Nancy Benjey Saylor (1792 - 1860)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Nancy's lifetime.

In 1807, when she was merely 15 years old, on March 2nd, the U.S. Congress passed an act to "prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States . . . from any foreign kingdom, place, or country" This Federal law, proposed by Thomas Jefferson in 1806, took effect on January 1,1808. However, historians estimate that over 50,000 slaves were brought to the U.S. after the Act since the U.S. did not include Spanish Florida and Texas - and therefore places where slaves could be brought in.

In 1833, when she was 41 years old, on August 12th, Chicago was incorporated as a town at the estuary of the Chicago River by 350 settlers. Chicago’s first permanent resident was a trader named Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a free black man -perhaps from Haiti - who went there in the late 1770s. At first, it was simply a trading post but it grew quickly, going from trading post to town to city in 1837.

In 1840, by the time she was 48 years old, on May 7th, the Great Natchez Tornado hit Mississippi. Around 2p, the second deadliest tornado in U.S. history hit Natchez and the surrounding area. It has been estimated to be a F4 or F5 storm and over 317 people were killed - 109 were injured.

In 1850, by the time she was 58 years old, in this year, Europeans were 22% of the world population. In 2017, Europeans are 9.94% of the total world population.

In 1860, in the year of Nancy Benjey Saylor's passing, on February 26th, near Eureka California, white settlers attacked a tribe of Wiyot Indians on Indian Island. Over 60 women, children and older people died. Bret Harte - a writer and friend of Mark Twain - reported the news about the massacre to the papers in San Francisco.