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Charles E. Middleton was born a "free person of color" between the years 1810 and 1812 in Savannah, Georgia. The first record of the future carpenter and pattern maker (a designer of patterns for machinery and carpentry) dates from January 1823, and places him in the household of C. G. Middleton, a "keeper of the Oyster House", who resided at 18 Green Ward. According to this record his mother was named $arah and his three sisters were Ann, Sarah, and Ellary. The name Charles E. Middleton does not appear with that of the family in later censuses. However, one can assume Charles to have grown up in this household and, when he was able to fend for himself to have taken up the tools of the carpenter and ventured forth on his own. The next record of Charles E. Middleton appears in 1835 and places him at a York Street address, employed as a carpenter with R.W. Pooler as his legal guardian. Charles' religious affiliation cannot be determined during this time. However, the names of his sisters, the recorded baptismals of his children and his' dubious Baltimore origin, may lend support to his having been raised a Catholic. He apparently remained at this York Street address until 1840, when he moved to (¼) lot 31 Warren Ward (415 - 417 East Congress Street) where he and his future wife, Charlotte, established their household in 1841.

Publication Date

2-28-1987

Charles e. Middleton: A Free Person of Color (1810-1883)

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