Biography:
Ms. Georgeanna Thompson Snowden was born in January of 1829, the daughter of Mr. Samuel Thompson and Mrs. Jane (Woodyard) Thompson. Unusually for the time, she was free born. About a third of the African Americans in this part of Maryland were free. Her father was enslaved, and her mother was free. Since a 1644 law in Colonial Maryland required that children inherit the status of their mother, Georgeanna and her two sisters were free.
About 1845, Ms. Thompson married Mr. James Snowden. We believe that he was likely a nephew of the Rev. John B. Snowden. They had two children, who were living with them in 1870. The younger of the two likely died while still a child. Her husband passed away in 1874.
By 1880, Mrs. Snowden was keeping house for her daughter, her father and a nephew. She likely worked for local families, taking in wash and doing other housekeeping chores. By 1900, Mrs. Snowden was living with and working for the Zendgraf family on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Around Christmas 1903, she went to visit her daughter, Mrs. Clementine Clements. There, in Clementine’s house, Georgeanna passed away. Mrs. Snowden was returned to Westminster and buried in Ellsworth Cemetery.
Maryland State Archives
Headstone
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