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After her passing in January 1904, Lyman Sherwood brought forth a last will and testament signed by Mrs Pleasant shortly before her passing. See this Link In the will she claimed no living relatives but a few came out of the woodwork to file claims against the estimated $300,000 estate. [inflation calculators suggest this is approximate between $9-10,000,000 in 2025 currency.]. Teresa Bell and her children immediately stated they would contest the will. They asserted Mrs. Pleasant’s December 1902 last will and testament, leaving her entire estate to the Bell children, should be accepted for probate. The 1902 will was in the custody of Sam P Davis, her 1901 biographer. Link to media story.
Four other names appeared in the news coverage pressing claims against the estate. Those familiar with Mrs Pleasant’s life might find the name familiar and a few very curious. Link to March 2, 1904 The Union coverage. This article (and the others than ran contemporaneously) has errors, (1) calling Rebecca Howard Gordon Boon “Mrs. R Booth” instead of Boone, (2) Edmonds is not given any gender identifying information, (3) others reported the name of this family was Stewart not Steward?
1. Mrs R Boone was one of the claimants. She stated she was Mary’s niece, and earlier news-stories also made this assertion dating back to the 1880s. Mrs Boone was the daughter of John W and Anna Park Howard of Xenia, Ohio. See this link for earlier discussion about the family and their link to Mary.
2. Edmonds of Washington, D.C. claimed to be a cousin. It is unclear if this is a male or female. In reviewing the history, it is noted that on December 11, 1869, Teresa “Clinghan” purchased the Sutter Street property that she would reside in until 1878 from a BB Edmonston.
Another potential candidate is that of Mrs. Dr Josephine Edmonds who operated in San Francisco as a nurse in the 1880s, residing on Howard Street and later Sutter Streets. However no listing for a Josephine Edmonds is found in the 1904 Washington, D. C. Directory.
3. Theodore Steward claimed to be Mary’s grandson. Theodore claimed he was the son of Mary’s daughter Emily Smith who died at the age of 18 many years prior. Mary reportedly had a stepdaughter named Emma from her first husband, James W Smith. William Willmore in his 1933 interview with Helen Holderidge stated that this stepdaughter, lived in Boston and married young to a man named “Stewart”. Steward or Stewart?? Link to Theodore’s story. A Miss Hattie Stewart is noted living at 1107 Bush Street (the former bachelor home of Thomas Bell and later one of MEP’s Boarding Houses) in 1896-1899. She appears to have arrived in SF circa 1860 but is not seen in City Directories for almost three decades.
Mr Theodore Steward was assisted in his claim by a remarkable woman, Mrs Namakyoke (Namah) Curtis of Washington D.C. Mrs. Curtis was a notable Red Cross patron who via Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidential appointment assisted ministering the victims of Yellow Fever in Florida during the Spanish American War. She would also organize relief assistance in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire. San Franciscan white society didn’t understand who she was, they marveled that she knew the names of many of their servants.When it became known her husband was a well regarding black doctor in Washington, D.C. the socialites speculated openly if she would be received again in “polite society”. Namah was born in San Francisco in 1861 to Nanticoke Indian member and free Negro, Hamilton Sockum and Arena Jackson. She was educated in Oakland and became the first African American woman invited to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery due to her magnificent accomplishments helping the people of the U.S.
4. Cloyd E Davis claimed to be a nephew-his mother the sister of Mrs. Pleasant. Mary did not discuss having a sister, some associates mentioned a brother living in Philadelphia. Mr. Davis is recorded living in Oakland as early as 1902 at 814 Chester Street. There is no coverage of the success or settlement of his claim. A David Cloyd is on the 1870 census, age 17, with Mrs. Pleasant living at the 920 Washington Street Boarding House. It was reported to Helen Holdredge that he had changed his name due to some trouble he was in back East. Cloyd Davis is a more common name than one would surmise. There is an individual by that name born in Xenia, Ohio but he was born in 1880 thus too late to be this individual. The intersection with Xenia, Ohio however is intriguing. But a potential individual lived in Los Angeles, California. This Cloyd Davis is registered as born circa 1854. He is only found in voter and phone directories, no census records. His death and burial in a Veterans cemetery in Los Angeles occurred in May 1944.
The 1870 Census record records David Cloyd as being from Virginia. This may have been misleading as he was running from trouble. But another Cloyd Davis is recorded in 1885 as born in Bedford, Virginia to a William H Davis and Bettie Woodley, a black couple with eleven children. This Davis family is steadily in the census records starting in 1870, their absence before indicates they were likely enslaved. The census records for 1890 were destroyed in a fire and Cloyd does not show in the Davis household in the 1900 census records for the family. He later appears in the 1920 Census in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mother Bettie would die at the age of 80 in Buchanan, Virginia.
