Back in the Day - Profiles of Black Expat History
Nancy Gardner Prince – Expat and Entrepreneur in Czarist
Russia by Reginald Smith
Nancy Gardner Prince was a Black woman who was born free on September 15, 1799 in
Newburyport, Massachusetts. Though it was early in American history, her family had
already made a mark, with her grandfather having served in the Revolutionary Army at
Bunker Hill. Despite this early achievement, she was born into a life of poverty. She had
a difficult life from the start being one of eight children to a mother who had been
widowed three times. Nancy was forced to help support the family from an early age:
“My brother and myself stayed at home that Summer. We gathered berries and sold
them in Gloucester; strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and whortleberries, were in
abundance, in the stony environs, growing spontaneously. With the sale of these fruits, my brother and myself
nearly supported my mother and her children, that Summer.”
She also found positions around Massachusetts near her home Salem as a servant girl and other odd jobs to help
support her ailing and weary mother. After learning a trade and working strenuously for seven years she “made up
my mind to leave my country”. A native of Marlborough, Massachusetts named Nero Prince returned to the US in
1823 after years in Russia and captured Nancy’s heart. They were married in 1824 and set sail for Russia where
Nero served Princess Purtossof. On their way through Europe they saw Copenhagen, Kronstadt, Poland, and finally
St. Petersburg. They received an audience with both Emperor Alexander and Empress Elizabeth who gifted them
with a watch. Apparently, Nero was part of a group of Blacks that attended the palace:
“The number of colored men that filled this station was twenty; when one dies, the number is immediately made up.
Mr. Prince filled the place of one that had died. They serve in turns, four at a time, except on some great occasions,
when all are employed. Provision is made for the families within or without the palace. Those without go to court at
8 o'clock in the morning; after breakfasting, they take their station in the halls, for the purpose of opening the
doors, at signal given, when the Emperor and Empress pass.”
She also described many historical events such as a flood in the city, details of Russian Orthodox religious belief and
practices, the abdication of Constantine I of Russia, the following Decembrist revolt, and the coronation of Czar
Nicholas I. Nancy detailed her respect for the local culture and efforts to adapt. She spoke of how the common
Russians spoke Russian and the nobility French, Greek, and English. She says she was able to learn the Russian,
French, and Greek in six months. In addition, to make money she started her own business making children's
garments for the Russian nobility and eventually took on several employees and had her clothes purchased and
endorsed by the Empress of Russia herself!
Because of reasons of health and the weather, which did not agree with her, Nancy left St. Petersburg in 1833 and
returned to Massachusetts. Her husband had promised to join her as soon as his term of service ended but he
tragically died in the interim. She later went to Jamaica temporarily as a missionary and returned home and
published her memoirs from which this story is taken: Narrative of the Life and Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince. The
last edition was published in 1856 and her life and death after that are unknown.
Nancy Prince stands out for being adventurous and adaptable in a foreign land and eventually starting a business
there. This was during a time where Blacks, especially women, were not supposed to amount to much more than a
low status in society and the eyes of others. The trail she blazed shows that anyone, especially in these much more
liberal times, should be able to grasp on the life of an expat and learn to start an enriching new chapter in their life.
Volume 1, Issue 1, Spring 2008
Black Expat Magazine
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