{"id":18721,"date":"2026-08-07T22:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/?p=18721"},"modified":"2026-08-11T13:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:08:34","slug":"regarding-free-henry-hypothesis-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/regarding-free-henry-hypothesis-continued\/","title":{"rendered":"Updated “Regarding Free Henry Hypothesis”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regarding Free Henry Hypothesis \u2013 Continued<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mary Dalley Eight in 1780 \u2013 Part 3<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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In April of 2026, a historic marker was installed in Philadelphia to honor Miss Dalley\u2019s boarding house, otherwise known as the \u201cConstitution House.\u201d Gouverneur Morris (the \u201cPenman of the Constitution\u201d), Alexander Hamilton (\u201cPublius<\/em>\u201d) and Elbridge Gerry (the \u201cFederal Farmer<\/em>\u201d) boarded with Miss Dalley while attending the Constitutional Convention in 1787. But who else resided with Miss Dalley during the time spanning from the Revolutionary War through the First Federal Congress? What else can we learn about Miss Dalley\u2019s ecosystem during some of the most important periods in American history?<\/p>\n

In 2024 Statutesandstories.com identified eight members of the founding generation who boarded with Mary Dalley in 1780 (\u201c<\/strong>the Mary Dalley Eight in 1780\u201d<\/span>).\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>Miss Dalley\u2019s boarders included Samuel Adams, Gouverneur Morris, Doctor John Jones[1]<\/a> and General Alexander McDougall. Six of Miss Dalley\u2019s guests in 1780 were Congressional delegates from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Several boarders would become members and\/or leaders of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and the New York Manumission Society. Arguably the most tantalizing evidence uncovered in Philadelphia\u2019s tax records[2]<\/a>\u00a0is the revelation that Miss Dalley employed a \u201cfree Negro servant\u201d named Henry.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Statutesandstories.com posited the (\u201cRegarding Free Henry Hypothesis<\/a><\/span>\u201d<\/strong>)\u00a0which focused on Henry, a \u201chired servant\u201d employed by Miss Dalley. It is clear that Henry lived and worked in close proximity to Samuel Adams, Gouverneur Morris and other members of Congress during the Revolutionary War. The prospect that Henry might have been present at Miss Dalley\u2019s boarding house seven years later \u2013 during the Constitutional Convention \u2013 remains an open question.<\/p>\n

Part 1<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>launched the \u201cWhat about Henry?\u201d investigation to better understand the \u201cMary Dalley Eight in 1780\u201d and their interactions with Henry. In an effort to shine a spotlight on Henry, Statutesandstories.com invited researchers and scholars to assist with this ongoing investigation. Part 2<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, the Regarding Free Henry Hypothesis<\/em>, proposed that the Henry who worked for Miss Dalley in 1780 was Henry Stewart.<\/p>\n

Henry Stewart was a colleague of Absalom Jones and Richard Allen and a co-founder and trustee of St. Thomas\u2019 African Episcopal Church of Philadelphia, the first African American Episcopal church in the United States. In the later part of the 18th<\/sup>\u00a0century, Henry Stewart would become a leader of the \u201cAfrican Free Society\u201d (FAS), one of the first organizations of its kind in American history.[3]<\/a> As an emissary of the free African American community in Philadelphia, Henry Stewart traveled to Boston in 1789 to meet with Prince Hall, \u201cthe first Grand Master of Colored Masons in the United States.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 2<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0began by introducing Henry Stewart and summarizing the limited information about his background. Admittedly, the hypothesis that the \u201cHenry\u201d who lived with Miss Dalley in 1780 was Henry Stewart is purely circumstantial. Nevertheless, the Henry Stewart hypothesis offers what is believed to be the strongest case for Henry\u2019s identity based on an admittedly imperfect historical record.<\/p>\n

Part 3<\/strong> provides an update following two years of ongoing research which further reinforces the Henry Stewart hypothesis. As explained below, new details have emerged about Henry Stewart\u2019s life, connections and family. For example, Henry\u2019s oldest son, David Stewart, lived on the same block as John Beckley, the Clerk of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

Although David Stewart is a common name, the Philadelphia Street Directory for 1795 specifies that the David Stewart who lived alongside John Beckley was an \u201cAfrican.\u201d It is clear that Beckley had access to \u201ccontingent funds\u201d for miscellaneous Congressional expenses. Part 3 posits that Beckley and his colleague, Gifford Dalley, the House Doorkeeper, may have periodically employed David Stewart as a laborer for Congress. Or, it may have been a mere coincidence that Henry\u2019s son and John Beckley were neighbors on south Eighth Street between Walnut and Spruce streets.<\/p>\n

Another discovery summarized below involves Henry\u2019s Stewart\u2019s diplomatic role as the representative for Philadelphia\u2019s African American community. After traveling to Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1789, Henry attempted to remain in contact with his New England colleagues. The minutes of the Newport Free African Union Society demonstrate that in 1791 Henry Stewart of Philadelphia, an \u201cAfrican Gentleman,\u201d sent a book to his Rhode Island friends for their consideration. While the Newport minutes do not identify the title of the book, Part 3 proposes that the author was Philadelphia abolitionist Anthony Benezet. As previously described in Part 2<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Henry Stewart, Absalom Jones, Richard Allen and other subscribers helped fund the publication of abolitionist literature and Phyliss Wheatley\u2019s poetry. Accordingly, this blog post will argue that in 1791 Henry Stewart was at the forefront of what can be described as \u201cbook diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to surveying emerging evidence and discoveries about Henry Stewart, his activities and family, Part 3<\/strong> poses unanswered questions and a roadmap for future scholarly research. The goal is to leave no stone unturned in a collaborative effort to learn more about Henry and prove, refine, or disprove the\u00a0Henry Stewart hypothesis<\/em>. By no means has the final chapter of Henry\u2019s story been written.<\/p>\n

Henry Stewart and Philadelphia\u2019s Free African Society <\/em><\/p>\n

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As described in Part 2<\/strong><\/a>, Henry Stewart became a leading member of Philadelphia\u2019s African American community in the late 18th<\/sup> century. Philadelphia\u2019s Free African Society (FAS) was established by Absalom Jones and Richard Allen in April of 1787, the month before the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia. The FAS was the first African American mutual benevolent society and fraternal organization in Philadelphia, the nation\u2019s largest city at the time. The FAS was also historically significant as the forerunner of Philadelphia\u2019s first independent African American churches, including Absalom Jones\u2019s African Episcopal Church.[5]<\/a> As described by historian Julie Winch, Jones and Allen had far-reaching plans for the FAS, which they hoped would become a \u201cfully-fledged interdenominational church for Philadelphia\u2019s African-American population.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Henry\u2019s name first appears in the ledgers<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span> of the FAS beginning in 1788.[7]<\/a> Many of the records of the FAS and St. Thomas\u2019 Episcopal Church were subsequently transcribed as the Annals of the First African Church (\u201cAnnals\u201d<\/span><\/strong>)<\/a>.[8]<\/a>\u00a0 Stewart\u2019s name appears over a dozen times in the Annals<\/em> and can be found in over one hundred newspaper notices and church announcements.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

In June of 1789 Richard Allen parted company with Absalom Jones and the FAS, involving a respectful doctrinal disagreement. Allen would subsequently establish Philadelphia\u2019s African Methodist Church and become its first bishop. Despite their religious differences, the \u201cwarm friendship\u201d and collegial relationship between Absalom Jones and Richard Allen continued during their lifetime.[10]<\/a> As Stewart remained at the FAS and became a leader at St. Thomas\u2019s Church, one can infer that he was more closely aligned with Jones than Allen.<\/p>\n

In 1790 Henry Stewart was one of eight petitioners, along with Absalom Jones, to the Mayor and City of Philadelphia seeking to lease Potter\u2019s Field as a burial ground for African Americans.[11]<\/a> Prominent Philadelphians, including Dr. Benjamin Rush and Tench Coxe, recommended the project.[12]<\/a> Similarly, in 1791, Henry was one of eight signatories to the \u201cArticles of Faith and Practice\u201d for St. Thomas\u2019 Church, which were widely published in the newspaper.[13]<\/a> Henry\u2019s name also regularly appeared in church fundraising appeals that were not only published in Philadelphia but also in surrounding states.[14]<\/a> The \u201cringing broadside\u201d[15]<\/a> envisioned erecting a church, instructing their youth and taking care of their poor. The bold fundraising appeal also imagined laying a \u201cfoundation for similar churches\u201d for Africans and their descendants in other states, as well as extending the Gospel of Jesus Christ to their brethren in Africa.<\/p>\n

In February of 1792, Henry Stewart was one of six representatives listed on the deed to purchase land for the church.[16]<\/a> Along with Absalom Jones, in 1794 Henry was one of the seven founders and trustees of St. Thomas\u2019 African Episocpal Church.[17]<\/a> He was one of four signatories to the petition supporting Jones\u2019 ordination.[18]<\/a> In March of 1796, Henry was one of five incorporators listed on the Act of Incorporation of St. Thomas\u2019 church.[19]<\/a> In 1796, Henry was elected vestryman as the \u201cvery first church officers of any congregation of persons of African descent in the United States.\u201d[20]<\/a> Importantly, Henry Stewart is the only \u201cHenry\u201d who\u2019s name appears as a founder, trustee, vestryman or signatory to any of these early documents.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Henry is not listed on the December 1799 \u201cPetition of Absalom Jones and Others, People of Color, and Freemen Against the Slave Trade to the Coast of Guinea\u201d to the President and Congress.[21]<\/a> As seventy names are listed on the Petition, one can only speculate as to why Henry Stewart didn\u2019t sign.[22]<\/a> Among the possibilities is that Henry was traveling[23]<\/a> or otherwise indisposed. There should be no doubt that Henry Stewart would have agreed with the merits of the historic petition, which was introduced in Congress on January 2, 1800.<\/p>\n

Henry Stewart and book diplomacy<\/em><\/p>\n

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In the early days of the FAS Henry Stewart was selected to visit with similar societies in New England during the late summer and fall of 1789. While traveling to Boston, Stewart met with leaders of the Free African Union Society (FAUS) of Newport, Rhode Island.[24]<\/a>\u00a0In Boston, Stewart consulted with Prince Hall, the first African American Grand Master Mason in the United States. Letters from Newport and Boston detailing Stewart\u2019s trip are transcribed in the FAS\u00a0Annals<\/em> and the Newport FAUS minutes. Stewart was described as a \u201ctruly worthy member\u201d by his Newport colleagues, which prepared a \u201cCertificate to H. Stewart\u201d\u00a0which likely facilitated his travel to Boston.<\/p>\n

The correspondence delivered by Stewart in 1789 between colleagues in Boston, Newport and Philadelphia evidences heartfelt efforts to build bonds between their respective communities. For example, Prince Hall\u2019s letter delivered by \u201cyour recommended brother, Mr. Henry Stewart\u201d indicated that \u201cWe shall be glad therefore to hear of your proceedings, by letters of correspondence with us.\u201d[25]<\/a> Prince Hall signed the 16 September 1789 letter as \u201cYour loving brother.\u201d The response from the FAS in Philadelphia acknowledged differences of opinion about resettlement in Africa but emphasized that they were united in laboring in the same vineyard for the benefit of mankind.<\/p>\n

While records are fragmentary, it is clear that Henry attempted to stay connected with his new Northeastern contacts. Importantly, the minutes of the Newport FAUS in March of 1791 indicate that Henry sent a book to Newport, approximately a year and half after his visit in 1789. As far as can be determined, no scholar – until now – has attempted to identify the book sent by Henry Stewart to Newport. Yet, insights can be gained by investigating what might be described as purposeful \u201cbook diplomacy\u201d by Henry Stewart and his colleagues.<\/p>\n

Pictured below is John Adams\u2019 copy of the book, Some Historical Account of Guinea, Its Situation Produce and the General Disposition of Its Inhabitants, with an Inquiry into the Rise and Progress of the Slave-Trade, Its Nature and Lamentable Effects <\/em>(Benezet\u2019s \u201cAccount of Guinea<\/em>\u201d). Written by noted Philadelphia abolitionist Anthony Benezet, the seminal work went through several printings on both sides of the Atlantic. Based on the clues in the Newport minutes, it is reasonable to conclude that this was the book that Henry Stewart sent to his Rhode Island friends in 1791.<\/p>\n

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The Newport minutes are remarkably well preserved. It is likely that the members of the FAUS understood that they were making history which likely contributed to their diligent record keeping. The March 1791 minutes indicate that committee member Lymas Kieth presented a remarkable book for discussion. The unidentified book was enclosed under cover from Philadelphia and appeared to be a \u201cpresent\u201d from \u201cHenry P. Stewart,\u201d who had previously visited Newport. Here are clues as to why this book was likely Benezet\u2019s Account of Guinea<\/em>:<\/p>\n