Hampton's Sixth Annual African American Symposium

Early 19th century slave cabin at Hampton National Historic Site

Hampton National Historic Site hosts an annual African American history symposium at Goucher College each March. It attracts quite a mixed audience, from archivists and historians to members of the general public and sisters of the Oblate Sisters of Providence (the first religious order of women of color). Christopher Phillips, the symposium's keynote speaker and a professor at the University of Cincinnati, spoke about term slavery, an arrangement that was not common in slave states but was largely confined to Maryland. I was familiar with the large number of gradual emancipations from my research, so it was extremely helpful to have Dr. Phillips put this phenomenon into context. Many other states only allowed manumission through a will or by having the slave holder request special permission from the state legislature. However, term slavery through manumission, a legal document and enforceable contract, was unique to Maryland and gave slaves slight access to legal recourse if the manumission was violated. Even though it would have been quite challenging for slaves to muster the funds and legal representation needed to contest a violated manumission in court, Phillips found cases where they did so and the law ruled in their favor. This is another example of Maryland's ambivalent and contradictory attitudes toward slavery. Based on Dr. Phillips’ presentation and the recommendation of one of my colleagues, I’m adding Dr. Phillips’ book, Freedom’s Port: The African American Community in Baltimore, 1790-1860, to my reading list.

Kathryn Deely was another speaker whose research is relevant to my work. Kathryn is a doctoral student in archeology at the University of Maryland. She has been excavating backyards in Annapolis and is looking at the differences in archeological artifacts based on the race and class of the homes’ inhabitants during the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the properties that she has excavated was owned and rented out by William H. Butler, a wealthy, nineteenth century African American that I am researching. I spoke to her after her talk, and she gave me some good ideas for methodologies to use in researching Butler’s property ownership.

Reproduction iron slave collars and chains

After the symposium, the National Park Service provided a tour of Hampton’s slave quarters, which date from the early to mid-1800s. Angela Roberts-Burton, one of Hampton’s park rangers, gave an excellent, balanced tour and used primary sources, reproduction artifacts, and the built environment to support her historical narrative. Although I had visited Hampton before, it was well worth going on the guided tour as well as experiencing the tour as part of a diverse group. Audience questions were indicative of the larger public’s perceptions and misconceptions of slavery in America. Some people knew quite a bit about slavery while others had a hard time believing that sadistic brutality was endemic to the institution.

From the Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society: Potential Case Studies

I’ve expanded my record stripping to include all five counties (Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot) of the Eastern Shore that are covered in the U.S. Department of Education grant. Interesting individuals that I’ve encountered so far and are potential case studies:

-         Samuel Harrison, a wealthy landowner and slave owner in Talbot County, who manumitted over 100 slaves (most gradually) in his will. Many of the manumitted slaves were over the age of 45 and some were disabled, two conditions that  outlawed manumission.

-         A couple of cases of freed slaves whose manumissions were conditional on their emigrating to Liberia. I need to dig deeper, but it does not appear as if these particular people emigrated despite this condition.

-         Ebenezer Welch, a slave owner in Kent County, freed his “negro children” in his will.

-         James A. Jones, an African American butcher from Kent County and a delegate to the 1852 Colored Colonization Convention, who was pro-emigration but did not emigrate.

I’ve found many heartbreaking cases but the case of the boy Asbury is particularly sad because poor records management was the cause. Robert Butler of Queen Anne’s County gradually freed his slaves in his will, stating the date that each was to be free. However, in the case of Asbury, Butler’s will was torn in the space that specified Asbury’s term of service, leaving it as 18?7.

As a result:

Transcription: “Note: The Administrator feels himself at a loss to know the exact time of service of Negro Asbury, last the will of the testator was so badly defaced and torn that the figure between 8 and 7 was entirely obliterated and he has substituted the figure six as the most probable.”

The administrator may have guessed correctly, or may even have shortened Asbury’s term of service. Yet, it is unfortunate that his time in servitude had to be decided so arbitrarily due to a hole in paper.*

* Maryland State Archives Special Collections (Maryland State Colonization Society Papers) Extract of the will of Robert Butler,1834. MSA SC 5977, Reel 13249 p. 19. (http://mdhistory.net/msa_sc5977/scm013249/pdf/msa_sc5977_scm13249-0019.pdf)