Mary Ellen Pleasant was a civil rights activist

She lived in San Francisco but did have some ties to our Peninsula. Much of her life is shrouded in mystery, mostly of her own making. As a wealthy influential black woman in 19th Century California, it was to her advantage to keep her past secret.

Whether she was born a slave or free is not known. She was of mixed race, but she changed the story from time to time. She did write a brief autobiography, but the facts stated there differ with what she had claimed at other times. All stories seem to agree that she spent her formative years in Nantucket among abolitionist Quakers.

Mary Ellen became active in abolitionist movements and assisted escaped slaves. She was twice married to mulatto men of some means. She spent time in New Orleans, and eventually came to San Francisco around 1852, possibly to avoid capture.

She arrived as a person with some wealth and invested it here. Limited at that time by her sex and race, she worked as a cook and housekeeper and continued to invest her money. She stayed involved with activities in the east. She was a supporter of John Brown and made a trip to give him money. At his death a note was found in his pocket. The initials of the signature were misread for years, but may have been MEP. Mary Ellen later claimed the note was hers.

She opened a boarding house in San Francisco when such establishments were where influential single men lived.

She had a sense of class that made her place a center of activity. Through her connections with these men and the business dealings she overheard, she continued to prosper. Mrs. Pleasant, in her prime, owned several boarding houses in San Francisco, a grand home, a ranch near San Mateo, several businesses and property at Sonoma. She was active with the placement of people of color when they arrived in California.

This was possibly still in connection with the Underground Railroad. Some were employed in her laundries and other businesses. Others were placed as servants in the homes of the wealthy. Thus she had a network of allies to provide her with information.

Mary Ellen helped to integrate public transportation in San Francisco.

In her time people of color were not permitted to ride the streetcars even though the law did not support such discrimination.

She filed several lawsuits against the car companies for refusing to allow her to ride, although normally she traveled in her own carriages.

Her prosperity and her unseemly associations with white people gave rise to many rumors that circulated about her. Hints of Voodoo influence were made. Newspaper stories of "Mammy” Pleasant were unmerciful.

There is probably little doubt that she arranged female companions for her wealthy clientele. She did help place unwanted babies. She provided Sarah Hill support in her divorce lawsuit against Senator William Sharon.

We will never know what was truth. Mary Ellen’s prosperity eventually passed when lawsuits by the family of one of her white associates took most of her wealth. Her life has become of interest in recent years as the black community points to her considerable efforts for civil rights.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 750 Middlefield Road, Redwood City.<