Chronology Of George Pointer Family And American History
Year
Pointer Family Dates
Historical Events
1773
George Pointer born enslaved in colonial Maryland
1775-83
American Revolution
1785
Mt. Vernon Compact; Potomac Company established, with George Washington as president of board.
1787
George Pointer hired out to Potomac Company
Constitutional Convention
1789
George Pointer surveys upper Potomac
George Washington becomes US president
1792
Economic panic
1793
George Pointer buys his freedom, marries, has 1st child
1797
George Washington retires from presidency
1790s
George Pointer works at both Great Falls and Little Falls
Slave rebellion in Haiti
1799
George Washington dies
1802
George Pointer begins boating for himself
Great Falls locks open
1806
George Pointer rehired by Potomac Company
1808
International slave trade prohibited
1811
Potomac Canal’s best year
1812-15
War of 1812; Potomac Company declines
1816
George Pointer becomes supervisory engineer
1819
George Pointer breaks leg, and asks to use fish pots
Economic panic and 4-year drought. Potomac Company goes bankrupt
1828
George Pointer pilots canal boat with President John Quincy Adams
Groundbreaking of C&O Canal
1829
George Pointer writes letter to C&O board, asking to stay in cottage
1831
Nat Turner insurrection in Virginia. Violent reactions against African Americans in southern states
1832
Possible death of George Pointer and wife. Daughter Elizabeth on export list to Africa
DC Cholera epidemic. Maryland colonization society plans to send African Americans to Africa.
1835
Son moves back to Pointer cottage on Potomac.
Race riots in DC
1837
Economic panic. Dorcas Allen tragedy in DC
1838
Mary Ann Harris marries. Needs certificate of freedom and has 1st son
1840’s
Harrises move to rural Washington county in DC and buy 2-acre farm
1843
William Pointer moves to Annapolis after floods
Massive Potomac floods
1848
Capture of the S.S. Pearl
1850
Mary Harris, 10, dies in fire
Congressional compromise of 1850
1857
Dred Scott legal decision: no protection for African Americans
1860
John Harris gets certificate of freedom
Lincoln elected president
1861
John Harris moves to Georgetown and marries
Civil War erupts
1862
DC frees the enslaved. Pullman Car Company established
1863
John and Joseph Harris enlist and go to Virginia.
Emancipation proclamation
1864
John and Joseph on Petersburg battlefield
Confederate attack on DC and Harris farm
1865
John returns to Georgetown. Joseph to NYC. Lewis to Arlington
End of Civil War. 13th amendment abolishes slavery
1866
Lorenzo and Mary to school
Reconstruction: School for African American children
1868
14th Amendment: Birthright citizenship
1870
Lorenzo moves to Georgetown
15th Amendment: Due process and voting
1872
Congress defunds Freedmen’s Bureau. Beginning of end of Reconstruction.
1873
Mary Harris marries Armstead Moten. Lewis moves to Georgetown
Financial panic of 1873
1875
Lewis moves to Georgetown
1877
Josesph becomes Pullman porter
1880s
Lewis family forced to move because of new white high school in Georgetown
Georgetown buys property in Brinetown to build white Western High School (now named Duke Ellington High School.)
1890
Senator Newlands buys Chevy Chase land
1891
Thomas Harris dies
1893
John dies. Joseph returns to DC. Lorenzo becomes sexton in Buffalo. Louis gets job at Post Office.
Major economic depression
1896
Plessy vs Ferguson: Separate but equal
1903
Mary Ann Harris dies in 1900s
Jesse Reno school built in DC
1915
DC reunion of Grand Army of the Republic
1917
William Moten moves to Reno, DC
Wilson declares war
1918
William Moten becomes undertaker
Flu pandemic
1919
Joseph retires from railroad
Race riots in DC
1921
William Moten buys Reno house
1928
Mary Moten forced to sell farm. William Moten and Rosetta forced to move from homes in Reno & Tenleytown
DC Government use eminent domain to move black families to build white schools.
1930s
Joseph & Mary Moten die
Great Depression