Christiana (Babcock) Bannister (abt. 1819 - 1902)

Born about 1819 in North Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States

Wife of Edward Mitchell Bannister — married 10 Jun 1857 in Boston, Massachusetts

Died 29 Dec 1902 at about age 83 in Cranston, Providence, Rhode Island, United States

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Biography

Christiana (Babcock) Bannister was a part of the Abolitionist Movement.

This profile is part of the Babcock Name Study.

Christiana (Babcock) Bannister is Notable.

Christiana Carteaux Bannister was a well-known hairdresser and abolitionist in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. She was known professionally as Madame Carteaux.^[1]

Christiana was born about 1820 in an area called "Dark Corners," a place in the extreme southwestern part of North Kingstown that borders with South Kingstown and Exeter. She was the daughter of an African American/Narragansett Indian couple named James (or John?) and Mary Babcock. ^[2], Rhode Island.

Not much is known about her early life. Some biographers claim she moved to Salem, Massachusetts with her brother James when he married Cecilia Redmod, but I have been unable to find evidence to support that. What we do know is that by 1840, Christiana is in Boston. Christiana married Desseline Carteaux by the Rev. J.C. Beman on 13 Oct. 1840. ^[3] According to the 1839 Boston City Directory, he was a person of color working in the clothing industry at 105 Blackstone. He also worked as a cigar maker. On page 847 of Stimpson's 1846 Boston directory, a D. L. Carteaux was working as a milliner at 110 Cambridge Street in Boston. In the 1848-1849 Boston City Directory by George Adams under People of Color on page 279 a Mrs. D.L. Carteaux was selling millinery goods at 110 1/2 Cambridge Street, Boston. Desseline is not listed.

Christiana Carteaux, aged 32, appears in the 1850 Federal Census for Providence, Rhode Island . She was living with John and Elizabeth Smith. However, Christiana appears in the 1850 Boston City Directory as Madame Carteaux. She was listed under hair work/Manufacturers (ladies) at 284 Washington. Edward, her future husband was working as a hairdresser at 190 Commercial Street. In the 1851 Boston City Directory by George Adams on page 52 C. Carteaux is listed as selling millinery goods at 3 Temple Street, Boston. In the 1853 Boston City Directory on page 57, Cristiana Carteaux appears as a lady’s hairdresser, at 191 Washington Street, Boston. Also listed at the same address is Edwin Banister working as a hair dresser. Christiana placed a legal notice in the Boston Courier on October 3, 1854 declaring her intention to dissolve her marriage with Desseline. That same year Christiana's shop was listed under hair work at 191 Washington Street and Edward was listed under barbers at the rear of 191 Washington Street in the Boston City Directory and Christiana was featured in the Liberator by William Cooper Nell as one of the most successful Black business people in Boston.

Christiana Carteaux, aged 35, appeared in the 1855 Boston City Census, page 118, line 39. She was living with Cecelia who is 20 years old. Both were listed as mulatto and working as hairdressers. Edward also appears in the census on page 70, line 5. He was working as a barber and was living with Tony Brown, Charles Rose, Nerter Freeman, Rachel Rose, Ellen Brown, Hiram Morris, Charles Brown and Caroline Brown. In 1856, Christiana opened a shop in Providence. An advertisement in the Liberator announced the opening of her shop at No. 2, Lonsdale Block, Providence, Rhode Island.

On June 19th 1857 she married Edward M. Bannister, an ambrotypist who later became a notable painter, at the Temple Street Episcopal Church in Boston. In the marriage register it says Bannister married Christiana Babcock whose maiden name was Babcock, this being her second marriage. This raises a question about whether Desseline Carteaux was a Babcock using Carteaux as a professional name as Christiana also did. Her profession is not noted despite her being already well established. The record lists her birthplace as South Kingstown and her father as James Babcock, but no mother is listed. ^[4] That same year Christiana changed her name to Madame Bannister. Her new address was Armory Hall, 323 Washington Street. Amory Hall was located on the corner of Washington Street and West Street in Boston. Many activities took place in the rental hall, including sermons; lectures by Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Lloyd Garrison; political meetings; exhibitions by well-known artists. On April 7, 1857, Christiana appeared in the production of “Love at Sight” produced by the Histrionic Club. William Cooper Nell founded the Club and wrote most of its productions. Members of the club rehearsed and performed at Christiana’s parlor at 365 Washington Street in Boston.

In January, 1860 an announcement in the Liberator said that an event at the Meinoson was being organized to raise funds to erect a monument and to help the widows of colored American heroes of Harper's Ferry. Christiana helped organize this. On October 16, 1859, John Brown, an abolitionist, led 21 men on an assault at Harpers Ferry. Among the raiders were five black men: two of these men died at Harpers Ferry, two were captured and executed, and one escaped to Canada. In 1861, the Bannisters moved to 28 Grove Street. Her salon and his studio were now at 31 Winter Street. Edward was listed in the Boston City Directory as a portrait painter also at 31 Winter Street which was their house. Also in 1861, Madame Carteaux appeared on the subscription list in the Liberator for donating $1.00 to the 27th National Anti-Slavery Anniversary.

In 1863, Cristiana, as President of the Colored Ladies Sanitation Commission, presented the state flag to the 54th Regiment. Massachusetts Governor Andrew said to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw at the presentation of colors: “The Fifty-fourth now holds in possession this sacred charge, in the performance of their duties as citizen soldiers. You will never part with that flag so long as a splinter of the staff or a thread of its web remains within your grasp. The State's colors are presented to the Fifty-fourth by the Relief Society, composed of colored ladies of Boston.” The Sanitary Commission was a private relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the first military unit consisting of Black soldiers to be raised in the North during the Civil War. According to the Boston City Directory, Christiana Carteaux Bannister was listed as a hairdresser at 31 Winter Street.

A lengthy article in the August 2, 1864 issue of the Anglo-African quotes Mrs. Carteaux Bannister, in response to the way colored soldiers were being treated by the government, as saying, "she would rather beg from door to door than that her husband should go to the war." Article also states that she had several brothers in the war. In September, The Colored Ladies Sanitary Commission of Boston announced its plan to hold a fair in Mercantile Hall for the benefit of colored soldiers and their families. Christiana Bannister is listed as President. In 1866, Christiana and Edward moved to 50 Northfield Street. Edward was listed as an artist at 85 Studio Building. According to the Boston City Directory, Madame Christiana Carteaux (the Bannister is dropped) had her business at 12 Winter Street. In 1868, in the Boston City Directory, Christiana was listed as a hairdresser at 43 Winter Street, Room 4.

In 1870, Christiana placed an ad in the Boston Evening Transcript saying she was back in her shop at 43 Winter Street after being gone for several weeks because of an illness and death in her family. Also in 1870, Christiana and Edward Bannister were listed in the 1870 Providence, Rhode Island Federal Census. She was working as a hairdresser. Living with them were Estelle Babcock who is 19 years old and keeping house, William Bannister who was 15 and at home, and Rachel Babcock who was 40 and at home. All household members were listed as mulatto and born in Rhode Island except for Edward who was born in Canada. In 1876, a committee from the Providence Literary Association donated $40 to the Providence Shelter for Colored Children. Christiana Bannister was listed as a member of that committee.

Edward and Christiana Bannister were listed in the 1880 Providence, Rhode Island Federal Census. His race was listed as mulatto and hers as Indian. He was working as an artist and Christiana was working as a hair doctress. Edward was born in New Brunswick and both his parents were born in the West Indies. Christiana was born in Rhode Island as was her mother. In 1881, Christiana placed an ad in the Boston Evening Transcript saying she had returned to 43 Winter Street and an advertisement in the October 25, 1884 Boston Evening Transcript listed Madame Carteaux’s nieces, Misses Babcock’s champooing parlor at 23 Harwich Street. In 1885, in the Providence City Directory Christiana was listed as a hair doctress at 243 Westminster Street. That same year Christiana placed an ad in the Boston Evening Transcript listing her at 243 Westminster Street in Providence and that her root and herb preparations can be purchased at 48 Winter Street, room 10 in Boston. In 1887, the Providence City Directory lists Madame Christiana Carteaux under Patent Medicines selling hair restoratives at 292 Westminster. In 1889, Mrs. E. M. Bannister was listed in the Boston City Directory under Drawing and Painting at 180 Columbus Avenue.

In 1895 and 1898 Christiana and Edward are listed in the Providence House Directory and Family Address Book on page 190. Their address is 93 Benevolent Street. He is listed as an artist and Christiana is listed as a hair doctress. Edward and Cristiana were listed in the 1900 Providence, Rhode Island Federal Census. They were living at 60 Wilson Street. He was born in November of 1827, and Christiana in April, 1826. They had been married for 40 years. Edward was born in Canada; both his parents were born in Barbados. Christiana and both her parents were born in Rhode Island. He was an artist and she was a lady’s hairdresser. He is listed as an alien under the citizenship column. Edward and Christiana are listed in the 1900 Providence House Directory and Family Address Book on page 867. Their address is 60 Wilson Street. He is listed as an artist and Christiana is listed as a hair doctress and in 1901, Christiana is listed in the Providence House Directory and Family Address Book on page 895. Her address is 60 Wilson Street. She is listed as a hair doctress and widow.

Occupations

• 1887: Madame Carteaux Hair doctress at 282 Westminster in Providence, Rhode Island
• 1884: Madame Carteaux Dermatologist at 43 Winter in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1880: Ladies Hair Doctress
• 1870: Hairdresser
• 1857: Ladies Hair Dresser at 365 Washington Street in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1854: Madame Carteaux Ladies Hair Work Manufacturer at 191 Washington Street in Boston, Massachusetts
• She opened and maintained a number of hair salons in the late 1840s in Boston, Massachusetts, including one on Washington Street. She opened her first hair salon in Providence, Rhode Island in 1855, and operated salons in Boston, Providence, and New York by train commuting. Her salons were a popular meeting place for abolitionists.
• 1847 worked as a milliner at 110 Cambridge Street, Boston.

Tax Assessments Boston

• 1870/$3500 ^[5]
• 1869/$3500 ^[6]
• 1868/$3200^[7]
• 1867/$3000 ^[8]

$3500 in 1870 is equivalent to about $82,000 in 2023. ^[9]

Residences

• 1901: 60 Wilson, Providence, Rhode Island (widowed)^[10]
• 1887: 93 Benevolent, Providence, Rhode Island
• 1880: 67 Cushing Street, Providence, Rhode Island with her husband, Amy & Ransom Parker, Anna (Parker) Lang & her children, and 30-year-old Elizabeth Smith
• 1870: Providence, Rhode Island with her husband Edward, 15-year-old William Bannister, 19-year-old Estelle Babcock (her niece who later became a hair doctress) , and 40-year-old Rachel Babcock
• 1860: Boston, Massachusetts with her husband Edward
• 1850: Providence, Rhode Island with John & Elizabeth Smith
• 1847: 110 Cambridge Street, Boston with her first husband Desseline Carteaux.

Philanthropist

Underground Railroad

She and her husband Edward were Underground Railroad operators in Boston, and her Madame Carteaux hair salons provided space for abolitionists to meet.

Civil War

Christiana raised funds for the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first regiment in the United States made up entirely of enlisted men of color. Along with Frederick Douglass, Massachusetts Governor Andrew and others, she presented the colors to the famous 54th Massachusetts on 18 May 1863.

Friends had procured flags, and it was determined to make the occasion of their presentation, on May 18, a memorable one. The day was fine and cloudless. [...] Brilliant in color and of the finest texture, fluttering in the fresh breeze blowing, the flags destined for the regiment were ready for presentation. They were four in number, - a national flag, a State color, an emblematic banner of white silk with the figure of the Goddess of Liberty, and the motto, "Liberty, Loyalty, and Unity," and another with a cross upon a blue field, and the motto, In Hoc Signo Vinces [translation: In this sign, you will conquer]^[11]

Whatever may be said, Mr. Commander, of any other flag which has ever kissed the sunlight or been borne on any field, I have the pride and honor to be able to declare before you, your regiment, and these witnesses, that from the beginning till now, the States colors of Massachusetts have never been surrendered to any foe. The Fifty-fourth now holds in possession this sacred charge, in the performance of their duties as citizen soldiers. You will never part with that flag so long as a splinter of the staff or a thread of its web remains within your grasp. The States colors are presented to the Fifty-fourth by the Relief Society, composed of colored ladies of Boston.^[12]

Home for Aged Colored Women

She founded and briefly retired to the Home for Aged Colored Women in Providence, Rhode Island which was later renamed the Bannister House in her honor.

Race/Ethnicity as noted in Census

• 1850: Race Unspecified on entire page (age noted as 32)^[13]
• 1860 "M" Mulatto (age 30) ^[14]
• 1870 "M" Mulatto (age 40) ^[15]
• 1880 "I" Indian ("Mu" is crossed out and replaced with "I", age 52) ^[16]
• 1900 "B" Black (lists birth as Apr 1826) ^[17]

Christiana and her extended family appears to be mixed race, having both Black and Native American Heritage. As a group they self report or are described in various manners by Census records takers. While she is included in the Black Heritage Project, the mixed race status of her extended family is of historical, cultural, and genealogic significance, and is helpful in sifting their records from the many White Babcocks of the area. The Federal Census situation of Native Americans in this time differed from that of Black and Mullato persons. DNA testing of the descendants of Christiana's siblings may eventually prove her Narragansett heritage and also clarify whether she is partially descended from Black slaves who retained the "Babcock" name, and/or from the White Babcock planter family of the Narragansett region who dropped their Badcock name, and established the usage of the "Babcock" name around 1680.

Death

She passed away late in 1902 at age 83 and was laid to rest without a gravemarker next to her husband, Edward Bannister, at the North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island.

Edward had died in early 1901, and in 1902 Christiana resided in the Home for Aged Colored Women for a brief eight days. She was soon deemed to be "insane" and was transferred to the Howard Asylum in Cranston. She died three month later. The likelihood is that she was suffering from age-related dementia. ^{[18] [1]}

A century later she was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. She is memorialized with a bronze bust displayed at the Rhode Island State House modeled after Edward's portrait of her. The portrait itself resides in the Newport Art Museum.

Research Notes

Researcher/genealogist Michael McGuigan has offered his research for our use. The following is his website: "An Annotated Bibliography on EDWARD MITCHELL BANNISTER and CHRISTIANA CARTEAUX BANNISTER. An Annotated Bibliography on Edward and Christiana Bannister^[19] Pocock-248 22:57, 25 November 2023 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Wikipedia
2. ↑ Cranston, G.T.,North Kingstown town historian. "The View From Swamptown: Christiana Bannister was a trailblazer whose legacy lives on" The Independent. Feb 28, 2021
3. ↑ marriage record (see Images) (link or image needed)
4. ↑ Unindexed Image of 1857 Boston Marriage Register courtesy of Family Search
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Boston Tax Records, 1822-1918", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:685R-FJPB : 16 November 2021), Christiana Bannister, 1870.
6. ↑ "Massachusetts, Boston Tax Records, 1822-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68T6-VZFD : 16 November 2021), Christiana Bannister, 1869.
7. ↑ "Massachusetts, Boston Tax Records, 1822-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68YJ-2V6L : 16 November 2021), Christiana Bannister, 1868.
8. ↑ "Massachusetts, Boston Tax Records, 1822-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68PJ-L1YX : 16 November 2021), Christiana Bannister, 1867.
9. ↑ Inflation adjustment tool
10. ↑ 1901 Providence, Rhode Island city directory
11. ↑ Emilio, pp. 24-25
12. ↑ Governor Andrew to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw at the presentation of colors; Emilio, pp. 28-29
13. ↑ "United States Census, 1850", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDJD-Z5D : Wed Oct 04 21:18:15 UTC 2023), Entry for John Smith and Elizabeth Smith, 1850.
14. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZCC-PZW : Tue Oct 03 11:35:40 UTC 2023), Entry for Edwin Bannister and Christianna Bannister, 1860.
15. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFFZ-WWR : Thu Oct 05 23:51:06 UTC 2023), Entry for Edward Bannister and Christiana Bannister, 1870.
16. ↑ "United States Census, 1880", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4SD-165 : Fri Oct 06 23:50:11 UTC 2023), Entry for E.m. Bannister and Christina Bannister, 1880.
17. ↑ "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M97T-ZQ2 : Thu Oct 05 00:59:35 UTC 2023), Entry for Edward M Bannister and Christiana Bannister, 1900.
18. ↑ Castro, Alexander. NewportRINews.com. Aug 13, 2018
19. ↑ McGuigan, Michael. “Bannister.” An Annotated Bibliography of Edward and Christiana Bannister, 2023, www.bannister.info. Accessed 25 Nov 2023.

• 1850 United States Federal Census Year: 1850; Census Place: Providence Ward 3, Providence, Rhode Island; Roll: M432_844; Page: 222B; Image: 450 (as Christiana Carteaux)
• 1854, 1884 Boston, Massachusetts city directories (as Madame Carteaux)
• 1857 Boston, Massachusetts city directories (as Christiana Carteaux)
• 1860 United States Federal Census Year: 1860; Census Place: Boston Ward 6, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: M653_521; Page: 894; Family History Library Film: 803521
• 1880 United States Federal Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Providence, Providence, Rhode Island; Roll: 1211; Page: 187A; Enumeration District: 011
• 1887 Providence, Rhode Island city directories (as Madame Carteaux)
• 1901 Providence, Rhode Island city directories (as Christiana Bannister)
• Emilio, Luis Fenollosa. History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865, Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Book Co., 1891 (1st ed.) and 1894 (2nd ed.)
• Find a Grave: Christiana Carteaux Bannister née Babcock
• Women History Blog: Christiana Carteaux Bannister
• Wikipedia

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q16971294
• Lancaster, Jane. The life and work of Christianna Bannister, Hair Doctress and Philanthropist Rhode Island History, Vol 59, Number 4. 2001