Two Tales of Southern Success: Diversity Helps Chart a Community

Rita G. Koman

Reprinted from the OAH Magazine of History
16 (Winter 2002). ISSN 0882-228X
Copyright (c) 2002, Organization of American Historians
 

Perseverance and optimism frequently fought with regional pride and self-interest in the post-Civil War South. While farsighted southerners envisioned a modern South to compete with the industrialized North, too many remained engulfed in commemorating their lost past. Thus, the South's agricultural economy lagged far behind, with earnings that were half the national average (1). By the 1890s, northern investments had made inroads, but these were overshadowed by Old South values. Virginia replicated the other southern states. It was agriculturally based, relying predominately on tobacco but increasingly expanding into crops of wheat and corn. Industry was centered mainly in Richmond, while railroads expanded throughout the state.

In northern Virginia, the railroad was the lifeline to the world beyond for residents of the hamlet of Manassas. It figured in the successful contributions of two townspeople of diverse backgrounds: Robert Portner, a German immigrant, and Jennie Dean, a former slave. For both individuals, 1894 was a key year. Reflecting upon their experiences can provide insight into the personal reality of national events during the 1890s. The drama of their individual lives illustrates how one person can make a difference within a community.

Robert Portner arrived in the port of New York in 1853 carrying a ticket paid for by an older brother. While eventually becoming a self-made millionaire, Portner was not supposed to be an immigrant. Rather, as the son of a decorated Prussian military officer, he expected to follow in his father's footsteps. Born in 1837 into a family of five boys and two girls in Westphalia, Prussia, he was well educated locally and at the Annaburg Military Academy. Upon his father's death in 1847 or 1848, several older brothers migrated to the United States, and Robert followed them later at age sixteen. He learned English while working in a Manhattan grocery store. A stint in a tobacco factory near Williamsburg with another brother introduced him to Virginia, but this venture was not successful. He returned to grocery store work in New York, where he became a citizen in 1859 and voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 (2).

As a risktaker, Portner decided to take his small savings and return South to be near the military action following southern secession. After arriving in Washington, D.C., in the late spring of 1861, he discovered the city filled with soldiers. Hitching a ride on a sutler's wagon, he crossed the Potomac to the deserted town of Alexandria. Here, together with another German, Frederick Recker, he managed to scrape together one thousand dollars to open a grocery store. Union forces had occupied Alexandria and chased out all southern sympathizers, but the commanders needed food and supplies for the army stationed throughout the area. Portner and Recker responded to that need, and business quickly boomed (3).

Within a year, Portner bought a small brewery nearby with store profits. The soldiers' thirst for beer never seemed to abate. Expanding the brewery naturally followed, and soon he was renting a schooner to ship goods and beer down the Potomac to soldiers stationed in nearby Fredericksburg. Both partners fared well while the war continued, but afterwards they amicably split. Recker kept the store while Portner took the more lucrative brewery. With a staff of five, he quickly expanded the brewery to produce one thousand barrels of Tivoli beer, making deliveries by wagons and wheelbarrows to local pubs in and around Alexandria. In the next ten years, Portner continued to expand the brewery, built an ice plant, bought a shipyard, started a construction company, and established a German-speaking bank while also dabbling in real estate (4).

In the early 1870s, Portner accepted an invitation to a party held on the farm of Christian Mathis in Manassas, forty miles west. Another guest present was Anna von Valer, an immigrant from Switzerland. Their ability to communicate bilingually probably aided their mutual attraction, for they wed on 4 April 1872. Their union produced thirteen children, of whom ten lived to adulthood. Portner's business acumen led to continual brewery expansion and business involvements. As his fortunes rose and his family grew, Portner bought homes in Alexandria and Washington. The desire to have a summer place drew him back to Manassas in 1890 (5).

Jane Serepta Dean, by contrast, was born into slavery circa 1852 in western Prince William County, Virginia. Her childhood years were passed on the eve of the Civil War and witnessed the birth of three siblings. The family lived on land owned by Christopher Cushing. Her father, Charles Dean, was probably a house servant, as he was literate. The Cushing property was near the site of the Sudley Springs Methodist Church, which saw heavy action during both the First and Second Battles of Manassas. After the war, Mr. Dean purchased land for a small farm at Catharpin, six miles from the battlefield. The family consisted of grandparents, parents, three girls, and one boy. Jennie (as she was known to her family) probably acquired rudimentary literacy skills from a nearby Freedmen's Bureau school. As the eldest child, she had to help support the family and contribute toward the farm's mortgage payments. To do so, she left the area at fourteen for better job prospects in nearby Washington (6).

The city was teeming with newcomers, and jobs for domestics were plentiful. Dean soon joined the 19th Street Baptist Church, which connected her to a larger Washington and many job opportunities. She served as live-in help for families, doing laundry and providing child care. Within a few years, she was able to help retire the farm mortgage and contribute toward her siblings' seminary education. As she grew older and her finances stabilized, Dean played an active role in church affairs. Her efforts ultimately led to the establishment of the First Calvery Church of Catharpin, plus the organization of three other mission churches for African Americans (7).

Dean's success at organizing these missions ultimately led her to formulate another plan. Manassas, which was incorporated as a town in 1873, had received state literacy funds to establish the first public elementary school for white children in Virginia in 1869. As Freedmen's Bureau schools for blacks were phased out by the 1870s, Dean's missions helped fill the gap for elementary education, but did not go beyond the basics. Well-meaning whites recognized the educational needs of blacks but were not anxious to mix the races in public schools, nor were state monies available for separate African American schools. Inspired by the success of Booker T. Washington in establishing the Tuskegee Institute in 1881 and encouraged by her growing friendships with influential whites, Dean took a bold step. In the spring of 1888, she spoke with several black Baptist ministers at her mission churches about the possibility of starting an industrial school for black youth and received a positive response (8).

Once she had ministerial backing, Dean appealed to every white person she knew for financial support, and she then campaigned aggressively in Washington. She spoke of the needs of African American youth at women's club meetings, church fellowship gatherings, and suffrage conferences. Her carefully worded pleas eventually earned her introductions to well-known public figures such as industrialist Andrew Carnegie and professor/orator Edward Everett Hale. Additionally, she hoarded her own wages, diverting her resources when contributions slipped or using them to solicit matching funds from those less financially able. By 1890 enough momentum had built to hold a public meeting to discuss the purchase of a farm as the site for the school (9).

Two farms concurrently came on the market on opposite sides of Manassas in 1890. The Hampton Brinton farm in the west was held for Jennie Dean as she put fundraising into high gear to come up with the first payment of $1,400. To the east of town, the Mathias farm where Robert Portner had met his wife was available with additional acreage. Wishing to escape the summer heat of Alexandria and Washington, Portner snapped it up. While Dean struggled to maintain both interest and cash flow for her school, money was no object to Portner. He commissioned an architect and a local builder to construct a showplace that spared no expense (10).

Portner, who had pioneered refrigeration techniques for his brewery, adapted an air cooling system for his new summer home, which he called Annaburg, after his former German military school. His home contained thirty-five rooms on three floors with a basement that contained a kitchen and servants' quarters. Other conveniences included electricity and indoor plumbing. Surrounding the house was a twenty-five-acre park, which eventually grew to over two thousand acres, extending into the old battlefield four miles from town (11).

Meanwhile, once Dean had secured the Brinton property, she worked with local white supporters to organize a Board of Trustees and write a school charter. The school was expected to serve boys and girls over fourteen years of age by improving their "moral and intellectual condition" through "such instructions in the Common English Branches, the Mechanical Arts and Trades, in farming, housework, needlework and other occupations as . . . shall be practical and also useful in enabling the said youth to earn a livelihood" (12). Dean wanted to empower young people to take care of themselves and so created a curriculum that mixed skilled trades with a heavy dose of academics. Modeling the school after Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes, the organizers created a boarding school, where poor students could work in exchange for tuition and link their academic learning with practical skills (13).

In Manassas, 1894 was important because of both Dean and Portner. That year, the Portner mansion was finished, and the family spent the summer in residence. Labor Day, 3 September, was the formal dedication of the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. Many prominent people were present for the festivities. Frederick Douglass delivered a speech, and the first building, Howland Hall, was opened for use. The faculty consisted of a principal and three teachers, all of whom worked only for board the first year. A few months after opening, the school had seventy-five students (14).

Within a decade, both sites became fixtures of Manassas, while each "owner" contributed to the town's development in different ways. Portner expanded his business interests by building a hotel near the railway station, investing in a local bank, operating two local quarries and a dairy, and opening his park lands up to townspeople for their enjoyment. Dean served on the Board of Trustees of the school, as a matron in the women's dorm, and as a tireless fundraiser (15). There is no evidence to indicate interaction between Dean and Portner, but it is hard to imagine that they were unaware of each other's importance to the town's continuing development.

Following Portner's death in 1906 and that of his wife, the Annaburg property passed through the hands of his children and others; it was eventually divided until only the gate house and the mansion remained intact. Today, one of the major streets in the center of town is Portner Avenue; the mansion has become the central section of Annaburg Manor, a home for the aged; and a trust fund established by Portner continues to provide dollars for the local needy. Portner and his family are buried in the local cemetery (16).

Unlike Portner, whose role never diminished, Dean's influence waned over the years. Nevertheless, she remained faithful in her efforts to support the Industrial School and died with less than four dollars after her debts were paid. However, by her death in 1913, the institution was already recognized throughout the region as a quality school for the education of black students. Over the years, the original school became a regional public high school for black students from four counties, until similar schools were constructed elsewhere. In 1959 the Prince William County School Board demolished the old buildings and constructed a new day school for black students. That building was integrated in the 1960s. Today, although the original buildings are gone, the central portion of the campus is outlined with markers and signs, while an elementary school named for Dean anchors the site. As a result of Dean's efforts and foresight, the Manassas Industrial School educated over 6,500 black students, of whom numerous descendants still live in the Manassas area. She is buried in the churchyard of her original mission, First Calvary (17).

On a small scale, Robert Portner typified American industrial expansion in the late nineteenth century. Like more well-known industrialists, he expanded his brewery to include bottling, ice production, and ultimately refrigerated rail cars. The original company's progression was halted only after his death by adoption of the local "dry" laws in 1916, a precursor to national prohibition. Ironically for Jennie Dean, the 1890s provided a pinnacle of financial success, despite the increasing strength of Jim Crow legislation. The wealth created by industry filtered down to her project in the form of donations. Despite their different goals in life--one to acquire wealth, one to provide service—these two individuals shared similar characteristics instilled by their families. Both worked hard, saw the importance of education and saving money, and were dedicated to accomplishing goals. They put a human face on history and serve as examples of community development in Manassas, Virginia. Every town has similar examples, just as every family can provide individual memories relevant to the broader scope of American history. Using family history as a springboard to inspire students to search the past will provide a sense of immediacy to their own role within their communities and the broader historical picture.

Offer a number of opportunities for individual students to uncover their own history, that of their family, or of someone within the community, past or present. Basically, they are going to create stories derived from research. Give students the options cited below. Then equip them with guidelines for the different research methods (included with this lesson). Stress that whatever approach students take, their work is not to be a simple gathering of chronological data. They must ask questions of the evidence to obtain an explanation and determine what to emphasize. How do the incidents in the subject's life relate to the history of the family, the community, the nation? They will need to pick a time, a place, or a person with which to start. They could focus on one interesting relative, maybe a war hero or a pioneer. An accomplishment, a disaster, or a migration could be the emphasis to explain what is unique about a person or a family and how their experiences were shared by others at the time.

I. To begin, tell students to talk to their parents, grandparents, and other relatives to find out origins and relationships over time. They should ask about letters, diaries, journals, pictures, birth certificates, or possible immigration papers. Names, dates, and movements fit into the larger picture of American history and can be tracked down through research. In the process, students will discover the resourcefulness of these individuals and realize the personal rewards of knowing family members better. The scattering of families due to mobility may make such contact impossible, however. One alternative is to find a local person or family with whom they could pursue a history.

II. Some suggested approaches students could consider.

A. Family migration.

1. Massachusetts to Ohio Territory to Michigan, Minnesota, or Montana.
   
2. Virginia through the Cumberland Gap to Tennessee, Missouri, or Texas.
   
3. Missouri following the Lewis and Clark Trail to the Great Salt Lake and Oregon or south to California.
   
4. Japan, China, or Vietnam to U.S. West Coast, Hawaii, or elsewhere.
   
5. Slavery to free soil in Ohio, Canada, or the far West.
   
6. Jim Crow-era South to North or West.
   
7. Central America, Caribbean, and South America to Florida, New York, or elsewhere.
   
8. Gold rushes to California or Alaska.
   

B. Military history: choose one or more family members involved in war (i.e., Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam).

C. Civil rights or suffrage movements: an individual or family's specific struggle, involvement.

D. Family home: who built it, who owned it previously, changes made over time, original purpose of site or building.

E. Business or career of a family member: with changes through generations.

F. National event: track the history of an individual in the community directly involved (i.e., a sit-in, a Revolutionary or Civil War battle, establishing a Native American reservation).

G. Family history: describe the impact of a historical event on them (i.e., rationing or living in a concentration camp during World War II, protest marches during the 1960s and 1970s, women's movement).

III. To initiate research, have students:

A. Consult American history timelines to focus on dates of important events regionally, nationally, and internationally.

B. Utilize national and state maps, both current and historical, to trace movement of family members or sites of particular events.

C. Refer to the bibliography and web sites provided in this article to focus on time periods, events, and geography of earlier generations.

D. Visit local or state public libraries, historical societies, cemeteries, genealogy or archival collections, courthouses, town halls, or humanities centers to see what sources are there.

E. Arrange for interviews with key individuals or to view family historic heirlooms and pictures in private collections or museums.

Outline the assignment specifically at the outset. Establish deadlines and provide a basic instructional sheet detailing what students are to do and how they are to do it. Provide the handouts relative to their specific research (Handouts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). Stress the importance of citing their sources and accurate note taking. Determine criteria for scope and grades based upon the final product, whether it be an oral presentation to the class or a written essay. Insist that students establish a relationship between the subject and the larger issues of history. Students must discover the relevance of national events to their everyday lives as a result of completing this assignment in order to appreciate its significance as a learning experience. Consider staging the progression of this project over a six-to-nine-week grading period.

1. Gary Nash, et. al., The American People (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), 589.

2. Robert Portner's Memoir, Manassas Museum, Manassas, Virginia.

3. Ibid.; Alexandria Gazette Packet, 11 June 1998.

4. Packet; E. R. Connor III, Address to Manassas Historical Commission, 1 November 1977.

5. Reminiscences of Ethel Byrd, Manassas Museum, Manassas, Virginia; Packet; Scott Harris, "Gilded Age Entrepreneur: The Career of Robert Portner," Word From the Junction newsletter (January-February 1992), 1-2.

6. Stephen J. Lewis, Undaunted Faith (Catlett, VA: Circuit Press, 1942), ch. 1.

7. Jennie Dean, The Beginning of the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth and its Growth (Manassas, VA: Manassas Industrial School, 1902); "The Battlefield School," New York Evening Post reprint, circa 1893.

8. Ibid.

9. Dean, Beginning of the Manassas Industrial School, 4.

10. Ibid.; Douglas Harvey, "Victorian Patriarch: The Private Life of Robert Portner," Word From the Junction newsletter (March-April 1992), 1-3.

11. Harvey, "Victorian Patriarch," 2.

12. Laura Peake, "Realizing the Dream: The Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth," Word From the Junction newsletter (May-June 1992), 2-3.

13. Ibid.; Dean, Beginning of the Manassas Industrial School, 5-7.

14. Ibid.; Lewis, Undaunted Faith.

15. Harvey, "Victorian Patriarch," 3; Peake, "Realizing the Dream," 2.

16. Harvey, "Victorian Patriarch," 3.

17. Peake, "Realizing the Dream," 3.

Carruth, Gorton. Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates. 10th ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1997.

Morris, Richard B., and Jeffrey B. Morris, eds. Encyclopedia of American History. 17th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

National Geographic Society, Historical Atlas of the United States. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1994.

Virga, Vincent, and the Curators of the Library of Congress. Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.

Family Search Internet Genealogy Service: <http://www.FamilySearch.com/>.

Genealogy.com: <http://www.genealogy.com/>.

Mormon Church Record: <http://familysearch.org/>.

National Archives: <http://nara.gov/genealogy/genindex.html/>.

National Endowment for Humanities: <http://www.myhistory.org/>.

National Genealogical Society: <http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/>.

National Register of Historic Places: <http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/>.

Rita G. Koman taught secondary American history and government for eighteen years and has been a frequent contributor to the OAH Magazine of History. She is now a consultant and researcher living in Manassas, Virginia.