Margaret Smith was born to enslaved parents, Luvenia and Lewis of Alexandria County, around 1825. Their enslavers at that time are unknown. But, based on historical writings, William and Catherine Minor were Margaret’s likely enslavers by 1840. A young woman of her age appears in the Minors’ 1840 census entry. Their farm, “Springfield,” was in today’s North Arlington near Harrison Street and Little Falls Road.

A short, unpublished memoir from 1929 called Once Upon a Time, by Mary Williamson Lemen Mellor, the granddaughter of William and Catherine Minor, tells how Mellor spent a great deal of time at Springfield as a child and remembered Margaret as a “great influence” on her life.

According to Mellor, Margaret “was a tall, large, good looking mulatto…high tempered, but very efficient.” Catherine Minor believed she had Native American blood. Despite preferring to be called Margaret, most of the Minors called her Peggy. Mary chose to address her as Aunt Margaret, so as not to incur her displeasure.

Margaret cooked and laundered for the Minors. Mellor described her as extremely efficient. She was “so devoted to each member of our family, that in every way, she was treated with the greatest respect and consideration.” Despite their love of Margaret, Margaret did instill fear by her insistence on running a tight ship in the kitchen. The grandchildren “never entered her domain [the kitchen] without her sanction, for fear of having a dirty dish-cloth pinned to our backs, with was considered a disgrace.”

Margaret was the lynchpin of the extended Minor household. Catherine Minor claimed Margaret’s moods were a “barometer” of the state of the household. “On Monday mornings, when she heard Peggy singing over the wash tub…it indicated that all was well.”

Around 1847, Margaret married an enslaved man named Jacob Powell. His enslaver, a Mr. Slade, and the Minors consented to the match. The Slades owned a farm near Springfield, so Margaret and her husband were able to see one another. Mellor was told by her mother that Powell was a quiet, deeply religious man who was “powerfully built.” Circa 1848, Margaret gave birth to a daughter, Mary.

Disaster struck soon after. Mr. Slade ran into financial trouble and decided to sell Powell and several other enslaved people down South to raise funds. William Minor, also facing financial issues, did not purchase Powell and keep the couple together. Mellor wrote, “My mother said that Jacob and Peggy’s grief was heart-breaking.”

Mellor reported that Powell married again in the South and told Margaret in a letter that she should find another worthy man “who would be kind to little Mary.” Around 1850, Margaret met and married a “free-born colored man,” named Thornton Hyson. Mellor wrote of Margaret’s decision to remarry, “Peggy was far too shrewd in her second matrimonial venture to marry any but a free-born man.”

Margaret gave birth to several children while enslaved: George in 1851; Charlotte on November 10, 1853; Ellen in 1858; and Thornton in 1861. The status of an enslaved couple’s child ran through the mother’s line, so the children remained enslaved. Margaret also gave birth to Cornelia, Alice, and Martha after her emancipation.

On August 2, 1859, William Minor died. His will, probated by the Alexandria County Court on January 3, 1860, shows Margaret (Peggy) as property valued at $650.

Minor bequeathed most of his enslaved people to his wife Catherine, including Margaret and several of her children. Charlotte, however, was inherited by his granddaughter, Margaret M. Newton, along with some household furnishings. Newton often resided with her grandmother, so Charlotte remained at the Minor homestead with her family.

Catherine Minor fled Springfield during the beginning of the Civil War, first moving to Falls Church and later to Middleburg (Loudoun County). Margaret accompanied Catherine to Falls Church but returned to Springfield by September 1861.

Margaret and her children were likely freed from enslavement on January 1, 1863, by the Emancipation Proclamation, enabling the family to unite. Their names appear near other people living in Hall’s Hill in the 1870 census, such as Bazil Hall, so it seems likely that they were living in Hall’s Hill after freedom. Thornton and George worked as farm hands, Charlotte as a domestic servant, and Margaret tended their home and her younger children.

On November 9, 1881, Thornton and his son-in-law Charles Chinn bought a 1-acre parcel of land for $108 from Bazil Hall, a farmer, landowner, and former enslaver in the area. They were among the first to purchase property in Hall’s Hill (sometimes now called High View Park), which became an African American neighborhood. Thornton died soon after on December 30, 1882.

A close-knit community of former enslaved people lived, raised families, and had business concerns in Hall’s Hill, and Margaret and many of her children remained in the area. Margaret became an early leader of the Calloway United Methodist Church in Hall’s Hill. She died in 1891 and was buried in the Calloway Cemetery. Her grave is still intact today.