Raleigh Brown Ijams
Raleigh or “R.B.”, was born into a wealthy family in modern day West Virginia, raised in Baltimore and later lived in Manhattan. He engaged in a variety of business ventures. He never married, nor had any children, and died at a relatively young age of 48. Fortunately, through his appreciation of a young Helen Keller, we learn much more about Raleigh.
Beginnings
Raleigh was born as the fifth child in a large family of 5 boys and 4 girls. His father, James Ijams was a very successful businessman who was a procurement officer for the Confederate Army in Civil War. His mother, Dorcas Susan Mitchel Tabb, came from an well established Berkley, Virginia family.
Father - James Ijams
From the 1860 Census,1 we can see James is a hotel keeper with a personal estate valued at $2,000. He is living with his wife, six children, and his mother-in-law, Arabella Tabb. Also living in the hotel eleven guests with a variety of occupations and some with families.
Slavery
We also know James was a slave owner. In 1860, he reports owning 7 slaves, with five of them shown as escaped within the last year.2 Here is an image from Ancestry3 of the 1860 US slave schedule as the FamilySearch version is completely illegible.
| Age | Sex | Color | Fugitive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | F | B | |
| 13 | F | M | |
| 68 | M | B | E |
| 40 | F | B | E |
| 36 | M | M | E |
| 22 | M | M | E |
| 25 | F | B | E |
B - Black M - Mulatto E - Escaped
| Age | Sex | Color | Fugitive |
|---|
 - 1905-01-27 - letter to Century Company.pdf)
At the age of 12, we find Raleigh living in Baltimore according to the 1870 census.
Adulthood
At the age of 18, Raleigh was working as a clerk at F.H. Davidson & Co. in Baltimore. He was working alongside his eldest brother Plummer Montgomery Ijams (age 28) and his mother (about age 46).
It is likely he was well educated. Raleigh was involved as a shareholder in a Baltimore bakery business.
Later Years
We have the good fortune to have a short letter written by Raleigh, two years before he died which reveals a great deal.
With the help of ChatGPT, we have an easy to ready transcription.
Death
For a man of some wealth and family prominence, we have few artifacts from his death. We know he was in Goldsboro, North Carolina when he died, but it is unclear why he was there. He had no family connections to the area, and none of the local papers published a notifications of his death. His death certificate was filled out by his brother John Tabb Ijams. He listed Raliegh’s occupation on the certificate as “Banker.”, and his residence at the time of death as the Hotel Kennon in Goldsboro. He died from turberculosis, but no doctor is mentioned on the certificate. It is curious why a death certificate was generated in District of Columbia, and not in North Carolina. Perhaps John was notified of the death and the only way to arrange transport of the body was to complete the certificate there in D.C.
A search of the local Goldsboro newspapers reveals no death notification. Newspapers in New York City and Baltimore did publish death notices, but no obituaries. His body was quickly shipped to Baltimore for burial in the family plot.
and here’s a longer one.4
image: “Records - Census/1860 Federal Slave Schedule/1860, Virginia, Jefferson - Ijams, James – Ancestry.jpg”
“Jefferson, Virginia, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBSF-9BNR?view=index : 29 January 2025), image 53 of 276; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. ↩︎
“United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W2XL-HB2M : 03 November 2024), Entry for James Ijams. ↩︎
“United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860”, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7668/records/91146504 : 29 January 2025), Entry of James Ijams. ↩︎
Here’s one with multiple paragraphs and code.
Indent paragraphs to include them in the footnote.
{ my code }Add as many paragraphs as you like. ↩︎