Nancy Davis

Nancy was born in 1833 at Cowpens Plantation (the farm immediately east of Hampton), the daughter of Ambrose Brown, the Howards’ “old marketman at Cowpens.” The identity of her mother was unknown until discovered through recent Ethnography Study research. Her mother, Polly Batty, had been enslaved by Charles Carnan Ridgely until his death in 1829. Polly Batty had labored, along with several other Batty family members, at the Northampton Furnace. Ridgely’s will manumitted (freed) the enslaved of certain ages, often separating families. When Polly was freed in 1838, Nancy was just five years old. Some members of the Batty family settled in York County, PA, while another branch remained in the Towson area. Because of her age, Nancy could not leave with her mother, but she eventually received her freedom in 1858.

Nancy’s principal role in the Howard and Ridgely households was childcare. She looked after three generations of children over her long life beginning with the four Howard boys, as James McHenry Howard describes: “she used to have charge of my brothers and myself, as she was a big girl when we were little.”. Having come to Hampton in 1851 upon the marriage of Margaretta Howard to Charles Ridgely, Nancy cared for their seven children, and John and Helen Ridgely’s children beginning in the 1870s. Nancy also served the family as a nurse and chambermaid, returning to the Howards in this capacity while the Ridgelys were in Europe in 1870-72.

Nancy had an important influence on one of the Ridgely children that still has an impact today. The youngest of Charles and Margaretta’s children was their third daughter, Margaretta “Margie” (1869-1949). After her mother’s death in 1904, Margie became a missionary in Liberia, West Africa, founding the House of Bethany, an Episcopal school for girls. She credited the influence of Nancy Davis on her decision to help young women in Africa.

Nancy travel back and forth between Hampton and town when the family did. Sometimes she is also listed in census records as living in a separate household in town with her husband, Louis Davis. They lived in a four-family house at 37 Orchard Street, Ward 11, Baltimore City. Louis had been a house servant at Hampton as an enslaved person and later worked as a freeman as a coachman to John A. Hambleton in Baltimore City. Although Nancy and Louis Davis had no children, Nancy does have living relatives that descended from one of her younger brothers, Daniel Brown. Dan Brown and his brother Sam both worked at Hampton as paid farm laborers in the 1870s and 1880s. Dan’s daughter Fanny Brown Jackson recalled living at Hampton in her early childhood, and Fanny’s great grandson has now visited Hampton and shared important family documents and information with the Ethnographic Study team.

Nancy died at Hampton on April 21, 1908, in a room on the first floor of the Octagonal Servants Quarters. After her funeral in the Great Hall of the mansion, she was buried in the Ridgely Family cemetery.

Individuals

Enslaved People

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

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

Second owner of the Hampton mansion and at one time the governor of Maryland.
Charles Ridgely

Charles Ridgely was the fourth owner of the Hampton Estate.
Margaretta Sophia Howard Ridgely

Following the death of her husband, Margaretta ran the Hampton estate for decades
John Ridgely

Fifth owner of the Hampton Estate.
Helen Ridgely Online Exhibit

A Modern Woman: The Many Roles & Achievements of Helen West Stewart Ridgley
Margaretta Sophia “Margie” Ridgely

Margie went against her family's norms and would go on to make a difference in many people lives.
Eliza Ridgely III

An intelligent and determined woman with strong religious and reforming impulses.

Learn More

Codicil to the will

The codicil to the will of Charles Carnan Ridgely (1760-1829)
Slavery at Hampton

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

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

The Ridgely's passed their lives without worry until it became apparent that a civil war was about to impact their lives.
The Cemetery

An overview of the Ridgely Family Cemetery
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.
Descendants of the Enslaved

Learn about the amazing things the descendants of the enslaved would go on to do!
History & Culture
History & Culture

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