Born Mary Ann Shiner in Washington D.C.'s Sixth Ward on January 2, 1833, she began her life enslaved. The Slave Code of the District of Columbia, stated slave status followed a mother's legal status. Both Mary Ann's parents were enslaved. In 1833, her father, Michael G. Shiner, was twenty eight years old, a painter, who worked at the Washington Navy Yard. Shiner was enslaved to Thomas Howard, 1779-1832, Clerk of the Yard. Her mother Philis (maiden name unknown) 1808 -1848, was owned by James Pumphrey (1762-1832), a wealthy merchant. Pumphrey's death in April 1832 was followed by the sale of much of his property. A legal notice published by estate administrator Levi Pumphrey states that the deceased property consisting of "Beds, Bedding, Cows, Horses, Household and Kitchen Furniture, 1 Negro Woman and two children …." were offered for sale by auction. At the time of her birth, there were most likely rumors of an impending sale to cover Pumphrey's debts and satisfy other creditor claims against his estate. Her parents must have feared their family being split apart and being sold to new owners and worst that Philis and the children would be sold to the Deep South. The worst came in June 1833, when the Shiner family's whole world was savagely disrupted; Philis and the three children were sold. No notice, or warning of the sale was given, Philis and her three young children were walking near their home when they were accosted by slave catchers and forcibly taken by to the slave pen in Alexandria. Here is Shiner's brief account of the abduction:
"The 5th day of June 1833 on Wednesday my wife Phillis Shiner and children were sold to couple of gentleman Mr. Franklin and Mr. John Armfield and were carried down to Alexandria on the 6th day of June 1833, on Thursday and Friday I went down to Alexandria 3 times in one day over the Long Bridge and I went in great distress but never the less with the assistance of God I got my wife and children clear. I am under ten thousand obligations to the Honorable Major General for his kindness to me and my wife and children."
After her manumission, Mary Ann lived with her parents, she learned to read and write and most likely received some basic instruction from her father, who had learned to read and write as adult at a church school, it's unclear if her mother Phillis was literate. Her father Michael kept careful record of the public events of the day especially those that pertained to his employer, the Washington Navy Yard, in diary he secretly kept. The Shiner family attended Ebenezer Methodist Church near the Navy Yard Her parents owned own their own home and lived in a predominantly working class white neighborhood. Their immediate neighbors were John Rainbow a 37 year ship carpenter, John Kraft a 33 year soldier originally from Germany and Francis Ellwell a 52 year old musician
Phillis Shiner died sometime in 1848, possibly in childbirth, the exact date and circumstances of her death are unknown. Michael as a widower, needed to find care for his younger children. The time following the death of his wife Philis must have been rough for the Shiner's Michael was working long ten hour days and attempting to keep his family together. Mary Ann most likely provided assistance especially with minding her younger siblings but hr father must have realized the situation was untenable. Not long after Phillis death, Michael remarried on September 8, 1849 taking as his bride Jane Jackson then about 18 years of age. In the 1850 census for the District of Columbia, Mary Ann is not listed in Michael Shiner's household. The census enumerator lists Michael age 46, wife Jane age 19, daughter Sarah E. age 12, Isaac age 5 and Braxton age 6 months. Mary Ann's absence is best explained by the fact that at age 17 in 1850; Mary Ann would have been only two years younger then her stepmother. There is some documentation that Mary Ann possibly did not get on with her stepmother and there is evidence of rivalry between Michael Shiner's children by his first wife Phillis and those of second Jane Jackson.
Some reflection of these possible domestic difficulties is evident for her father felt the need to place a notice in the November 14, 1849 Daily National Intelligencer "I hereby notify all persons that I will pay no debts contracted in my name by either of my children after this date, and I enforce the law against any person or persons who may harbor or traffic with them without my knowledge."
Two years later, on March 16, 1852 Shiner placed another notice in the National Intelligencer cautioning the public with regard to helping his son Joseph Shiner "I hereby forewarn Captains, & Owners, fishing boats & Citizens not to employ or harbor my son Jos C. Shiner (He being under age) as the law be enforced upon all persons, harboring, employing or dealing in any way with said boy."
During the Civil War and after she is said to have worked on transatlantic passenger ships as a cook, to have traveled in Europe and learned to speak five languages English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. She was said to have been an accomplished musician. Mary Ann Shiner married Alexander Almarolia a Italian immigrant (date unknown) at an early age. Her father Michael died in January 17, 1880 and his second wife (her stepmother) Jane Jackson Shiner died April 21, 1884. Mary was the principal heir, her will refers to her father's property holdings.
After the Civil War, her father took an active part in the District's political life as a member of the 6th Ward Republican Club where he helped protest the discriminatory firing of a black employee of the Potomac Ferry company (Terry in Clark-Lewis, 88) and attended the 1870 Republican Convention (Gibbs Myers 1938). Her brothers Joseph Shiner (1836 - 30 November 1867) was a butcher and Isaac Shiner (1845 02 April 1872) were both active politically . Sadly both brothers died young and are buried at Ebenezer Cemetery.
Mary Ann was a District of Columbia registered midwife and ran a hotel with her husband Alexander located on Maryland Ave. The exact date they moved there is uncertain but the 1880 census for District of Columbia records the family as living on Maryland Ave. In 1880 the family consisted of Alexander Almarolia 68 years of age, occupation dining saloon operator, wife Mary Ann age 39 years, occupation "keeping house" the couples children are enumerate as daughter Lottie age 10 years ,and son Lewis age 3. On this same census both young Lottie and Lewis Alamrolia are enumerated as "mullato." Daughter Lottie is recorded as born in Pennsylvania while son Louis was born in the District of Columbia.
According to the Washington Post her manner of living is said to have angered the locals especially her flamboyant life style (She and her husband must have had a great deal of courage living openly as interracial couple in Washington DC in the 1870's and 1880's would have been a real challenge, even a threat to the accepted mores of majority of her fellow citizens). Mary Ann is said to have been a "familiar figure in the District and gave frequently to charity. She had the habit of seeking out persons in distress, whites as well as blacks and alleviating their sufferings. In periods of famine or panic, she would send to the police stations, ascertain who were in need and distribute a thousand loaves of bread daily and a corresponding amount of coal or ice as the season demanded."
In her later years Mary Ann's health deteriorated and series of accidents left her a semi invalid. Knowing that the end was near on 11 March 1904 she called on her attorney where she made and signed her last will and testament. In her will, she directed, her trustees pay as soon as possible, Rev. Frank X. Bischof of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, the sum of one hundred dollars with the request that he do what he can to have my grave cared for; she further directed her daughter Lottie was to receive five dollars; and her two step sons "Louis and Joseph [Almarolia] divide all the rest and residue of my estate, real, personal and mixed, equally…"
History owes Mary Ann a small debt of gratitude for she preserved and passed on her father's Diary. The Washington Times, reported. "Among the assets left by Michael Shiner is the manuscript of an unprinted book on the subject of slavery and the treatment of Negroes before the Civil War."
On Tuesday morning, 16 August 1904, Mary Ann Shiner Almarolia died at her home at 56 B Street Northwest. On August 17, 1904 in accord with her will she was buried in District of Columbia's Roman Catholic, Mount Olivet Cemetery. Her last will and testament was filed August 31 and admitted to probate 9 September 1904.
Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace.
"The 5th day of June 1833 on Wednesday my wife Phillis Shiner and children were sold to couple of gentleman Mr. Franklin and Mr. John Armfield and were carried down to Alexandria on the 6th day of June 1833, on Thursday and Friday I went down to Alexandria 3 times in one day over the Long Bridge and I went in great distress but never the less with the assistance of God I got my wife and children clear. I am under ten thousand obligations to the Honorable Major General for his kindness to me and my wife and children."
After her manumission, Mary Ann lived with her parents, she learned to read and write and most likely received some basic instruction from her father, who had learned to read and write as adult at a church school, it's unclear if her mother Phillis was literate. Her father Michael kept careful record of the public events of the day especially those that pertained to his employer, the Washington Navy Yard, in diary he secretly kept. The Shiner family attended Ebenezer Methodist Church near the Navy Yard Her parents owned own their own home and lived in a predominantly working class white neighborhood. Their immediate neighbors were John Rainbow a 37 year ship carpenter, John Kraft a 33 year soldier originally from Germany and Francis Ellwell a 52 year old musician
Phillis Shiner died sometime in 1848, possibly in childbirth, the exact date and circumstances of her death are unknown. Michael as a widower, needed to find care for his younger children. The time following the death of his wife Philis must have been rough for the Shiner's Michael was working long ten hour days and attempting to keep his family together. Mary Ann most likely provided assistance especially with minding her younger siblings but hr father must have realized the situation was untenable. Not long after Phillis death, Michael remarried on September 8, 1849 taking as his bride Jane Jackson then about 18 years of age. In the 1850 census for the District of Columbia, Mary Ann is not listed in Michael Shiner's household. The census enumerator lists Michael age 46, wife Jane age 19, daughter Sarah E. age 12, Isaac age 5 and Braxton age 6 months. Mary Ann's absence is best explained by the fact that at age 17 in 1850; Mary Ann would have been only two years younger then her stepmother. There is some documentation that Mary Ann possibly did not get on with her stepmother and there is evidence of rivalry between Michael Shiner's children by his first wife Phillis and those of second Jane Jackson.
Some reflection of these possible domestic difficulties is evident for her father felt the need to place a notice in the November 14, 1849 Daily National Intelligencer "I hereby notify all persons that I will pay no debts contracted in my name by either of my children after this date, and I enforce the law against any person or persons who may harbor or traffic with them without my knowledge."
Two years later, on March 16, 1852 Shiner placed another notice in the National Intelligencer cautioning the public with regard to helping his son Joseph Shiner "I hereby forewarn Captains, & Owners, fishing boats & Citizens not to employ or harbor my son Jos C. Shiner (He being under age) as the law be enforced upon all persons, harboring, employing or dealing in any way with said boy."
During the Civil War and after she is said to have worked on transatlantic passenger ships as a cook, to have traveled in Europe and learned to speak five languages English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. She was said to have been an accomplished musician. Mary Ann Shiner married Alexander Almarolia a Italian immigrant (date unknown) at an early age. Her father Michael died in January 17, 1880 and his second wife (her stepmother) Jane Jackson Shiner died April 21, 1884. Mary was the principal heir, her will refers to her father's property holdings.
After the Civil War, her father took an active part in the District's political life as a member of the 6th Ward Republican Club where he helped protest the discriminatory firing of a black employee of the Potomac Ferry company (Terry in Clark-Lewis, 88) and attended the 1870 Republican Convention (Gibbs Myers 1938). Her brothers Joseph Shiner (1836 - 30 November 1867) was a butcher and Isaac Shiner (1845 02 April 1872) were both active politically . Sadly both brothers died young and are buried at Ebenezer Cemetery.
Mary Ann was a District of Columbia registered midwife and ran a hotel with her husband Alexander located on Maryland Ave. The exact date they moved there is uncertain but the 1880 census for District of Columbia records the family as living on Maryland Ave. In 1880 the family consisted of Alexander Almarolia 68 years of age, occupation dining saloon operator, wife Mary Ann age 39 years, occupation "keeping house" the couples children are enumerate as daughter Lottie age 10 years ,and son Lewis age 3. On this same census both young Lottie and Lewis Alamrolia are enumerated as "mullato." Daughter Lottie is recorded as born in Pennsylvania while son Louis was born in the District of Columbia.
According to the Washington Post her manner of living is said to have angered the locals especially her flamboyant life style (She and her husband must have had a great deal of courage living openly as interracial couple in Washington DC in the 1870's and 1880's would have been a real challenge, even a threat to the accepted mores of majority of her fellow citizens). Mary Ann is said to have been a "familiar figure in the District and gave frequently to charity. She had the habit of seeking out persons in distress, whites as well as blacks and alleviating their sufferings. In periods of famine or panic, she would send to the police stations, ascertain who were in need and distribute a thousand loaves of bread daily and a corresponding amount of coal or ice as the season demanded."
In her later years Mary Ann's health deteriorated and series of accidents left her a semi invalid. Knowing that the end was near on 11 March 1904 she called on her attorney where she made and signed her last will and testament. In her will, she directed, her trustees pay as soon as possible, Rev. Frank X. Bischof of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, the sum of one hundred dollars with the request that he do what he can to have my grave cared for; she further directed her daughter Lottie was to receive five dollars; and her two step sons "Louis and Joseph [Almarolia] divide all the rest and residue of my estate, real, personal and mixed, equally…"
History owes Mary Ann a small debt of gratitude for she preserved and passed on her father's Diary. The Washington Times, reported. "Among the assets left by Michael Shiner is the manuscript of an unprinted book on the subject of slavery and the treatment of Negroes before the Civil War."
On Tuesday morning, 16 August 1904, Mary Ann Shiner Almarolia died at her home at 56 B Street Northwest. On August 17, 1904 in accord with her will she was buried in District of Columbia's Roman Catholic, Mount Olivet Cemetery. Her last will and testament was filed August 31 and admitted to probate 9 September 1904.
Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace.
Born Mary Ann Shiner in Washington D.C.'s Sixth Ward on January 2, 1833, she began her life enslaved. The Slave Code of the District of Columbia, stated slave status followed a mother's legal status. Both Mary Ann's parents were enslaved. In 1833, her father, Michael G. Shiner, was twenty eight years old, a painter, who worked at the Washington Navy Yard. Shiner was enslaved to Thomas Howard, 1779-1832, Clerk of the Yard. Her mother Philis (maiden name unknown) 1808 -1848, was owned by James Pumphrey (1762-1832), a wealthy merchant. Pumphrey's death in April 1832 was followed by the sale of much of his property. A legal notice published by estate administrator Levi Pumphrey states that the deceased property consisting of "Beds, Bedding, Cows, Horses, Household and Kitchen Furniture, 1 Negro Woman and two children …." were offered for sale by auction. At the time of her birth, there were most likely rumors of an impending sale to cover Pumphrey's debts and satisfy other creditor claims against his estate. Her parents must have feared their family being split apart and being sold to new owners and worst that Philis and the children would be sold to the Deep South. The worst came in June 1833, when the Shiner family's whole world was savagely disrupted; Philis and the three children were sold. No notice, or warning of the sale was given, Philis and her three young children were walking near their home when they were accosted by slave catchers and forcibly taken by to the slave pen in Alexandria. Here is Shiner's brief account of the abduction:
"The 5th day of June 1833 on Wednesday my wife Phillis Shiner and children were sold to couple of gentleman Mr. Franklin and Mr. John Armfield and were carried down to Alexandria on the 6th day of June 1833, on Thursday and Friday I went down to Alexandria 3 times in one day over the Long Bridge and I went in great distress but never the less with the assistance of God I got my wife and children clear. I am under ten thousand obligations to the Honorable Major General for his kindness to me and my wife and children."
After her manumission, Mary Ann lived with her parents, she learned to read and write and most likely received some basic instruction from her father, who had learned to read and write as adult at a church school, it's unclear if her mother Phillis was literate. Her father Michael kept careful record of the public events of the day especially those that pertained to his employer, the Washington Navy Yard, in diary he secretly kept. The Shiner family attended Ebenezer Methodist Church near the Navy Yard Her parents owned own their own home and lived in a predominantly working class white neighborhood. Their immediate neighbors were John Rainbow a 37 year ship carpenter, John Kraft a 33 year soldier originally from Germany and Francis Ellwell a 52 year old musician
Phillis Shiner died sometime in 1848, possibly in childbirth, the exact date and circumstances of her death are unknown. Michael as a widower, needed to find care for his younger children. The time following the death of his wife Philis must have been rough for the Shiner's Michael was working long ten hour days and attempting to keep his family together. Mary Ann most likely provided assistance especially with minding her younger siblings but hr father must have realized the situation was untenable. Not long after Phillis death, Michael remarried on September 8, 1849 taking as his bride Jane Jackson then about 18 years of age. In the 1850 census for the District of Columbia, Mary Ann is not listed in Michael Shiner's household. The census enumerator lists Michael age 46, wife Jane age 19, daughter Sarah E. age 12, Isaac age 5 and Braxton age 6 months. Mary Ann's absence is best explained by the fact that at age 17 in 1850; Mary Ann would have been only two years younger then her stepmother. There is some documentation that Mary Ann possibly did not get on with her stepmother and there is evidence of rivalry between Michael Shiner's children by his first wife Phillis and those of second Jane Jackson.
Some reflection of these possible domestic difficulties is evident for her father felt the need to place a notice in the November 14, 1849 Daily National Intelligencer "I hereby notify all persons that I will pay no debts contracted in my name by either of my children after this date, and I enforce the law against any person or persons who may harbor or traffic with them without my knowledge."
Two years later, on March 16, 1852 Shiner placed another notice in the National Intelligencer cautioning the public with regard to helping his son Joseph Shiner "I hereby forewarn Captains, & Owners, fishing boats & Citizens not to employ or harbor my son Jos C. Shiner (He being under age) as the law be enforced upon all persons, harboring, employing or dealing in any way with said boy."
During the Civil War and after she is said to have worked on transatlantic passenger ships as a cook, to have traveled in Europe and learned to speak five languages English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. She was said to have been an accomplished musician. Mary Ann Shiner married Alexander Almarolia a Italian immigrant (date unknown) at an early age. Her father Michael died in January 17, 1880 and his second wife (her stepmother) Jane Jackson Shiner died April 21, 1884. Mary was the principal heir, her will refers to her father's property holdings.
After the Civil War, her father took an active part in the District's political life as a member of the 6th Ward Republican Club where he helped protest the discriminatory firing of a black employee of the Potomac Ferry company (Terry in Clark-Lewis, 88) and attended the 1870 Republican Convention (Gibbs Myers 1938). Her brothers Joseph Shiner (1836 - 30 November 1867) was a butcher and Isaac Shiner (1845 02 April 1872) were both active politically . Sadly both brothers died young and are buried at Ebenezer Cemetery.
Mary Ann was a District of Columbia registered midwife and ran a hotel with her husband Alexander located on Maryland Ave. The exact date they moved there is uncertain but the 1880 census for District of Columbia records the family as living on Maryland Ave. In 1880 the family consisted of Alexander Almarolia 68 years of age, occupation dining saloon operator, wife Mary Ann age 39 years, occupation "keeping house" the couples children are enumerate as daughter Lottie age 10 years ,and son Lewis age 3. On this same census both young Lottie and Lewis Alamrolia are enumerated as "mullato." Daughter Lottie is recorded as born in Pennsylvania while son Louis was born in the District of Columbia.
According to the Washington Post her manner of living is said to have angered the locals especially her flamboyant life style (She and her husband must have had a great deal of courage living openly as interracial couple in Washington DC in the 1870's and 1880's would have been a real challenge, even a threat to the accepted mores of majority of her fellow citizens). Mary Ann is said to have been a "familiar figure in the District and gave frequently to charity. She had the habit of seeking out persons in distress, whites as well as blacks and alleviating their sufferings. In periods of famine or panic, she would send to the police stations, ascertain who were in need and distribute a thousand loaves of bread daily and a corresponding amount of coal or ice as the season demanded."
In her later years Mary Ann's health deteriorated and series of accidents left her a semi invalid. Knowing that the end was near on 11 March 1904 she called on her attorney where she made and signed her last will and testament. In her will, she directed, her trustees pay as soon as possible, Rev. Frank X. Bischof of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, the sum of one hundred dollars with the request that he do what he can to have my grave cared for; she further directed her daughter Lottie was to receive five dollars; and her two step sons "Louis and Joseph [Almarolia] divide all the rest and residue of my estate, real, personal and mixed, equally…"
History owes Mary Ann a small debt of gratitude for she preserved and passed on her father's Diary. The Washington Times, reported. "Among the assets left by Michael Shiner is the manuscript of an unprinted book on the subject of slavery and the treatment of Negroes before the Civil War."
On Tuesday morning, 16 August 1904, Mary Ann Shiner Almarolia died at her home at 56 B Street Northwest. On August 17, 1904 in accord with her will she was buried in District of Columbia's Roman Catholic, Mount Olivet Cemetery. Her last will and testament was filed August 31 and admitted to probate 9 September 1904.
Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace.
"The 5th day of June 1833 on Wednesday my wife Phillis Shiner and children were sold to couple of gentleman Mr. Franklin and Mr. John Armfield and were carried down to Alexandria on the 6th day of June 1833, on Thursday and Friday I went down to Alexandria 3 times in one day over the Long Bridge and I went in great distress but never the less with the assistance of God I got my wife and children clear. I am under ten thousand obligations to the Honorable Major General for his kindness to me and my wife and children."
After her manumission, Mary Ann lived with her parents, she learned to read and write and most likely received some basic instruction from her father, who had learned to read and write as adult at a church school, it's unclear if her mother Phillis was literate. Her father Michael kept careful record of the public events of the day especially those that pertained to his employer, the Washington Navy Yard, in diary he secretly kept. The Shiner family attended Ebenezer Methodist Church near the Navy Yard Her parents owned own their own home and lived in a predominantly working class white neighborhood. Their immediate neighbors were John Rainbow a 37 year ship carpenter, John Kraft a 33 year soldier originally from Germany and Francis Ellwell a 52 year old musician
Phillis Shiner died sometime in 1848, possibly in childbirth, the exact date and circumstances of her death are unknown. Michael as a widower, needed to find care for his younger children. The time following the death of his wife Philis must have been rough for the Shiner's Michael was working long ten hour days and attempting to keep his family together. Mary Ann most likely provided assistance especially with minding her younger siblings but hr father must have realized the situation was untenable. Not long after Phillis death, Michael remarried on September 8, 1849 taking as his bride Jane Jackson then about 18 years of age. In the 1850 census for the District of Columbia, Mary Ann is not listed in Michael Shiner's household. The census enumerator lists Michael age 46, wife Jane age 19, daughter Sarah E. age 12, Isaac age 5 and Braxton age 6 months. Mary Ann's absence is best explained by the fact that at age 17 in 1850; Mary Ann would have been only two years younger then her stepmother. There is some documentation that Mary Ann possibly did not get on with her stepmother and there is evidence of rivalry between Michael Shiner's children by his first wife Phillis and those of second Jane Jackson.
Some reflection of these possible domestic difficulties is evident for her father felt the need to place a notice in the November 14, 1849 Daily National Intelligencer "I hereby notify all persons that I will pay no debts contracted in my name by either of my children after this date, and I enforce the law against any person or persons who may harbor or traffic with them without my knowledge."
Two years later, on March 16, 1852 Shiner placed another notice in the National Intelligencer cautioning the public with regard to helping his son Joseph Shiner "I hereby forewarn Captains, & Owners, fishing boats & Citizens not to employ or harbor my son Jos C. Shiner (He being under age) as the law be enforced upon all persons, harboring, employing or dealing in any way with said boy."
During the Civil War and after she is said to have worked on transatlantic passenger ships as a cook, to have traveled in Europe and learned to speak five languages English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. She was said to have been an accomplished musician. Mary Ann Shiner married Alexander Almarolia a Italian immigrant (date unknown) at an early age. Her father Michael died in January 17, 1880 and his second wife (her stepmother) Jane Jackson Shiner died April 21, 1884. Mary was the principal heir, her will refers to her father's property holdings.
After the Civil War, her father took an active part in the District's political life as a member of the 6th Ward Republican Club where he helped protest the discriminatory firing of a black employee of the Potomac Ferry company (Terry in Clark-Lewis, 88) and attended the 1870 Republican Convention (Gibbs Myers 1938). Her brothers Joseph Shiner (1836 - 30 November 1867) was a butcher and Isaac Shiner (1845 02 April 1872) were both active politically . Sadly both brothers died young and are buried at Ebenezer Cemetery.
Mary Ann was a District of Columbia registered midwife and ran a hotel with her husband Alexander located on Maryland Ave. The exact date they moved there is uncertain but the 1880 census for District of Columbia records the family as living on Maryland Ave. In 1880 the family consisted of Alexander Almarolia 68 years of age, occupation dining saloon operator, wife Mary Ann age 39 years, occupation "keeping house" the couples children are enumerate as daughter Lottie age 10 years ,and son Lewis age 3. On this same census both young Lottie and Lewis Alamrolia are enumerated as "mullato." Daughter Lottie is recorded as born in Pennsylvania while son Louis was born in the District of Columbia.
According to the Washington Post her manner of living is said to have angered the locals especially her flamboyant life style (She and her husband must have had a great deal of courage living openly as interracial couple in Washington DC in the 1870's and 1880's would have been a real challenge, even a threat to the accepted mores of majority of her fellow citizens). Mary Ann is said to have been a "familiar figure in the District and gave frequently to charity. She had the habit of seeking out persons in distress, whites as well as blacks and alleviating their sufferings. In periods of famine or panic, she would send to the police stations, ascertain who were in need and distribute a thousand loaves of bread daily and a corresponding amount of coal or ice as the season demanded."
In her later years Mary Ann's health deteriorated and series of accidents left her a semi invalid. Knowing that the end was near on 11 March 1904 she called on her attorney where she made and signed her last will and testament. In her will, she directed, her trustees pay as soon as possible, Rev. Frank X. Bischof of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, the sum of one hundred dollars with the request that he do what he can to have my grave cared for; she further directed her daughter Lottie was to receive five dollars; and her two step sons "Louis and Joseph [Almarolia] divide all the rest and residue of my estate, real, personal and mixed, equally…"
History owes Mary Ann a small debt of gratitude for she preserved and passed on her father's Diary. The Washington Times, reported. "Among the assets left by Michael Shiner is the manuscript of an unprinted book on the subject of slavery and the treatment of Negroes before the Civil War."
On Tuesday morning, 16 August 1904, Mary Ann Shiner Almarolia died at her home at 56 B Street Northwest. On August 17, 1904 in accord with her will she was buried in District of Columbia's Roman Catholic, Mount Olivet Cemetery. Her last will and testament was filed August 31 and admitted to probate 9 September 1904.
Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace.
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