Tenant Farming & Farm Laborers at Hampton

The woman pictured on the left is probably Amanda Norris. She lived in the quarters with her husband, farm hand James Norris (probably the man on the right), at the beginning of the 20th century. James Norris’ twin brother Thomas was the dairyman at Hampton later in the mid-1910s.

1895, 1903, NPS

After the Civil War the Ridgelys entered into contracts with individuals to rent out increasing amounts of land for share cropping and tenant farming. These arrangements allowed people to farm tracts of land while the tenant farmers either paid the Ridgelys in shares of their crop, or in monthly cash payments. It was nearly impossible for farmers to profit in these arrangements. One declared that “no man could make an honest living” at Hampton. Yet, tenant farming on the plantation and surrounding properties increased since there were few options for poor workers. By 1889, almost 90% of the land around Hampton was worked by tenant farmers. Tenant farmers and their families created a wide community of people living and working on Hampton land.

One name of a tenant farmer was Amanda Norris, who was born in Virginia and married James Norris in 1888. James worked as a farmhand at Hampton and together they lived in the quarters on the farm side around the turn of the 20th century.

 

The 1920 U.S. Census for Baltimore County shows John Humphreys listed as the Farm Manager, living adjacent to the Ridgelys and the estate’s gardener.

1920 Census of Hampton; US Census, 1920, Washington, D.C.: NARA

Baltimore City and the surrounding towns depended on farms such as Hampton to feed growing populations, but tenant farming was a break-even endeavor at best. As crop prices fell through the early 1900s, many farmers in Maryland, including the Ridgelys, sold their land for residential development.

One formerly enslaved farm person, John Humphreys (1854-lv. 1930), spent his entire life toiling on the Hampton Home Farm. He was able to rise from a very meager laborer’s salary of $.50 per day in the late 1870s, to becoming the farm manager in the 1910s.

Dorothy Norris Croner (1908-2000), who lived in the tenant quarters with her father, dairyman Thomas G. Norris (James Norris's twin brother), around the time of World War I, recalled in an oral history recorded in 1998 that John Humphreys lived in the Overseer's house with his wife, her sister, and two sons.

 

Photograph of Howard and farm dog Joe Louis

1936, NPS

A Hampton tenant farmer named Todd said about tenant farms: “No man could make an honest living on them.” Tenant farmers complained about high rents, and farm laborers’ wages averaged 50 cents a day from the 1860s into the early 1900s.

Black and white tenant farmers and farm laborers continued to work at Hampton well into the 20th century. Not until World War II brought about the end of dairy farming on the estate did the main farm operations cease.

 

Learn More

• 

  Who Lived Here Exhibit

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

• 

  Individual lives in focus

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

• 

  Buildings on the Home Farm

  Learn about the buildings on the home farm side of Hampton. From the overseer's house, quarters of the enslaved, to the dairy.

• 

  Facing the Challenges Ahead

  Learn about how although free, African Americans still had many challenges ahead.

• 

  Changing Landscapes & Lives

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

• 

  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.