03/06/2026
Mary Ann Starkey was born enslaved but was freed in 1862 after the occupation of New Bern by Union forces. She ran a boardinghouse where several Union officers, including Brigadier General Ambrose Burnside, roomed and boarded. Starkey opened her home as a meeting place for Black women activists and a small adult reading school and Bible school class. Starkey also helped to start a Black women’s relief society that raised funds and obtained supplies for refugee families and black soldiers. She was instrumental in arranging a meeting between Edward Kinsey, who had come to New Bern in 1863 seeking to enlist formerly enslaved people in the Union army, and Abraham Galloway, a trusted leader in the African American community. As a result of this meeting, Black- American men began enlisting with more than 5,000 men from the New Bern area, eventually serving in the United States Colored Troops.
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As president of the Colored Ladies’ Relief Association of Newbern, Starkey and other Black women raised money to help wounded and sick Black- American soldiers and their families and raised money for a flag to honor the First Regiment of North Carolina Colored Volunteers. Starkey had the honor of presenting this flag to the regiment on July 24, 1863, and in her speech, she presented the flag with “the encouragement, love, and prayers of the women of Newbern.”
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Although her death certificate indicates that Mary Ann Starkey was buried in Greenwood Cemetery upon her death, there is no official burial record there.
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Click https://amzn.to/4b3Ytma to Order or View The United States Colored Troops: The History and Legacy of the Black Soldiers Who Fought in the American Civil War
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Black Cloud Rising
