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Franklin & Armfield

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Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Franklin & Armfield, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 9 August 20259 sources
Franklin and Armfield Office
Company typePrivate
IndustrySlave trading (historical)
Founded1828
FounderIsaac Franklin, John Armfield
FateOperations ceased in 1861; building converted to museum
Headquarters
Alexandria, Virginia
,
United States
ProductsEnslaved persons (trafficking)
Websitewww.alexandriava.gov/FreedomHouseMuseum

The Franklin and Armfield Office, which currently houses the Freedom House Museum, is a significant historic commercial structure situated in Alexandria, Virginia—an area that remained part of the District of Columbia until 1846. Constructed between approximately 1810 and 1820, the building originally functioned as a private home before becoming the headquarters for the largest slave trading enterprise in the United States. This firm was founded in 1828 by businessmen Isaac Franklin and John Armfield. Documentation from the National Archives reveals that the company was responsible for trafficking "at least 5,000" enslaved individuals.

Positioned at 1315 Duke Street, just to the west of Alexandria's Old Town, the three-level brick edifice exemplifies Federal-style architecture topped with a mansard roof. The front wall is constructed using Flemish bond brickwork, complemented by segmented arch windows and gabled dormers that contribute to its historic character.

Recognized as both a National Historic Landmark and a Virginia Historic Landmark in 1978, this property was once operated by the Northern Virginia Urban League as a museum dedicated to exploring the slave trade and the experiences of enslaved people. Following damage caused by a storm in 2015, ownership transferred to the City of Alexandria in March 2020, with the museum reopening its doors in June 2022.

History

Originally built during the 1810s as a residence by Robert Young, who served as a brigadier general in the District of Columbia Militia, the building changed hands shortly after due to Young’s financial difficulties.

Franklin & Armfield

In 1828, entrepreneurs Isaac Franklin and his nephew-in-law John Armfield acquired the property, converting it into their Washington-area office while also serving as Armfield’s home.

The estate extended eastward and included additional structures designed for holding and trading enslaved individuals. Visitors who came to buy slaves were charged a daily fee of 25¢ for lodging. The rear two-story addition featured barred doors and windows resembling those of a prison.

The firm owned three slave ships used for packet shipping. An advertisement cited in William I. Bowditch's Slavery and the Constitution (1849) read: "ALEXANDRIA AND NEW ORLEANS PACKETS. — Brig Tribune, Samuel C. Bush, master... brig Isaac Franklin, William Smith, master... brig Uncas, Nathaniel Boush, master... Servants intended to be shipped will be received for safe keeping at twenty-five cents a day. JOHN ARMFIELD, Alexandria."

By 1833–34, Franklin & Armfield had established trading agents in at least five cities:

Additional agents included:

  • John Ware in Port Tobacco, Maryland
  • William Hooper based in Annapolis, Maryland
  • A. Grimm located in Fredericksburg, Virginia

Franklin began withdrawing from the enterprise around 1835; Armfield sold this property to former agent George Kephart in 1836.

As major figures in the domestic slave trade, Franklin and Armfield sold more enslaved people and generated greater wealth than nearly any other traders nationwide—accumulating a fortune equivalent to billions of dollars today (2021). Franklin operated an office out of Natchez, Mississippi, with branches established in New Orleans, St. Francisville, and Vidalia, Louisiana. Meanwhile, Armfield oversaw procurement by dispatching agents throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware to purchase enslaved people directly from owners and coordinate their transportation.

Both Maryland and Virginia had excess enslaved populations which they treated as commodities similar to livestock exports. Reflecting themes portrayed in Uncle Tom's Cabin, there was an extensive internal forced migration of enslaved individuals from the Upper South to plantations in the Lower South, with Franklin and Armfield playing a central role in this trade network. Surviving letters even reveal their boasting about sexual assaults committed against enslaved persons passing through their operations.

Price, Birch and Co.

Beginning in 1858, the structure was occupied by Price, Birch & Co., an American enterprise involved in the slave trade, established by George Kephart, William Birch, J. C. Cook, and Charles M. Price. This business continued its operations until 1861.[1][2][3][4]

Operations ended in 1861 when Union troops reached their Duke Street office on May 14; the company had already abandoned the premises, leaving behind a single enslaved man secured to the floor.[5][6] By the following year, the building was converted into a police station and military jail, with former slave holding cells described as "horrible dens" lacking proper airflow.[7] Union forces maintained control over this site until February 2, 1866.[8][9]

Towards the end of the Civil War period, the building functioned as L'Ouverture Hospital caring for black soldiers and provided shelter for contrabands.[1]

Use after the Civil War

In the aftermath of the Civil War, the outlying slave pens associated with the building were dismantled; it is believed that bricks from these structures were repurposed for nearby residential townhouses. Presently, the main edifice operates as the Freedom House Museum, which showcases exhibits related to the slave trade. Additionally, its upper floor accommodates offices for the Northern Virginia Urban League.

A historical marker was installed in 2005 by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, commemorating the building's past: originally leased in 1828 by Isaac Franklin and John Armfield as a detention site for enslaved individuals transported from northern Virginia to Louisiana; purchased outright in 1832; and functioning as one of America's largest slave-trading firms until 1836. Ownership by slave traders persisted until 1861.

Freedom House Museum

During the 1990s, the Northern Virginia Urban League took ownership of the property, initially establishing an exhibit in the basement while utilizing the upper levels for administrative offices and educational spaces.

In 2018, a collaboration was formed between the Office of Historic Alexandria and the Urban League to safeguard and interpret the historic location. This effort received financial backing through a $50,000 grant awarded by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The City of Alexandria acquired the property from the Urban League in March 2020.

Following renovations, the Freedom House Museum reopened its doors in June 2022, showcasing three distinct exhibits that explore the African American experience both within Alexandria and throughout the United States.

See also


Further reading

External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Lies
  2. ↑ "Andrew Joseph Russell | Slave Pen, Alexandria, Virginia".
  3. ↑ My Genealogy Hound. "Alexandria, Virginia, Price and Birch, Armsfield and Franklin, Slave Pen, Historic Photos". Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  4. ↑ Colby, Robert K. D. (2024). "Chapter 2: The 'Uncongenial Air of Freedom': Union Occupation and the Slave Trade". An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 45. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197578261.003.0003. ISBN 978-0-19-757826-1. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named alexandriaTimes
  6. ↑ "Franklin and Armfield Office (U.S. National Park Service)".
  7. ↑ "Letters from the 33rd Regiment". 1862-10-17.
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nhl
  9. ↑ Friedman, Saul S. (2000). Jews and the American Slave Trade. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9781412826938.

Related profiles

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