she would sing for him and during the time that lincoln is writing the emancipation prospective whatlati proclamation, he is coming here and praying and be sung to by aunt mary dimes. in that camp there was suffering. these are refugees. these are people running away and they need assistance. an african-american woman born enslaved in virginia, bought her freedom out in st. louis as she began working as a seamstress. not only bought her freedom but her son s freedom. she would come to washington from baltimore actually from st. louis to baltimore, then to washington and become a seamstress to the politicians wives. jeff davis wife. he was her seamstress. she would become mary todd lincoln s seamstress. and she had the ear of the first lady. and she would ask the first lady to donate to her organization that she established in 1862 called the contraband relief society and her contraband relief society would attend to the needs of those in the camps here in washington. now, t