Helper (Osborne), Alex
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Helper (Osborne), Alex
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Alex Helper (aka Alex Osborne) worked at Davidson College as a hired-out enslaved laborer and post-emancipation janitorial employee until his death in 1912.
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Alex Helper was born enslaved about 1832. After emancipation, he married Adeline White, a widow, and adopted her four children born enslaved to a former husband. Following Adeline’s death in 1902, Alex partnered with Mary Harris and changed his last name from Helper to Osborne.
Though unable to read or write, Alex Helper began working at Davidson College as a hired-out enslaved laborer and continued working for the college after emancipation as a college servant, day laborer and the custodial staff member. Starting his day around 4:30 AM, his duties involved waking students as well as maintaining the dorms, classrooms, and campus grounds. Students noted his work in their publications, notably the College Servants photograph in the 1895 Quips and Cranks. He retired from Davidson College. His death certificate noted his employment at the college.
Before his death, Alex obtained a deed—allegedly without Adeline’s children’s knowledge—and transferred land purchased by Adeline White Helper to Mary Harris for $10, which denied the children their inheritance. The heirs of Adeline White Helper contested the probate in the North Carolina courts.
Alex Osborne (nee Helper) died on July 2, 1912. He was buried in the Christian Aid Society Cemetery on the Davidson College campus.
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1832
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July 2, 1912
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Helper, Adeline White
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Faculty Minutes, October 15, 1855 meeting, Archives and Special Collections, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
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Board of Trustee Minutes, Archives and Special Collections, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
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Bursar’s Reports, 1899-1900, 1901, 1902, and 1903, Archives and Special Collections, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
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“Locals,” Davidson Monthly, October 1892, 41.
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1895 Quips and Cranks
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1898 Quips and Cranks
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1870 Federal Census, Ancestry.com
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1900 Federal Census, Ancestry.com
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1910 Federal Census, Ancestry.com
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Death Certificate of Alex Osborne, North Carolina, U.S. Death Certificates, 1909-1976, Ancestry.com
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Probate of Adeline White Helper, North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probates, 1665-1998, Ancestry.com
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