Mary Lumpkin (1832–1905) was an American former slave and owner of the property on which stood

Lumpkin's Jail Lumpkin's Jail, also known as "the Devil's half acre", was a Slave breeding in the United States, slave breeding farm, as well as a holding facility, or slave jail, located in Richmond, Virginia, just three blocks from the state capitol building. ...

, a notorious slave jail. Mary was purchased by Robert Lumpkin around 1840 and made to act as his wife. She had the first of her seven children with him at age 13; two children died as infants. Mary "reportedly told

obert Obert may refer to the following people: Given name *Obert Bika (born 1993), Papua New Guinean football midfielder *Obert Logan (1941–2003), American football safety *Obert Mpofu, Zimbabwean politician *Obert A. Olson (1882–1938), American p ...

that he could treat her however he wanted as long as their kids remained free". Two of their daughters attended a Massachusetts

finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...

. Robert purchased Lumpkin's Jail in 1844. Mary is known to have secretly provided a hymnal for escaped slave

Anthony Burns Anthony Burns (May 31, 1834 – July 17, 1862) was an African-American man who escaped from slavery in Virginia in 1854. His capture and trial in Boston, and transport back to Virginia, generated wide-scale public outrage in the North and incre ...

, imprisoned there in 1854. Prior to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, she and her children went to live in Philadelphia, where Mary owned a house. After the war, Robert and Mary were legally married. She attended the First African Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. In 1866 Robert died and Mary inherited Lumpkin's Jail, as well as properties in Richmond; Huntsville, Alabama; and Philadelphia; she was named the executor of his will. She leased the jail property in 1867 to Nathaniel Colver, who used it to establish the Richmond Theological School for Freedmen (now

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Richmond, Virginia. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

). The school moved to a different location by 1873 and Lumpkin sold the land. Lumpkin operated a restaurant in New Orleans with one of her daughters. She died in 1905 in New Richmond, Ohio. She was buried in Samarian Cemetery. A street at Virginia Union University was named in honor of Lumpkin. Author Sadeqa Johnson based the protagonist of her book ''Yellow Wife'' on her. Hakim Lucas, president of Virginia Union University, stated that "Virginia Union University is the legacy of Mary Lumpkin, but it is also the legacy of every African American woman that's alive today and has lived and struggled before for her children...Mary Lumpkin represents the highest form of the ideal of what social justice means for us in our world today".

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