William Costin

Early life

Little is known of Costin’s upbringing. His mother was Ann Dandridge Costin Holmes, a dower slave of Martha Washington, though descended from a Native American parent and so free under Virginia law. While Ann and several of her children lived at the Mount Vernon plantation owned by George Washington on the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, there is no evidence her son William lived there; he may have lived nearby with family.

Costin’s legal status as "free" or "enslaved" is debated by historians, as is the identity of his true father. He may have been the son of Martha Washington's brother, and thus her nephew, or John Parke ("Jacky") Custis, Martha's son, and thus her grandson (even if unrecognized).

Career

Around 1800, Costin moved from Mount Vernon to Washington City, what later became known as Washington, D.C. In 1812, Costin built a house on A Street South and raised a large family.

From 1818, Costin worked as a porter of the Bank of Washington.

Also in 1818, Costin helped start a school for African-American children, which his daughter, Louisa Parke Costin (c. 1804-October 31, 1831), eventually led. In the August 1835 Snow Riot, a white mob burning abolitionist institutions and those associated with free blacks, spared the school.

In addition to the school, Costin created other organizations. In 1821, he helped found the Israel Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, led by an African-American minister. In June 1825, Costin co-founded an African-American Masonic Temple. In December 1825, he helped found the Columbian Harmony Society, providing burial benefits and a cemetery. Working with nearly the same group with whom he started other organizations—including fellow hack driver William Wormley (ca. 1800-1855) and educator George Bell (1761–1843)—Costin served as the Society’s vice president through 1826.

Opposition to Surety Bond Law

In 1821, Costin’s legal challenge to anti-African surety bond measures adopted in Washington, D.C., resulted in a District of Columbia Circuit Court opinion exempting those living in the District prior to the law's enactment. Adopted during the administration of Mayor Samuel Nicholas Smallwood, the law required free African-Americans to post a twenty dollar cash bond and references of white neighbors to guarantee peaceful behavior. Costin refused to comply, and appealed his five dollar fine.

In the case, Chief Justice William Cranch, nephew of second U.S. President John Adams, accepted that the City charter authorized it "to prescribe the terms and conditions upon which free Negroes and mulattoes may reside in the city."

In asking to strike the law entirely, Costin unsuccessfully argued that Congress could not delegate powers to the city that were unconstitutional, and that "the Constitution knows no distinction of color."

Chief Justice Cranch defended the peace-bond law by pointing to certain barriers in the state voting and jury laws of the time, writing: "It is said that the constitution gives equal rights to all the citizens of the United States, in the several states. But that clause of the constitution does not prohibit any state from denying to some of its citizens some of the political rights enjoyed by others. In all the states certain qualifications are necessary to the right of suffrage; the right to serve on juries, and the right to hold certain offices; and in most of the states the absence of the African color is among those qualifications."

Marriage

In 1800, Costin married Philadelphia "Delphy" Judge (c. 1779-December 13, 1831), the younger sister of Oney "Ona" Maria, known as Oney Judge(c.1773—February 25, 1848), both of whom were daughters of Betty Davis (c. 1738-1795), and were so-called "dower" slaves of Martha Washington at Mount Vernon.

According to Virginia estate law, the dower slaves passed to the Custis children upon Martha’s death.

In 1807 and 1820, Costin purchased the freedom of seven relatives. In 1807, Thomas Law (October 23, 1756 – July 31, 1834) freed six of Costin's sisters and half-sisters for "ten cents." Law was the husband of Elizabeth ("Eliza") Parke Custis Law (August 21, 1776 –December 31, 1831), who inherited them at the death of her grandmother, Martha Washington.

In October 1820, the purchase of Costin’s apparent cousin, Leanthe—who worked at the Mt. Vernon Mansion House, and was the daughter of Caroline—involved two-steps. First, George Washington Parke Custis sold her to Costin for an undisclosed sum. Twelve days later Costin freed her for "five dollars."

Costin remained in cordial contact with the Custis family throughout his life. In 1835, George Washington Parke Custis, Eliza’s brother, supported Costin's side business driving a horse-and-buggy taxi.

Funeral

Costin's funeral on June 4, 1842 was attended by U.S. Attorney and national anthem composer Francis Scott Key.

The funeral was notable for the long line of hansom cabs driven by Costin's friends. Also notable was the fact that an estimated 70 carriages were part of the funeral procession, and included both white as well as black mourners, as well as a horseback processional.