Elizabeth Proctor Thomas
c. 1821–1917 · Free Black landowner whose farm became Fort Stevens
A free woman of color and farmer, Elizabeth Proctor Thomas owned property in Vinegar Hill, the free-Black settlement that grew into Brightwood. In September 1861 Union troops seized her land and demolished her home to build Fort Massachusetts, later Fort Stevens. She fought for compensation for decades and was finally awarded $1,835 in 1916, a year before her death.
Connection to Brightwood: Her family farm in the Vinegar Hill/Brightwood community was the ground Fort Stevens was built on.