Facing the Challenges Ahead

Workers at Hampton farm

c. 1895, NPS

Maryland formally ended chattel slavery with its new state Constitution in November 1864. Freedom brought its own challenges, since the formerly enslaved had few assets and little or no education. To survive, some drew upon the skills learned during their years of enslavement. Those who had performed agricultural labor became tenant farmers or paid farm laborers. Tenant farmers paid rent for housing, land, and tools, and kept their profits. At the Home Farm, several of the paid laborers had been formerly enslaved here, including John Humphreys, Jim Pratt, and Samuel Williams.

Many former plantations went bankrupt after the Civil War. Hampton was an exception, although profits were usually minimal. By the early 20th century, Helen Stewart Ridgely’s inherited income was needed to pay the estate’s bills.

Two sets of brothers worked as paid farm laborers at Hampton after the Civil War. Daniel (1848-lv. 1910) and Sam Brown (1846-lv. 1880) were younger brothers of Nancy Brown Davis who was an enslaved person that was a house servant. Daniel and Sam worked at the Home Farm in the 1870s and 1880s. Jim (1834-1902) and Joe Pratt (1832-lv. 1882) had formerly been enslaved laborers, later becoming paid workers; their duties included harvesting and shucking corn.

 

Newspaper ad about a Fourth of July event where Nelson Hawkins was the caterer and was deemed to be "the famous caterer."

Baltimore Sun, July 1, 1880; Image courtesy Newspapers.com

Formerly enslaved house servants had some advantage over farm laborers when looking for paid work after manumission or Emancipation. Coachmen, cooks, seamstresses, and others had sought-after skills in an increasingly urbanized society. While some, like Nancy Davis, stayed on at Hampton in the same role, most chose to leave. Many remained in the greater Towson area, while others moved to Baltimore City, joining established communities of free African Americans. Facing entrenched racism and restrictive state and local laws, even skilled workers had limited economic opportunities, with Black women facing the greatest odds at all skill levels.

Former head seamstress Harriet Hawkins (c.1807-lv.1886) found work as a dressmaker to the wealthy ladies of the Mount Vernon neighborhood. One of her sons, Nelson (1843-1916), a waiter and cook at Hampton, became a “famous” caterer (advertised in newspaper above), eventually moving to Philadelphia.

 

Cabinet card of Henry Cummings

c. 1890, Maryland Center for History and Culture, PP240

Henry Cummins/Cummings had been enslaved at the White Marsh plantation and was manumitted by the terms of Charles Carnan Ridgely’s will in 1853/1854. He found work as a cook in a Baltimore city hotel, later becoming a successful caterer. In 1879, Henry was elected to Maryland’s Republican party nominating convention. His son, Harry Sythe Cummings, became one of the first two African Americans to graduate from the University of Maryland Law School, and the first elected to the Baltimore City Council.

Click to learn more about the Cummings Family

 

Image of Orchard Street Church (Methodist Episcopal)

NPS

Hampton’s former head cook, Dinah Toogood, and her husband Nick moved to the Seton Hill neighborhood in Baltimore after Emancipation and are listed in city directories. They were already in their 60s and 70s, and worked as a laundress and laborer. They were a part of the Orchard Street Church, known for its civil rights activism. When Nick died at the age of 92 in 1879, his funeral was held there.

Click to learn more about the Toogood Family

 

People

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  Harriet Hawkins

  Learn about the story of Hampton's head dressmaker and how the story goes deeper than other enslaved people.

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  Part of social change

  The Cummings Family

  Learn about the activism and public service of the Cummings family.

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  Toogood Family

  Learn about the Toogood family, their life after emancipation, and the impression they left on the Ridgely family.

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  Enslaved People

  Hampton was the second largest plantation in Maryland. Learn about the struggle, hardships, and lives of the enslaved.

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  Free Black Laborers

  Free Black Laborers worked at Hampton for various reasons. A good amount did to eventually purchase their family members.

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  Descendants of the Enslaved

  Learn about the amazing things the descendants of the enslaved would go on to do.

 

Originally built as Quarters for the enslaved, this photo was taken while the buildings were occupied by tenant families

c. 1895, NPS.

Used as quarters for farm laborers and tenant farmers after Emancipation, this building was altered over the years to convert it from a duplex into a single-family home. Other renovations included an additional window, porch (no longer standing), and a stove for added warmth. Modern conveniences such as a sink, electricity, and an indoor toilet were not installed until the 1940s.

Learn more about the structures on the home farm at Hampton.

 

Learn More

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  Who Lived Here Exhibit

  Learn about the people that made Hampton what it is today.

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  Individual lives in focus

  Learn about how each person was still a unique individual with their own story and experience.

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  Changing Landscapes & Lives

  While technological advancements improved lives, racist policies and laws created different challenges.

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  Types of Labor

  Enslaved laborers and indentured servants performed the grueling work required to run this operation.

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  Tenant Farming & Farm Laborers

  Learn about Tenant Farming & Farm Laborers at Hampton

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  The Value of a Person

  Enslaved people were considered chattel - or property - and were often valued according to their age, gender, or skill level.

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  Toward the Future

  Education is the way to the future, but there were unique difficulties set in place for Black people because of a system of racism.

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  Lives Revealed on Paper

  We learn more about the lives of others by looking at what was written.

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  Revealing the Lives of the Enslaved

  A recent Ethnographic Study uncovered major information on the lives of those enslaved at Hampton and their descendants. Read about it here.