Jim Pratt

Jim Pratt cared about his family and worked hard for himself and for them. In 1863 he attempted to seek his freedom alongside a large group of other enslaved people from Hampton.

Regarding the enslaved who labored on the farm rather than in the house, we have detailed information on fewer of these individuals. One remarkable exception is Jim Pratt (1834-1902) and his family, for whom we have a good bit of documentation and even a photograph.

Jim Pratt was born in 1834 and was enslaved at birth. His mother was Charlotte (d. c. 1855?), an enslaved person who was a house servant. His father was likely Henry Pratt, a person purchased in 1831 to be enslaved as a farm worker, and who continued to appear in Hampton records up until c. 1863. Jim was the youngest of four siblings (John, Joe, Caroline, and Jim). Jim was apart of one of the large groups who attempted seeking freedom in 1863. The people in the group included Jim Pratt, Head waiter Mark Posey, Louisa Humphreys Posy and their infant child; Mary Humphreys, John Humphreys, George Humphreys, and Jim Gully. They were all captured and held in the Baltimore City jail. John Ridgely's Memorandum Book lists a record of payment in May 1863 to retrieve Tilghman and the others from the Baltimore City jail. In May 1864 he is again listed at Hampton in the final clothing list.

Account books document Jim Pratt continuing on the plantation (along with his brother Joe) as a paid laborer for many years after Emancipation. Harvesting and shucking corn were among his tasks. He and his wife Laura and three of their children (James, George, Lizzie) are recorded in the 1880 census in Towson. Records indicate that they were married in 1856, before Emancipation. Jim is still listed as working as a day laborer twenty years later, when he was in his late 60s. He and Laura were then living near Hampton.

In 1878, the following notice appeared in the Baltimore Sun:

"Colored Women Was Well Known

Laura Pratt, wife of James Pratt, colored, who was buried Saturday at Towson, was well known about Towson for many years She was about 70 years old and was formerly a slave, belonging to the late George Gill of Mantua Mills, Worthington Valley. She was the mother of 22 children and has 4 sons living.

James Pratt, her husband, who was a slave and belonged to the Ridgely estate, is very sick and is cared for by members of the Ridgely family. The colored woman died at the home of her brother, Loudon Franklin, in Baltimore, where she had recently gone to reside."

Jim is one of only two formerly enslaved people that were farm workers that James McHenry Howard mentions in his memoirs:

"Of the servants at the Quarters who remained with the family I shall mention the two whose names occur to me – one of them named Jim Pratt is still upon the farm as a laborer & though getting old is one of the hardest workers that have been upon the place. When a younger man he took pride in eclipsing any hired hand in the harvest field, and in forking hay he generally succeeded in breaking down any rival."

The well-known photo (c. 1897) of an older male servant pushing a wheel barrow outside the East Hyphen is very likely Jim Pratt.

Learn More

Enslaved People

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

From the colonial period through 1864, the Ridgelys enslaved over 500 people. Enslaved persons, from young children to the elderly
The Ridgelys of Hampton

Learn about the history of the Ridgely family at Hampton.
Free Black Laborers

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

African Americans hosted their own religious services in the woods at Hampton and attending religious meetings with neighboring groups of fr
Gruesome
Working Conditions

Accounts of the working conditions of the forced labor iron works.
Forms of Control

From physical to mental abuse for the youngest ages to the oldest. Learn about the harsh truths and forms of control.
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.