Madison Person
Madison Person was a landowner and kept a job as a carpenter. Throughout his life, he experienced events and new laws that affected African Americans. He was born in November 1845 in Georgia enslaved and was likely emancipated after the Civil War. His first marriage is with Minerva who was 41 in 1880. Madison was a laborer and Minerva was a stay-at-home wife and the home keeper. After she passed, he was married to his second wife Buena Vista, who was possibly 20 years younger than Madison. She possibly taught him how to read and write. They did not extend their family and lived together until he passed away.
Madison Person was one of very few African Americans to make a steady income and own land in the midst of the Jim Crow Law South. While he did not have much of an education early on in his life, having a basic education allowed him to maintain a steady carpentry business that he ran from his home in Auburn, Alabama. It was significant for African Americans to own land at this time, or even more so to be self-employed due to the current state of civil rights and the Jim Crow Laws present in the South. Madison, however, managed to not only owned his own carpentry business, but he also owned his own stretch of land and his own house on East Thach. Additionally, Madison voted in 1867 for the first time during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. In 1910, he moved to Faculty Avenue with his second wife, Buena Vista. It can be assumed from all this that Madison was a very hardworking man who made great strides in a time that limited his social mobility. His success was even more impressive when accounting for his background as an enslaved person.
Madison Person was one of very few African Americans to make a steady income and own land in the midst of the Jim Crow Law South. While he did not have much of an education early on in his life, having a basic education allowed him to maintain a steady carpentry business that he ran from his home in Auburn, Alabama. It was significant for African Americans to own land at this time, or even more so to be self-employed due to the current state of civil rights and the Jim Crow Laws present in the South. Madison, however, managed to not only owned his own carpentry business, but he also owned his own stretch of land and his own house on East Thach. Additionally, Madison voted in 1867 for the first time during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. In 1910, he moved to Faculty Avenue with his second wife, Buena Vista. It can be assumed from all this that Madison was a very hardworking man who made great strides in a time that limited his social mobility. His success was even more impressive when accounting for his background as an enslaved person.
Contributed by Kaytie and Grayson from Auburn High School