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My grandmother, Cornelia White Peterson, was born in 1869, the second of Philip and Elizabeth's three daughters. She married my grandfather, Jerome Bowers Peterson, in 1893. She is shown here with her two older children, Philip and Dorothy. While… Read More

My grandfather, Jerome Bowers Peterson, married Philip White's middle daughter, Cornelia, in 1893. Born in New York in 1859, Peterson attended the city's colored schools. One of his teachers was Peter Guignon's former schoolmate, Charles Reason, who… Read More

I know very little about Philip's siblings, including his older sister Mary. Born in 1818, she married Richard Thompson, and died in 1881. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, called Bessie, who was Philip's favorite niece. Bessie never married and… Read More

Philip attended the Laurens Street School where Peter Guignon’s former classmate, Charles Reason, was the principal teacher. After graduating, he apprenticed in Patrick Reason’s engraving shop until it became apparent that he had no talent in… Read More

Crummell’s obituary noted that Peter attended the Mulberry Street School where his classmates were, in his words, “the most celebrated pupils which ever were enrolled upon its records.” He named several of these students, among them James… Read More

Ashamed of what had happened to their city during the Draft Riots, New York's merchant class set up a Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People offering all black New Yorkers whose property had been destroyed or stolen to submit claims… Read More

During the draft riots, a mob stormed the Lyons's home three times before finally managing to destroy the interior and partially burn it down. The mob's goals were multiple but precise: they wanted to strike at the heart of the black family; destroy… Read More

In 1857 St. Philip’s moved from its original building on Centre Street to a more convenient location uptown on Mulberry Street. Despite their lack of funds, parishioners immediately set to work to beautify the new sanctuary. During the draft… Read More