Serena Johnson collection

This collection contains a bill of sale for Serena Johnson (c.1823-1880) dated October 2, 1829 between enslavers Daniel Smith, Senior of Frederick County, Maryland and Henry Rieman (1786-1865) of Baltimore, Maryland and it states that Rieman paid seventy dollars to Smith. The document refers to Johnson by the name, “Serene,” but the space for her age is blank.

The collection also contains extracts from the Will and Codicil of Rieman, from circa 1858 and February 1864, detailing instructions for Johnson’s manumission in the event of his death. The extract from Rieman’s Will (c.1858) dictates that Johnson is to receive her freedom either at the time of her 35th birthday – written here as December 1st 1858 – or upon the death of Rieman’s wife, Mary Jones Rieman (1788-1860), whichever should occur first. It also lists a set of provisions to be given to Johnson at the time of her manumission, which include “freedom clothes” and a deposit of fifty dollars to the Savings Bank of Baltimore “for use when sick or otherwise helpless.” The February 1864 Codicil amends Rieman’s Will, stating that Johnson now be manumitted at the time of his death and that Johnson receive an annuity of five dollars per month for the rest of her life, with the expenses for her internment provided by the Rieman estate. These provisions are to be in addition to those already set forth in Rieman’s Will.

Additionally, the collection includes receipts from various executors of the Rieman estate related to the payment of Johnson’s annuity and other expenses between May 1865 and June 1882. A May 1865 receipt contains a list of household items with their values and is titled “Miss Serena Johnson to Estate of Henry Rieman.” Receipts dated from May 1865 to July 1866 account for the payment of Johnson’s annuity. Payments for this period are inclusive of all months, though the frequency ranges from two month intervals to a lump sum of forty dollars following a period of eight months. A release signed by Johnson with her mark, dated August 8, 1870, relinquishes her claim to the annuity outlined in Rieman’s Codicil. A receipt from May 31, 1880, itemizes expenses incurred during the treatment of Johnson’s illness and her eventual internment at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. The final receipt is from the Law Offices of F. H. Hack & Bro., located at St. Paul and Saratoga Streets in Baltimore and concerns the assumption of liability by the law firm for the one hundred dollars owed to Johnson by H. Rieman & Sons.

This collection also contains two biographical sketches of Johnson based on the recollections of Rieman family members. One finalized in 1927 is based on the memories of Rieman’s daughter Sophia Rieman Steuart (1810-1886) and recorded by her daughter Mary Elizabeth Steuart (1832-1901). The other, completed in 1922, was written by Elizabeth Rieman Morgan (1848-1936), a granddaughter of Rieman. These sketches contain claims to Johnson’s origins; household responsibilities; character; and her trajectory and whereabouts after gaining freedom. Inconsistencies between certain claims presented in these recollections and facts supported by historical records, including other materials in this collection, call the reliability of the information shared in these narratives into question.