious" by Elizabeth's appearance that he was white.

The nature of the relationship between Agnes and Burwell is unknown. He later permitted Agnes to marry George Pleasant Hobbs. He was a literate slave who lived and worked at the home of a neighbor during Elizabeth Keckley's early childhood. When his owner decided to move far away, Hobbs was taken away from his wife and stepdaughter.

Keckley lived in the Burwell house with her mother, and began official duties at age four. As the Burwells had four children under the age of ten, Mary assigned Elizabeth as the nursemaid for their infant Elizabeth Margaret. Forced into major responsibility as a young child, Keckley was subject to punishment for failing to care properly for the baby. One day, she accidentally tipped the cradle over too far, and the infant rolled onto the floor. Mary Burwell beat her severely.