genetic thread: a DNA connection A DNA match between descendants initiated an investigation into the probable shared ancestry of two Black individuals living in Prince George’s County after emancipation. Washington Lee, a Civil War veteran, appeared in the Western Branch Neighborhood of Queen Anne District after the Civil War without visible connections to any kinshipContinue reading “genetic threads, historical lives: the story of Maria Matthews and Washington Lee”
at Her request: navigating the Unraveling of the macgill estate
Background Reading the tapestry of macgill’s estate The story of Polly is one of resistance against a world designed to commodify her existence. Sold from the estate of her long-time enslaver, she escaped her new owner in a daring attempt to re-stitch the torn fabric of her own kinship community. To understand her actions, oneContinue reading “at Her request: navigating the Unraveling of the macgill estate”
paper trail’s Pulse: dissecting the search for Polly
The Baltimore Sun’s printer placed the ad in the last column of page 2, underneath a bounty for Peter Culver who had absconded with a “free boy, hired by me, named Alexander” and an ad for Ohio Flour. Within this mundane context of commerce and control, William E. Peach’s advertisement primarily sought the conviction ofContinue reading “paper trail’s Pulse: dissecting the search for Polly”
Mapping a Life: The Geography of Bondage and Freedom for Alexander Davidge
introduction: a story rooted in place Antebellum Prince George’s County was a divided world. The world of planters and estates was visible through the creation of Martenet’s Map of Prince George’s County, which documented the landowners and their proximity to seats of power (Upper Marlborough, county seat, as well as the District of Columbia, theContinue reading “Mapping a Life: The Geography of Bondage and Freedom for Alexander Davidge”
planter panic of 1857
a man Undone merchant of queen anne William B. Harwood operated as a merchant in Queen Anne on the Patuxent River during the 1850s. The 1850 census enumerated his household, including a wife and child, and recorded his modest real estate valued at $1,200, likely a town lot and store. An 1852 Bill of SaleContinue reading “planter panic of 1857”
fire by an incendiary: a microhistory of a forgotten act of Rebellion
empires of Leaf and Labor Queen Anne District was situated in the “Forest of Prince George’s County”, and a contributor to the New York Times described it as “the great tobacco region of Maryland, and probably no other territory of equal extent in America produces so much of that famous weed.” [Dec 6, 1861] ThisContinue reading “fire by an incendiary: a microhistory of a forgotten act of Rebellion”
snowing and blowing in 1857
A severe blizzard immobilized the Mid-Atlantic region in January 1857. For multiple days, the storm raged for over twenty-four hours, burying the landscape under a layer of snow that measured nearly fifteen inches on the level and accumulated in drifts reaching ten to fifteen feet. The storm paralyzed the economic infrastructure of the region, renderingContinue reading “snowing and blowing in 1857”
bounty for freedom seekers
The July 4, 1860, issue of the Planters’ Advocate and Southern Maryland Advertiser presented its readers with a portrait of a society celebrating freedom while actively profiting from its denial. One column announced a Fourth of July celebration at the Brick Church (St. Barnabas) in the Wootton’s Landing neighborhood. There, Gonsalvo Clagett was scheduled toContinue reading “bounty for freedom seekers”
Eleanor (Nelly) Brown (1801-unk)
The 1836 schedule for the deed of trust transferring the Goodwood plantation to Rosalie E. Carter from the Calverts lists Eleanor “Nelly” Brown at age 35, establishing her calculated birth year as 1801. Her youth unfolded during the Early Republic Generation (1790-1815), a period of significant economic volatility shaped by the Napoleonic Wars. Trade embargoesContinue reading “Eleanor (Nelly) Brown (1801-unk)”
smith’s purchase: carter-bowie alliance
The 1851 marriage of Alice Carter, daughter of Charles H. Carter and Rosalie E. Calvert, to Oden Bowie, solidified a powerful alliance between two prominent enslaving networks. This union not only consolidated significant landholdings but also intertwined the complex kinship networks of the hundreds of Black people they held in bondage, whose forced labor wasContinue reading “smith’s purchase: carter-bowie alliance”
stories of Then 