Mary Frances Vashon (c. 1818 – September 1854) also known as Mary Frances Colder, and by her

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Fanny Homewood, was an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

journalist and an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

in the 19th century. She was one of the first African American female journalists in the United States.

Biography

Vashon was born in about 1818 in Virginia, to parents Anne (née Smith) and John Bathan Vashon. In 1822, they moved to

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census ...

, where her father opened a saloon and

livery stable A livery yard, livery stable or boarding stable, is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire (unless on wor ...

and her brother,

George Boyer Vashon George Boyer Vashon (July 25, 1824 – October 5, 1878) was an African American scholar, poet, lawyer, and abolitionist. Biography George Boyer Vashon was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the third child and only son of an abolitionist, John Be ...

, was born two years later, in 1824. In 1829, her father moved the family to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, where he became a successful barber. This success led him to become a wealthy landowner and allowed him to open Pittsburgh's first

bathhouse Bathhouse may refer to: * Public baths, public facilities for bathing * Gay bathhouse A gay bathhouse, also known as a gay sauna or a gay steambath, is a public bath targeted towards Gay men, gay and Bisexuality, bisexual men. In gay slang, a ...

, which he operated as a stop on Pittsburgh's

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. Her father, at that point the wealthiest black man in Pittsburgh, spared no expense on her education. Because Pittsburgh did not provide

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

for black children at the time, her father began a school, the

Pittsburgh African Education Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, in the basement of an

African Methodist Episcopal church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

, where Mary Frances may have received some of her early schooling alongside her brother George and Martin Delaney. She was sent to Philadelphia to study at the private school, Female Academy of Miss Sarah Mapps Douglass, and went on to take out ads in Martin Delaney's newspaper, '' The Mystery'', advertising raised

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

lessons.

Career

An avid

, Mary Frances Vashon took her knowledge into the field of journalism, writing for anti-slavery newspapers, including William Howard Day's '' The Alienated American'' and

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

's "Frederick Douglass' Paper", under the name of "Fanny Homewood", "Fanny" being the name of her maternal grandmother. This made her one of the pioneering black women journalists in the United States. Mary Francis married Benjamin F. Colder and had four children, a boy and three girls, with him. On December 29, 1853, her father suffered a heart attack and died in a Pittsburgh train station. In September 1854, Mary, age 36, and her mother, Anne, followed him in death as a

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic swept through Pittsburgh. Her brother, George, would go on to take charge of her four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vashon, Mary Frances 1810s births 1854 deaths African-American journalists African-American abolitionists American abolitionists Writers from Pittsburgh Journalists from Pittsburgh Deaths from cholera in the United States American women journalists Journalists from Virginia