Tony Hall 

Tony Hall was the husband of Fanny Hall. He may have been the father of Peter Hall. In May 1845, Tony Hall passed away from cancer. [1]

In July 1845, Julia Gardiner Tyler described the burial service conducted for “Tony (Fanny's husband),” which John and Julia Tyler attended: 

“No event of any importance has occurred since I last wrote and my letter will, I am afraid, again be a short & uninteresting one. But yet last Sunday I suppose was classed in the calendar of our people as the day of a very important and interesting event - Mr. Levell our young pastor came ‘to bury Tony’ as the servants express it - that is, he came to perform the burial service for poor Tony, (Fanny’s husband) several weeks after he had been laid in the ground. (He died of a cancerous infection). Mr. L. followed us from church and dined with us. In the afternoon as soon as the sun would admit we went to the grave to cause a respect for the scene by our own presence. A large concourse gathered together of slaves from other plantations. Mr. L. commenced with a psalm in which they all joined in excruciating discord. After the conclusion of the discourse they desired to continue the ceremony their own way. Of course we remained on the ground through that too. It became really a strange scene - one among them was a Baptist preacher. They all closed around him and to his prayer to do for them and to give them this thing and that, two or three voices I heard say in the most fervent and anxious tones - ‘Yes, yes, do pray!’ These words and the movements to and fro of their bodies showed very plainly they had perfect faith, but the effect at the same time was very ludicrous. ‘Yes, yes do pray’ has become a by-word with me whenever any of us propose to do anything.” [2]

Julia refers to William Thomas Leavell, Rector of Westover Parish Church, in this excerpt. The register kept by William Thomas Leavell contains further evidence of this event in an entry for a burial service on July 13, 1845 at Sherwood Forest. Leavell does not mention the name of the persons buried, but rather writes “3 cold [colored] - 1 old & 2 children.” [3] This entry indicates that an older adult, who was likely Tony, and two children were buried on the property at Sherwood Forest in 1845. The exact location of their burial site is not yet known.

After reading Julia’s letter, a descendant of the Black family, Darlene Black Giles, remarked, “Our worship services include something known as the Call and Response. After the funeral for Tony Hall, Julia Tyler adopted ‘Yes, yes, do pray’ as her by word. The level of ignorance and disrespect this would have caused the enslaved people is hard to explain. But believe me, it was part of their sacred religious service and wouldn't have gone over well.” Darlene Giles also commented that this was an early example of cultural appropriation. [4] Julia’s disrespect and trivialization of a sacred moment for the enslaved community shows another way in which enslavers maintained a mindset of white supremacy and othered the Black people whom they enslaved.

[1] Julia Gardiner Tyler to Margaret Gardiner, 6 May 1845, Tyler Family Papers, Group A. Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William & Mary.

[2] Julia Gardiner Tyler to Juliana Gardiner, 15 Jul. 1845, Tyler Family Papers, Group A. Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William & Mary.

[3] William Thomas Leavell, Register, 1839-1899, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

[4] Darlene Black Giles, email to Frances Tyler, 11 Sep. 2020.