Catherine Ferguson and Her Work Among New York’s Children

A few years ago, I wrote about Isabella Graham[1]. the Scottish educator who founded one of the first women's societies to be legally registered as a charity, for the improvement of lives of needy women and children. Her accomplishments were so striking that she is now widely recognized as one of the greatest social reformers of the 19^th century.

            Few people know a woman who worked for a while at Graham’s side and went on to improve the lives of many children in her community: Catherine Ferguson – commonly known as Katy.

Katy was born around 1779 while her mother, an enslaved woman by the same first name, was transported from Virginia to New York City. Katy’s mother raised her well and taught her Scriptures until the girl was eight years old. Then she was sold to another family, leaving young Katy behind. Katy recounted their last farewell: “I remember that before we were torn asunder, she knelt down, laid her hand on my head, and gave me to God.”[2] Years later, the memory of that heartbreaking separation inspired Katy to help other children who lived in difficult situations.

            The man who kept Katy under enslavement was a Presbyterian elder, mentioned by Katy only by his initials, “R. B.” When Katy was ten, she asked R.B. to grant her freedom, promising she would “serve the Lord forever.”[3] He refused.

She also expressed a desire to learn how to read, but R.B.’s wife said she already knew more than her daughters. In fact, one of R.B.’s sons said that whenever he misquoted the Bible or the catechism, Katy was quick to notice. Although she never learned how to read, Katy continued to memorize an impressive quantity of Scriptures.

At fourteen years of age, she began to feel burdened about her soul and decided to talk the local pastor, John Mitchell Mason, in spite of her deep-seated fear that he would reject her request. She was so apprehensive that when she rang his door-bell she started to shake from head to toe. But Mason reassured her: “Have you come here to talk to me about your soul?”[4] She left his place comforted and, following a period of instruction, she became the first African-American communicant member of the Old Scotch Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street, New York.

At that time, racism was so prevalent that some could not conceive of sharing the Lord’s Supper with a black person. Mrs. Olcott, a lady who had the opportunity to know Katy well, explained how, “As a rebuke to this spirit, on the first Communion Sunday after her reception, as [Katy] entered the church, Dr. Mason walked down the aisle to meet her and, taking her by the hand, led her up and placed her in her seat at the table.”[5]

            When Katy was sixteen, Isabella Graham paid the $200 required for her freedom, on condition that she would work for her as a repayment. Ferguson worked for Graham for eleven months, when Graham’s son-in-law paid the rest of her debt. She then opened her own business, selling cakes for weddings and parties, and cupcakes for ordinary occasions – which she often delivered in person. Her cakes became so famous that she didn’t have to advertise. She also specialized in cleaning fine linens, lace, and silk.

            She married at age eighteen, taking on the last name Ferguson. Sadly, her only two children died in infancy, and her husband died soon after. She continued to work alone, caring for other children until her death from cholera in 1854. Being on her own, she devoted most of her income to charity, keeping only what was necessary for her own support. In fact, in many lists of charitable donors, hers was the only woman’s name.

            She started her educational work with the children in her neighborhood, both black and white, bringing them to her home on Warren Street every Sunday after church. With Mason’s encouragement, she moved her “school” to the basement of a church on Murray Street. Unable to read, she taught the children the Scriptures and hymns she had memorized. She also held bi-weekly prayer meetings in the same location and took care of children gathered from the streets until she could find a suitable home for them. Overall, she took in 48 children, 20 of them white.

            Her work was so well-known at that time that her death was announced in The New York Times and a short biography was published in the Tribune. In 1920, the Katy Ferguson Home for black unwed mothers was established in her honor – the only such home at that time.

            “Her cheery look and talk, her devoted Christian spirit, her benevolence could not but elicit respect,”[6] Mrs. Olson wrote. In an obituary written in 1854, American abolitionist Lewis Tappan recalled what he most noticed during an interview he had with her: “The secret of Katy’s usefulness was her fervent, uniform, and consistent piety. No one could be with her, even for a little while, without feeling its influence. The love of God was shed abroad in her heart, and it found expression in acts of benevolence to his children.”[7]