Benjamin Tonsler

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Benjamin Ellis Tonsler (April 2, 1854 – March 6, 1917) was an influential local educator at beginning of the twentieth century. Tonsler Park, located in the Fifeville neighborhood, was named in his honor. Between 1895, and his death in 1917, Tonsler became a prominent leader in Charlottesville's African-American community.

Benjamin E. Tonsler

Early Life and Education

Tonsler was born an enslaved man to Edward and Martha Davis Tonsler[1] on April 2, 1854 near the small community of Earlysville in Albemarle County. He had several brothers and sisters -- Joseph, Jeremiah, Horace, Judith and Cornelia.

Tonsler attended the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute located in Hampton, Virginia, a school established to educate freedmen and their descendants. While there, he met Booker T. Washington, who also attended Hampton. Washington's ideals on education would go on to influence Tonsler later in his career.[2]

Career

Benjamin Tonsler and Jefferson School graduates, 1908.

By 1879, Tonsler returned to Central Virginia and took residence in the city of Charlottesville. He became an educator at the Jefferson Graded School in the 1880s until his death in 1917. While at the Jefferson Graded School (later named the Jefferson School), Tonsler worked his way up to becoming the school's principal, a position he held for nearly 30 years. By 1889, he was the leader of six other teachers in educating as many as six hundred children.[3]

Marriage, children and family life

Benjamin Tonsler (credit: TonslerGreatGrandKid)
Benjamin Tonsler standing in wagon with his niece & nephew (Pocahontas and Horace)

Benjamin Tonsler married Miss Fannie Gildersleeve and they had six children -- Emma M. (Mrs. Cornelius N. Harris)[4]; Joliff Curtis; Mabel (Mrs. Sampson); Basil; Compton and Gildersleeve Tonsler.[5]

According to the city's rolls, Tonsler was registered to vote in the 1902 Election,[6][7] the first election after the 1902 Constitution became law. Tonsler and his family lived at 327 Sixth Street, SW; (George W Buckner, lived across the street at 322 Sixth Street SW.

The Four Hundreds Club

Benjamin Tonsler and his family were a part of the "The Four Hundreds Club" -- an informal group of African-Americans in Charlottesville who were clearly members of the black middle class. After emancipation, a group of African-Americans educated themselves and were able to get jobs that paid well. They had enough money to buy land, and each plot cost $400. Thus, the name Four Hundreds. The Four Hundreds were not a social club that had regular meetings-instead they were certain families who were not only more well-off than the others, but fashioned themselves and were "looked to as leaders" within the African-American community. Members of the Four Hundreds included "teachers, principals, and business owners." Some Four Hundred families included: the Coles, the Bells, the Tonslers, the Inges, and the Jacksons.[8]

Death

Benjamin Tonsler Obituary
B. Tonsler Obituary continued
Funeral flowers of Benjamin E. Tonsler, March 10, 1917.

Benjamin E. Tonsler died from pneumonia at his home in the afternoon of March 6, 1917, following an illness of less than a week. Funeral services were held in the First Baptist Church (West Main Street), pastor Rev. C. M. Long was to officiate. He was buried in the Daughters of Zion Cemetery. [9] In 1937, Fannie Gildersleeve Tonsler was laid to rest next to her late husband in the Tonsler family section.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, pneumonia was the leading cause of death due to infectious disease and the third leading cause of death overall. The majority of deaths during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 were not caused by the influenza virus acting alone, report researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Instead, most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumonia following influenza virus infection. [10]

Legacy

Tonsler was held in high regard in the community. The day after his death, the Daily Progress ran a front page tribute which included the following: “his earnestness and devotion to the up-building of his race, he has earned a high place in the estimation of the school authorities of the State.” He was described as “quiet and unassuming, but with a clear perception of the vast field for good which lay before those of his race who are ambitious to rise, he impressed himself on the rising generations under him in a way which won the admiration and esteem of all his white neighbors. It may be justly said without exaggeration that he measured up to the high standard which was set by Booker Washington and men of his stamp.”

The Benjamin Tonsler House, located at 327 Sixth Street, SW, is now one of Charlottesville's Individually Protected Properties[11]

Historical context

Tonsler was from the last generation of black Americans educators born into slavery.

Post Civil War

During the post-war Reconstruction era, Virginia adopted a constitution which provided for free public schools, and guaranteed political, civil, and voting rights. After 1889, the conservative white Democratic Party gained power and passed segregationist Jim Crow laws. The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901–1902 produced the 1902 Constitution which included a poll tax and other voter registration measures which disenfranchised large numbers of blacks and working-class whites. In October of 1902, Tonsler was a registered voter for the November 4, 1902 election, the first election after Virginia's Constitution of 1902 became law.[12][13]

References

  1. Web. Oakwood Cemetery, City of Charlottesville, retrieved 18 May 2012.
  2. https://www.biography.com/news/web-dubois-vs-booker-t-washington
  3. https://search.lib.virginia.edu/catalog/uva-lib:2109587/view#openLayer/uva-lib:2109588/4205/4587/2/1/0
  4. Web. Find A Grave, retrieved 1 September 2023.
  5. TonslerGreatGrandKid (great, great grandniece to Benjamin Tonsler)
  6. Web. </ref , staff, Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, October 29, 1902, retrieved May 27, 2019.
  7. http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/afam/politics/newsclipping.html
  8. Web. The Four Hundreds
  9. "Charlottesville :Benjamin Tonsler." Charlottesville : Home. Web. 28 May 2010. <http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=410>.
  10. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/bacterial-pneumonia-caused-most-deaths-1918-influenza-pandemicBacterial Pneumonia Caused Most Deaths in 1918 Influenza Pandemic.
  11. "Charlottesville : Architectural Design Control District and Individually Protected Property Information." Charlottesville : Home. Web. 16 Aug. 2010. <http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=812>
  12. Web. </ref , staff, Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, October 29, 1902, retrieved May 27, 2019.
  13. http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/afam/politics/newsclipping.html