“Freewillum”: Lydia Parrish. Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992), p. 46.
“At six o’clock yesterday … cut off”: Savannah Morning News, April 7, 1880, p. 2.
The woman who left $750 for the religious instruction of black people in Georgia was Henrietta Parker of New Britain, Connecticut: Colored Tribune, April 1, 1876, p. 2.
On the murder of an old man named John: “Another Willful Murder—Where Is It to End?” Colored Tribune, March 11, 1876, p. 3. The black man’s last name was Daniel. His killers were James and John Graham.
“Deed to the house on Minis Street”: based on a deed of conveyance from M. J. McKnitt to M. B. L. Ramsey, October 2, 1882, http://dlc.lib.utk.edu/spc/view?docId=tei/0012_000060_000502_0000/0012_000060_000502_0000.xml.
“Air Brick.… Charlton House, Kent”: Isabella Beeton. Beeton’s Housewife’s Treasury of Domestic Information (London: Ward, Lock & Co, between 1879 and 1890), p. xxv.
“Position gives power.… and healthful position”: Platt R. Spencer. Spencerian Key to Practical Penmanship (New York: Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Co., 1866), p. 24.
pä-ˌtā-də-ˌfwä-ˈgrä: pronunciation guide is from Merriam Webster’s, online edition, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pâté%20de%20foie%20gras.
A-bate' … As-sid'u-ous-ly: pronunciation guide from Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language. Revised by Chauncey A. Goodrich and Noah Porter (Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1865), pp. 2, 9, 20, 33, 84.
“Visiting dress of purple plush.… elephant silk and camel’s hair.” Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine, December 1880, p. 586.
“Do not pour coffee or tea.… excessively ill-bred”: Florence Hartley. The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette (Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1872), pp. 107, 110, 112, 114.
Description of Wormley’s Hotel: Carol Gelderman. A Free Man of Color and His Hotel: Race, Reconstruction, and the Role of the Federal Government (Washington, DC: Potomac Books Inc., 2012). Kindle.
“Not to fan the flame.… my good fortune to share”: Frederick Douglass. John Brown: An Address by Frederick Douglass at the Fourteenth Anniversary of Storer College of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, May 30, 1881 (Dover, NH: Morning Star Job Printing House, 1881), p. 5.
“There ought not to be anything.… originality of thought”: Henry E. Baker. The Colored Inventor: A Record of Fifty Years (Project Gutenberg, 2007), e-book, p. 11.
“Mr. Samuel Proctor has added.… perfect for archery and croquet”: “Health and Pleasure,” People’s Advocate, May 21, 1881, p. 3.
On the Victoria: “Fashion Notes,” People’s Advocate, November 26, 1881, p.1
Invitation to the Fitzhugh Christmas gala: Based on a sample from Isabella Beeton. Beeton’s Housewife’s Treasury of Domestic Information (London: Ward, Lock & Co, between 1879 and 1890), p. 54.