For a single Black woman of today, buying a home on her own can be a daunting experience and unfortunately, not a common one. In 1884, it must have been near miraculous. Yet our ancestresses here in Worcester did it and did it often. The photo of the deed above is just one of the properties purchased by Abigail Hardy Wiggins Bostic, 2nd wife of my 3rd great-grandfather, William Bostic.

Abbie Hardy – also called Abbie Freeman – was born between 1839 and 1844 according to multiple sources. She was the daughter of Esther Freeman and Elijah Hardy. She married George H. Wiggins on 13 January 1872 in Ayer, MA. George was the son of David and Matilda Wiggins of New Bern, NC. When her marriage with George ended, Abbie married William S. Bostic on 5 May 1896 in Worcester, MA.

Abbie was born in Winchendon in the area of Massachusetts populated with families of color including the Hazard, Gigger, Hammond, Hardy, Toney, and Freeman.

There were no known children from either of Abbie’s marriages. She sold her home on Park Ave and the 5 lots in Shrewsbury she purchased with her 2nd husband and moved to the Home for Aged Colored Women on Parker St in Worcester, MA. Abbie died at the home on 2 March 1925.