Mary J.C. Anderson was an African American teacher who taught at the Havre de Grace colored school from at least 1865 to 1868. Anderson’s life before she moved to Maryland is not fully known, but she was likely born in Pennsylvania in 1845 and named after her mother, Mary Anderson. By 1860, the younger Anderson and her family, which consisted of 7 siblings, were living in Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward. While it is unclear what year she left Pennsylvania, it is known that by 1864, Anderson was spending time in Harford County, Maryland. There she secured subscriptions to the Philadelphia Christian Recorder among several Harford residents, including William Bond, Stephen Wilson, and Joseph Peaco.
