JUEL ID/KEY: P48621

"Tonsler Flowers," a photograph by Rufus W. Holsinger taken on March 10, 1917. 

Benjamin E. Tonsler died on March 6, 1917 from pneumonia; he lived from 1854-1917. The photograph is dated March 10, showing the casket and the many floral tributes on the day of his funeral. Some of the wreaths that can be read include, "Choir 1st Baptist," "Faculty," "INM...". The casket would have been on view at his home, which was on Sixth Street (below). The house is on the Virginia Historic Register.

Mr. Tonsler, former student of the Hampton Institute and Principal at the Jefferson School, is buried alongside his wife (Fannie Gildersleeve Tonsler) and several members of his family at the Daughters of Zion Cemetery. His influence in his lifetime and beyond is commemorated in Charlottesville in many ways, including with Tonsler Park. 

Mr. Tonsler taught and was eventually the Principal at the Jefferson Graded School from its opening in 1895 until his death in 1917.

In 1902, B. E. Tonsler was registered as a qualified voter in Charlottesville's Fourth Ward for the November 1902 election (the first one following the change in Virginia's Constitution, which had disenfranchised many African Americans). The below article from the Daily Progress notes, “The Board of Registrars for the fourth ward of the city was comprised of Messrs. Thomas S. Jones, chairman, Roy K. Flannagan and Water Dinwiddie. The board registered during its sitting the following qualified voters": 

"J. Allen, Robt. Bullock, A. T. Buckner, G. W. Brown, Henry Blue, J. W. Burns, Charles Burley, R. T. Brown, J. L. Coles, Wm. E. Catlett, Wm. Dickerson, Robert Flood, Charles Fuller, C. D. Goodloe, Charles Goodloe, [C] S. Hooker, Elder Harris, Albert Hooker, Hudson Jenkins, Robert Keller, G. W. Lawson, W. O. Lewis, J. E. Moon, J. P. Michie, Thos. Preston, R. C. Quarles, Warner Rivers, Albert Southall, B. E. Tonsler, Lee Watson, Allen Watson and P. Y. Wyatt." 

The 1910 Charlottesville and Esmont Census has an entry about "Tonsler, Benjerman" (note the misspelling of the first name, "Benjerman") that is about Mr. Benjamin Tonsler: "Tonsler, Benjerman, Age 56, male, mulatto, head of family, married 33 years, birthplace Virginia, occupation: Teacher - Public School, status - working, can read and write English; own a house, free (not mortgaged), house number 28, on 6th Street (Charlottesville)." His wife was Fannie Gildersleeve Tonsler; together they had six children 

The J. F. Bell Funeral Home Database has an entry about a relation of Mr. Tonsler's, named "Lloyd Benjamin Tonsler": "born June 14, 1883 in Virginia to parents Horace E. Tonsler and Pocahantas Woods; died July 4, 1967 in UVA Hospital in Charlottesville Virginia; buried in Oakwood Cemetery; wife Mary N. Tonsler died March 1958; brother Julius Tonsler of Bluefield West Virginia; sister Pocahantas Jackson of Newport News Virginia." 

The Tonsler family was one of several prominent African American families in Charlottesville at the time of this photograph, many of whom were also photographed by Holsinger: the Coles's, Bell's, Tonsler's, Inge's,and Jackson's (for more information, see the link to "The Four Hundreds Club" below). These prominent families had fashioned themselves as the "Four Hundreds Club," deriving the name from each family's achievement in being able to purchase a 400$ plot of land in Charlottesville. Not an official club, the "Four Hundreds" was rather an informal social gathering and way to acknowledge the accomplishments of these families not only within the African American community but also in Charlottesville community and beyond. 

Additional information about Benjamin E. Tonsler will be added as it is researched.

NOTE that the name with which the portrait is labelled (or, labelled "untitled") is not necessarily the name of the sitter(s) in the portrait, but rather the name of the person who paid for the portrait when it was taken (the date and name associated with each photograph is from the business ledgers of R. W. Holsinger).

 
Sources

- "Benjamin E. Tonsler," 1917-03-10 photograph in UVA Catalogue (X04907B) 

- Daughters of Zion Cemetery Burial List, 16 July 2019 (courtesy The Preservers of the Daughters of Zion Cemetery)

- "Colored," Daily Progress, October 29, 1902, p. 4. 

- 1910 Census Entry

- J. F. Bell Funeral Home Records 

- "The Four Hundreds Club"

- Benjamin E. Tonsler Entry, National Parks Service

- Rainville, Lynn. Hidden History: African American Cemeteries in Central Virginia. Univ. of Virginia Press: 2014, p. 62.

SEE ALSO:

Holsinger Image Gallery of African Americans

Charlottesville City Directory, 1914-15 [Hathi Trust] 

1870 & 1910 U. S. Census - Charlottesville & Esmont Communities

First published: June 4, 2019

Return to the Holsinger Main Page or African-American Portraiture List of Names