Daniel Barber

A living historian demonstrates farming techniques.
NPS/Tim Ervin

Daniel Barber began his time with the Ridgelys as indentured servant and then became a tenant who paid rent for a small farm on Hampton lands, as is evidenced by the federal direct tax record of 1798. Barber was one of at least seven tenants who paid rent that year, the others were Dick Anderson, William, Coe, Nathaniel Corbin, William Ensor, Thomas Burton, and John Gorsuch. Not all of these men had been indentured servants, demonstrating yet again how transitions in and out of bondage happened in the midst of other stories: paid laborers, enslaved laborers, and recently indentured persons all worked the same land. Tenants like Barber added to the Hampton estate through farming improvements while also contributing to the family’s wealth.

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Indentured Servants

Indentured servants made up a significant portion of the Hampton labor force at one time. Read about their stories on the plantation.
Indentured Servants at Hampton

Indentured servants were not willing laborers and the working conditions at Northampton Furnace was grueling.
Gruesome
Working Conditions

Accounts of the working conditions of the forced labor iron works.
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People of Hampton

Hundreds of people lived, worked, and were enslaved at Hampton coinciding America's development as a nation. Explore more of their stories.
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.
History & Culture
History & Culture

Hampton National Historic Site today preserves the core of what was once a vast commercial, industrial, and agricultural plantation.