Nancy (Gardner) Prince (1799-1859) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Nancy Prince formerly Gardner

Born 15 Feb 1799 in Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts, United States

Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]

[sibling(s) unknown]

Wife of Nero Prince — married 15 Feb 1824 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

[children unknown]

Died 6 Nov 1859 at age 60 in Everett, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

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Profile last modified 8 Apr 2024

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1 Biography
2 Sources

Biography

Nancy (Gardner) Prince is a part of US Black history.
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Early Life

Anti-Slavery, Children rights Activist, and Author.

Nancy Gardner Prince, was born Free in Newbury port, Mass in 1799. Her father was Thomas Gardner, a mariner from Nantucket who died when Nancy was a baby. Nancy's mother Mary Wornton was born in Gloucester, the daughter of Tobias Wornton who was called "Backus" who was "stolen" from Africa when young and was a slave of Winthrop Sargent father of Judith Sargent Murray. He served in the Revolution at Bunker hill. His wife, Nancy's grandmother, was a Native American and worked for the Parsons family

Marriage

Nancy married Nero Prince, a free black who had recently arrived home to Boston from Russia. They married in Salem in on 15 Feb 1824. They were dressed in Russian costumes. Nancy had met him years previously possibly in Gloucester as an acquaintance of the Dalton's, a prominent black family in Gloucester and Boston.. Shortly after their marriage, they left for Russia on 14 Apr 1824 aboard the ship Romulus with Capt. Epes Sargent. the Great Nephew of [[Sargent-539|Winthrop Sargent] the person who enslaved her Grandfather Tobias Wornton.

Journey to Russia

After stops in Elsinore and Copenhagen in Denmark where they spent twelve days, they sailed for St. Petersburg, Russia arriving on 21 June 1824 after making several stops along the way. Nero Prince returned to his job, serving as a door man and footman to the Czar Alexander the 1st. Nancy was taken to a palace and was presented to Emperor Alexander I who was on the throne when she met him. He took her to meet Empress Elizabeth. Nancy who was a seamstress by trade started a business making elegant baby clothes for royalty, exquisitely crafted in French and English styles. She even employed others in this occupation. Due to health reasons that were made worse by the cold weather in Russian, it was decided by Nero Prince and Nancy that after staying 9 and a half years she would return to Boston to prepare a home and Nero would soon follow. Nero never made it, he died in Russian in 1833 cause of death unknown.

Life back in Boston

Now all alone, never having children, the remainder of Nancy life was devoted to the anti-slavery movement and the welfare of children; she made several trips to Jamaica and the West Indies doing missionary work. In Kingston, Jamaica, she was an activist for children and helped establish an orphanage.

In 1850, she started writing her autobiography "A Narrative of the Life and Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince" [1]with the hope of selling her books and thereby contribute to her efforts by raising money for her causes.

Nancy Prince would die 9 years later in 1959 from Dropsy she was 60 Years old she was buried in Woodland Cemetery Everett, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

Sources

"Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHKC-74H : 28 December 2022), Nero Prince, 1824.