Elizabeth Proctor Thomas

In 1864, the Battle of Fort Stevens began in Washington, D.C.'s Brightwood neighborhood. Elizabeth “Aunt Betty” Thomas, a free African American woman, owned a portion of the land where Union soldiers demolished her home to build their fort. At the site, Thomas spoke with President Lincoln, and beginning in 1924, the city has celebrated Lincoln-Thomas Day.

Aunt Betty told the story that as she sat weeping with her child, watching the soldiers dismantle her house, President Lincoln approached her and attempted to console her by saying "It is hard, but you shall reap a great reward." Aunt Betty was never compensated for the damages, but maintained that she was confident Lincoln would have made sure she was, had he survived. The above photograph dated November 7, 1911, shows Mrs. Thomas posed with Civil War veterans at the Lincoln Memorial Boulder at Fort Stevens, which commemorates the spot where the president was actually under enemy fire while visiting soldiers at the fort on July 11, 1864.

Elizabeth Proctor Thomas (1821-1917), was born in Prince George’s County, Maryland. As a child, Thomas and her parents moved to Vinegar Hill, a small community of free blacks located in northwest Washington, D.C., approximately two miles south of the Maryland border. The family settled on a high point beside the Seventh Street Turnpike, a major road leading to downtown Washington.

When the Civil War began, the Nation’s Capital was protected by a single fort: Fort Washington, located 12 miles south of the city along the Potomac River. Realizing the defense of the capital was dangerously inadequate following the Union defeat at Manassas in July 1861, Congress voted in favor of constructing a ring of forts and other defensive works to encircle the city. Soon afterwards, miles of trees were cleared and building commenced. By the end of the war, 68 forts, 93 batteries, 20 miles of rifle pits, and 32 miles of military roads surrounded the capital and Washington became the most heavily fortified city in the world.

The Thomas’ Seventh Street Turnpike property, then owned by Elizabeth and her siblings, was an ideal and necessary location for a fort. In September 1861, Union troops took possession of her land and ultimately destroyed her home, barn, orchard and garden to build Fort Massachusetts, later renamed Fort Stevens. According to Thomas, at the time her house was being demolished she was holding her six-month old baby and weeping beneath a sycamore tree. As soldiers removed her belongings, a tall, slender man dressed in black approached her and said, “It is hard, but you shall reap a great reward.” The man offering comfort was President Lincoln. Thomas’ encounter with the stranger was a story she told throughout her life. Whether or not he was President Lincoln, the tale further solidified Thomas’ role in the history of Fort Stevens.

In July 1864, Confederate troops under the leadership of General Jubal Early attempted to invade Washington. Fort Stevens and nearby Fort DeRussy led the defense of the capital as skirmishes broke out. President Lincoln, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and members of the president’s cabinet traveled to Fort Stevens to observe the two-day battle. The president watched the fighting as Confederate sharpshooters fired upon the fort. President Lincoln became the second sitting president to come under enemy fire as Union forces successfully thwarted the invasion.

Following the Civil War, Elizabeth Thomas continued to reside near Fort Stevens. She remained the owner of portions of the fort, and during the course of her life, she amassed a considerable amount of land in the vicinity. At the turn of the century, Thomas sold some of her Fort Stevens acreage to an influential Washingtonian who hoped to preserve the remaining earthworks and establish a park.

In 1911, she joined veterans of the Battle of Fort Stevens for the dedication of a monument to President Lincoln located on the site where he observed the 1864 conflict. For many years, Elizabeth Thomas fought for compensation for the damage and loss of her property incurred during the war. She was eventually awarded $1,835 in 1916, a year before she died.

During the 1920s, the federal government acquired Fort Stevens and the site became a unit of the National Park Service in the 1930s. During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps reconstructed a portion of the fort. Today, Fort Stevens is a neighborhood gathering place where the stories of the battle and Elizabeth Thomas continue to be told.

Sources: National Park Service, Elizabeth Proctor Thomas
Civil War Defenses of Washington, Rock Creek Park; Photographer, Willard R. Ross; Historical Society of Washington; Cowan's Auction