The Associates of Dr. Bray, a London philanthropy closely affiliated
with the Church of England, sponsored several schools in the colonies
where slave children were taught to read, write. The organization was
formed in honor of Dr. Thomas Bray, once commissary of Maryland and a
person instrumental in England in establishing the SPG and the SPCK. 

The school in Williamsburg (1760-1774) was conducted under the guidance
of local trustees (Robert Carter Nicholas and whoever was the minister
at Bruton Parish Church) who hired schoolmistress Mrs. Ann Wager as the
teacher. She remained in that position for the 14-year life of the
school. 

There was a Bray school in Fredericksburg from 1765-1770 under the
superintendence of Fielding Lewis and the Rev. James Marye, Jr., the
local parish minister. In the end the population of Fredericksburg
proved too small and the slaves to few to sustain the school for long.
Quakers were not involved in this school, so I don't think it had any
connection with the school mentioned in a previous posting.  

The Associates hoped that masters who sent enslaved children to these
schools would see fit to leave them enrolled for three years. (In
Williamsburg it was not unusual, of course, for masters to pull them out
of the school before completing three years, as soon as they were old
enough or big enough to be assigned work at home.) The roster of
Williamsburg slave holders who sent children the school was not
restricted to the elite--yes, gentry are on the list but so are tavern
keepers and tradesmen. A few free black parents sent their children to
the school as well. 

The Associates had in mind to "improve" conditions within slavery, not
to end slavery itself. The Associates sent over Bibles, religious
tracts, Books of Common Prayer, and primers for Mrs. Wager to use in her
instruction. She was to take the children to Bruton Parish Church
whenever there was a service during the school day (a saint's day, for
example) for which she prepared the children by teaching them how to
conduct themselves and speak properly, following the proceedings in the
prayer book. The girls were also taught to sew and knit.

See John C. Van Horne, ed. Religious Philanthropy and Colonial Slavery:
The American Correspondence of the Associates of Dr. Bray 1717-1777.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985. 

 

Linda H. Rowe
Historical Research
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
757-220-7443

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