 those strong family values really start by her father thomas l jennings he's eulogized by frederick douglas in a 900 word obituary that he writes himself just to show you how important her father really was in the early 1820s jennings owns one of the largest towering houses in new york city and he begins experimenting with chemicals to clean fabrics and in 1821 he's granted a patent for the process of dry scouring clothes and in short