2 - Family Matters

Summary

Little is known about Ira Aldridge's early life. Using statements made by Aldridge himself on playbills, in a diary he kept on one of his Continental tours, and in his application for British citizenship, Marshall and Stock were able to establish that he was born in New York City on July 24, 1807. James McCune Smith adds another level of detail, locating his birthplace as “Chapel Street (now West Broadway)” in lower Manhattan, and Longworth's Directory for 1812 confirms that Aldridge's father, Daniel, was living at the rear of 93 Chapel Street five years later, so it is more than likely true that this was the place where Ira was born.

Other documents suggest that he may not have been christened as Ira. For instance, in 1825 he signed his marriage certificate as Fredrick [sic] William K. Aldridge, and on some of his earliest playbills and promotional materials the initials F. W. preceded his name. He may have assumed Ira, a Biblical name, several years later, for it was not until 1833 that he began appearing on playbills as Ira Aldridge. Toward the end of his life, both on his application for British citizenship in 1863 and on his last will and testament in 1867, he identified himself as Ira Frederick Aldridge. William and K. had by this time disappeared from all his official signatures.

As we have seen, the Memoir claims that Ira's father, Daniel, had been born in Senegal as the son of a “reforming Prince” who was opposed to the slave trade. Other sources point to Maryland and specifically to Baltimore as his birthplace, but his death certificate in 1840 records that he was born in New York in 1772.6 There is additional evidence proving that Manhattan was Daniel's home—at least for most of his adult years. The 1800 Census of New York City lists a black Daniel Aldridge, and later local census records are a bit more ambiguous, showing several Daniel, D., or D. J. Aldridges but giving no indication of their race.