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Contribution #295 of 365
Abraham Peyton Skipwith
First Black Homeowner in What Became Richmond's Jackson Ward
1793
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born enslaved in Williamsburg, Virginia, in the eighteenth century, Abraham Peyton Skipwith developed literacy and business skills while enslaved before purchasing his freedom for £40 in 1789. In 1793, Skipwith purchased parcels of land in Richmond and built a home in the area that later became Jackson Ward, becoming the first documented Black homeowner in that community. He subsequently secured the freedom of his wife and granddaughter and used his property and accumulated wealth to provide for his descendants, establishing an early example of Black American urban property ownership and intergenerational wealth creation during the nation's founding era.