Sally Thomas (1787-1850) was born in 1787 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Around 1817, she and her two sons, John Thomas Rapier (1808-1869) and Henry (1809-1882), were sent to live in Nashville. Sally was known as a quasi-slave: she had the freedom to move about the city and to make money through a laundry business she started, but she was still considered to be the property of Charles Thomas. Sally had a third son, James P. Thomas (1827-1913), fathered by future Supreme Court Justice John C. Catron (1786-1865). Eventually Sally saved enough money to rent out a building at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Cherry Street, now Deaderick Street, where she operated her laundry business and a boarding house. Sally died of cholera in 1850 after she obtained freedom for all three of her sons.
Sally Thomas
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Description
Sally Thomas (1787-1850) was born in 1787 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Around 1817, she and her two sons, John Thomas Rapier (1808-1869) and Henry (1809-1882), were sent to live in Nashville. Sally was known as a quasi-slave: she had the freedom to move about the city and to make money through a laundry business she started, but she was still considered to be the property of Charles Thomas. Sally had a third son, James P. Thomas (1827-1913), fathered by future Supreme Court Justice John C. Catron (1786-1865). Eventually Sally saved enough money to rent out a building at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Cherry Street, now Deaderick Street, where she operated her laundry business and a boarding house. Sally died of cholera in 1850 after she obtained freedom for all three of her sons.