The Remond Family

part of hamilton hall heritage

John and Nancy Remond and their children were the resident family of Hamilton Hall in the mid-19th century. The Remonds, who were free African-Americans, left a legacy of hospitality and social activism that we continue to celebrate today.

You can find additional educational materials about the Remonds, including slides from Dr. Donna Seger’s 2019 Trails and Sails presentation, worksheets, and primary source excerpts.

Exploring the Remonds’ story

John Remond was born in the Dutch colony of Curaçao in 1798. At ten years old, he traveled to Salem on the ship Six Brothers. After learning the trades of barbering and catering, he married Nancy Lenox, an accomplished cake baker and cook.

John and Nancy ran a catering business out of Hamilton Hall for many years, earning a reputation for delicious fare prepared in their special Rumford oven. The oven, still proudly displayed at Hamilton Hall, was fed by a large brick hearth designed to increase heat transference.

The Remonds were well-known for their dazzling feasts, which included such delicacies as turtle soup, beef-a-la-mode, baked codfish, oyster pies. roasted pigs, Bremen geese, woodcocks, plovers, pigeons, quails, partridges, baked calf heads, and lobster. They cooked for such notable names as the Marquis de Lafayette and Nathaniel Bowditch.

In addition to their professional success, the Remonds were influential in the sphere of social activism. The family helped to champion the causes of abolition, women’s suffrage, and school desegregation in Salem.

Sarah Parker Remond and

Charles Lenox Remond

John and Nancy’s eldest son, Charles, was born in 1810. Their ninth child, Sarah, was born in 1826. Both Charles and Sarah grew to become prominent activists in the fight against slavery. They toured, together and separately, around the US and Europe giving abolitionist speeches. You can read excerpts from some of their best-known speeches here.

Sarah also pursued her higher education in Europe. She studied nursing at the University College London and then completed training to become a doctor at  the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital school in Florence. Today, UCL honors Sarah’s work through the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism & Racialisation.