In writing about Mrs. Pleasant, we learn about her challenge to San Francisco streetcar racist rules. Before MEP’s cases in 1866, was the case of Charlotte L Brown. Miss Brown’s father was a friend of MEP’s and this action was likely part of a planned moment to challenge the intemperate, vacillating rules for African Americans when attempting to ride the street cars. In 1863, Miss Brown was denied service on a horse drawn street car (cable cars did not come to San Francisco until 1873).
Miss Brown’s parents had emigrated from Maryland to California between 1850 and 1855. Mrs. Brown was a free woman of color and through her earnings as a seamstress in Baltimore purchased her husband’s freedom. In San Francisco, Mr. Brown owned a livery stable and helped establish the first newspapers in San Francisco for African Americans, the Mirror of the Times and later The Elevator.
Charlotte’s sister, Margaret, in June 1855, married successful businessman George Washington Dennis. [Sidenote: Mr Dennis was brought to California enslaved with his owner/father in 1849. By working as a porter at the El Dorado Hotel (which his father owned), and by earning $1,000, he purchased his freedom.] George and Margaret’s daughter, also named Charlotte (Dennis Downs), would reportedly take by dictation one of MEP’s memoirs. Helen Holdredge would interview Mrs. Down for her book, Mammy Pleasant (1955).
But back to Charlotte L Brown. She challenged the streetcar company for their discrimination. Her father hired attorneys (many believe MEP contributed financially to this). Miss Brown’s case resulted in a win and $500 judgement in her favor. An appeal by the Omnibus Railroad Company was denied. You can read about the case(s) filed and won by Miss Brown here. There would be two more litigants including Mrs. Pleasant in 1866 over the continuing racial discrimination on the street cars. And by 1869, Thomas Bell, MEP’s partner, would be elected to the Board of the railroad company involved.
San Francisco Chronicle, 2 February 1885.
Online reports note that little is known about Miss Brown after this incident. This link provides a bit more information. In 1867, Miss Brown opened a school, and in January 1874, married a man from New Jersey named James H Riker. In 1870, Mr. Riker was a domestic servant for a prominent San Franciscan, William C Ralston. After Mr. Ralston’s death in 1875, he became a porter at the Palace Hotel. These names might be familiar to those who’ve read a bit about Mrs. Pleasant’s life, particularly the Sarah Althea Hill matter. Mr. Riker would pass away in 1885, leaving an estate of $1,532. (approximately $50k today).
Mrs. Charlotte L. Riker, widow, would appear in San Francisco City Directory in 1885 and in1888. In 1889, she is residing at Mrs. Pleasant’s Geneva Cottage.
On August 23,1900, the transfer of MEP’s Geneva Cottage property involved Mrs. Riker’s name. There are other interesting Deed transfers involving a Charlotte or CL Riker’s name in 1899, 1900 and 1901. In those transfers Mrs. Riker is noted as being from Xenia, Ohio and Philadelphia, PA. Two locations very much associated with Mrs. Pleasant.
Research has revealed that just prior to June 1890, Mrs. Riker was in Philadelphia, assuming the matronship of the Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Persons. “The Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons was founded in 1865 and run by an interracial group that included Sarah Mapps Douglass and William Still on the board of directors.”
It would appear Mrs. Riker continued her role as a matron at the Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Persons until 1897 per the Home’s annual reports. Mrs. Riker’s resignation from the position was noted in the 1898 Annual Report.
In a December 1900 article in the Washington, D. C. newspaper, The Colored American, notes that Mrs Charlotte L Riker, the ex-matron of Wilberforce University‘s University Hall (Xenia, Ohio) was visiting in Philadelphia with Mr. William Still. Mr. Still was a renowned conductor on the Underground Rail Road who helped an estimated 600-800 people escape slavery. He was also a trustee for the Board of the Home for Aged and Infirm. The exact dates of Mrs. Riker’s Wilberforce University position is unclear but she appears to have been there only a short time, late 1897/early 1898 until 1901. Her activities between 1901 and 1914 are uncertain.
Charlotte L Brown Riker passed away at the age of 78 of pneumonia on Feb 24,1914 in Norristown, Pennsylvania immediately northwest of Philadelphia; her death certificate, which noted her profession as “matron”, can be found here. [The name is spelled Ricker but as noted above, this alternate spelling was sometimes used.]. The information on the certificate was given by the current Matron from the Home for the Aged and Infirm, however records covering 1900-1914 which list residents are unavailable. It may be possible she returned to the Home as a resident in her later years.