History Lesson

An excerpt of an article originally believed to have been published in the Troy Times that quotes a letter written by Fleming Mickens.
Courtesy of David Fiske
An excerpt of an article originally believed to have been published in the Troy Times that quotes a letter written by Fleming Mickens. Courtesy of David Fiske

BALLSTON SPA -- Fleming Mickens resided in the village in the late 19th and early 20th century. Despite working as a laborer for most of his life, in his will he left substantial sums to a local church and a southern school for black children.

At Ballston Spa Presbyterian Church, two stained glass windows are the result of Mickens' estate. In the church's sanctuary of Tiffany windows, the two windows are not of the same vintage and not believed to be Tiffany. Inscriptions on the windows commemorate Mickens and his wife, Mary. An appraiser informed church elders that those two windows were worth more than the Tiffany ones, because they were unique.

Mickens (whose last name is sometimes given as Micken), church historians say, had been a black man who had attended the church. If his luck faltered, members of the church found work to keep him going.

Mickens is listed in the 1870 Federal census, living in the town of Charlton. His occupation is given as "domestic servant," and he was a member of the household of John C. Mabie, a farmer. Although employed as a servant, the census record showed that he owned real property worth $250, as well as $300 worth of personal property.


Records aren't definitive, but it appears he was born between 1847 and 1850 in Virginia. That most likely meant that he had been a slave, since there were not many free blacks living in Virginia in those days.

Census columns labeled "Cannot read" and "Cannot write" were not marked, indicating that he could do both. That was somewhat unusual for blacks at that time.

Mickens was the subject of a Troy Times newspaper article of the era, cited as an example of a former slave freed by Union troops during the Civil War who was capable of education, combating a stereotype of the period.

The article says that the boy "did not know a single letter" before coming north. But he had been sent to school, and "without the least aid from any one" had written the following letter in 1864.

"Jim is doing very well. I think Kate is not doing so well [in the article, it states that Jim and Kate are horses]. I give both four quarts of oats a day. I have charge of the stock now. Mr. Cross is going to move very soon. The pigs look fine. The wood-pile is about as good as done. How is Mrs. C? Tell her the gray dog [a pet squirrel] is in the cage. I do not find anything else to say at this time.


It's unclear to whom Mickens was writing. The letter and other sources appear to indicate that Mickens was living in Charlton at the time.

Mickens married in 1871. Records of the Glenville Reformed Church show that a Fleming Mickens from Charlton married Mary Isabella Wilson from Glenville on Nov. 21.

Census records show that Mary was born about 1851 in the state of New York, and that her parents had also been born in New York. There is no record of whether Mary gave birth to children.

In March 1876, Mickens purchase property on Rowland Street in Ballston Spa, paying $600. In 1882 he also purchased an adjoining strip of land.

Previous to 1910, Mickens's occupation is given in census records as a laborer. In 1910 and in 1920, he is listed as a janitor at a bank.

Mickens's wife Mary died July 3, 1907. She had a will and left an undetermined estate to her husband.

Mickens died Aug. 21, 1921.

In his will, which had been prepared that summer, he bequeathed a rather substantial sum to various people and organizations.

This act was commemorated in a short item in the Amsterdam Evening Record on Oct. 11, 1921: "Although born in slavery, Fleming Mickens, who died at Ballston Spa Aug. 21, accumulated an estate of $6,000."

In today's dollars, that estate would amount to approximately $72,000.

Fourteen people, several apparently relatives of his wife, received varying amounts averaging around $100 apiece. Larger benefactors were the Ballston Spa Presbyterian Church, which received $400 or about $4,800 in today's dollars, and the Mary Potter Memorial School in Oxford, N.C., which received $500.

The Mary Potter School, which exists today as a public school, was started as a school specifically for blacks. It was a project of the Presbyterian Board, and was named for Mary Potter of Schenectady, who had been instrumental in its founding.

Probably Mickens learned about this project as a result of his involvement with the Presbyterian Church.

It isn't known how Mickens acquired the assets he left to others in his will. Had he socked away money earned from his low-level employment, or had his wife had resources which he inherited upon her death?

Fleming Mickens and his wife are both buried in the Ballston Spa Village Cemetery. His will allotted $100 for perpetual care.

David Fiske is a librarian with the New York State Library, a genealogist and historical researcher who has given talks at the Researching New York Conference and at the Chapman Historical Museum. He has also conducted historical programs for local libraries.

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