John Howe Peyton's Montgomery Hall

Jane Anderson

Jane Anderson, born c. 1839 in Roanoke County, Virginia, was a daughter of Edmond Anderson (c. 1810-1887) and Rosetta Lucas (c. 1818-1877). Both of her parents were owned by William Madison Peyton. Jane had four brothers: Charles, Edmond, Melvin, and Leslie. Jane was last owned by Walter Preston (1819-1867) of Washington County, Virginia. Preston married William Madison Peyton’s daughter, Garnett, in 1855 at Elmwood  in Roanoke County, Virginia (now Elmwood Park in Roanoke, Virginia). Walter Preston was educated at Princeton and Harvard, practiced law in Abingdon, ran unsuccessfully for attorney general of Virginia in 1857, and was later a member of the Confederate Congress.  Walter Preston and Garnett (Peyton) Preston lived at Alta Monte near Abingdon, Virginia. It is unknown if Jane went to live with Walter Preston at the time of his marriage to Garnett Peyton or if she was sold to Preston in 1858 when William Madison Peyton sold Elmwood and many enslaved men, women, and children.

Jane Anderson and her husband, David Bird, registered their marriage with the Freedmen’s Bureau in Washington County, Virginia. David Bird was born c.1825 and was owned by former Virginia Governor David Campbell (1779-1859). Campbell lived at Mont Calm in Abingdon and in Richmond while Governor, 1837-1840. Through remarkable letters dictated by Lethe Jackson and Hannah Valentine, two women enslaved at Mont Calm and preserved in the Campbell Family Papers at Duke University, it is known that David Bird was Hannah Valentine’s son and he and other members of his family were required to live in Richmond with Governor Campbell while others remained behind at Mont Calm. In 2016 Virginia First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe dedicated a garden at the Virginia Executive mansion in memory of these enslaved families. For more information about David Bird’s family, please see the Lethe Jackson and Hannah Valentine Letters in the Rubenstein Special Collections Library at Duke University:

https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/campbell/

David Campbell’s will provided for the emancipaton of David Bird or for Bird to live under protection as though free and able to benefit from his labor by earning his own wages. Campbell also provided financially for Bird through a bequest. David Bird worked as a cook, waiter, and hotel steward. David and Jane Bird lived next to her parents in Abingdon, Virginia after the Civil War. David and Jane (Anderson) Bird had at least 9 children, born between c. 1859 and 1880:

  • Edmond Anderson Bird, born c. 1859 in Abingdon, Virginia, was a contemporary of Booker T. Washington. Bird was graduated from Hampton Institute in 1879 and after teaching in schools in Virginia and New Jersey, he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts where he studied classical languages. He was graduated from Andover in 1889. Bird also taught at Tuskeegee Institute and lived in Boston, later working as a waiter and porter. Bird married Elizabeth Delaney.
  • Ottaway/Otway Bird, was born c. 1862 in Abingdon, Virginia died in Boston, Massachusetts in 1893.
  • Rosetta Bird, born c. 1863
  • Eliza Bird, born was born in Abingdon, Virginia c.1865 and was a teacher in Virginia.
  • David Bird, was born c. 1867
  • Marshall Bird, was born c. 1870
  • Sallie Bird, was born c. 1872
  • Melvin Bird, was born c. 1876
  • Frank Bird, was born c. 1879

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Jane Gray Avery

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