Mary Eliza was an enslaved worker who lived and worked at Tuckahoe during the Allen period. She was born on May 15, 1855 to Henrietta Boyd. By 1861, she would have at least two more siblings (Sallie and James). It is unclear who the father was.
Mary Eliza, Sallie, James, and Henrietta appear to have lived with the rest of the Boyd family in the South Cabin which still stands along Plantation Street. This cabin would have housed about ten people including Mary Eliza’s grandparents (Mahala and Spy) and several aunts and uncles. After the Civil War, a number of the Boyd family remained in the Goochland area and likely continued to work at Tuckahoe for pay, however it is unknown whether Mary Eliza was among them.
