TAMPA, Fla. — We’re highlighting the impact African Americans have had on the Tampa Bay area.
Fred Hearns, a historian with the Tampa History Center, highlights Nancy Ashley, a Black woman who was in a relationship with her former white master. They’d eventually be buried together in Oaklawn Cemetery.
“Nancy Ashley came to Tampa as the enslaved person who belonged to her owner, William Ashley,” said Hearns. Hearns said they were both very young when they came to Tampa in 1850 from North Carolina.
William became the first city clerk for the city of Tampa.
“You see his beautiful signature on all those meeting minutes that the city council held and on other city documents,” said Hearns. “William never married,” continued Hearns. “But he took as his common-law wife – as his mate – Nancy Ashley, that Black woman who had been enslaved to him many, many years.”
Hearns said when freedom came, they continued to live together.
“It was his wish that when he and Nancy died that they’d be buried in the same grave at Oaklawn Cemetery,” said Hearns.
Hearns said John Jackson was the executive of their estate, and he made sure that William’s wishes were carried out.
“And, so, indeed, they are buried in the same grave in Oaklawn Cemetery. This prominent white man who was our first city clerk and the Black woman, Nancy, who lived with him as his common-law wife,” said Hearns.
