1700-1865:_Antebellum_slave_plantation_era St._Mary's_City,_Maryland

1 1700-1865: antebellum slave plantation era

1.1 18th century: consolidation of farms
1.2 civil war
1.3 post-civil war farming
1.4 writings decline of st. mary s city

1700-1865: antebellum slave plantation era
early 18th century: consolidation of farms

the small remaining farms in st. mary s city consolidated large antebellum-style slave plantation brome-howard family, operated through majority of 19th century. main plantation house built on ruins of 1 of calvert residences.

civil war

during civil war, union troops occupied st. mary s county, large part of maryland @ time, had southern sympathies. piers , wharfs in st. mary s county burned union forces in order stop trade confederacy across potomac river. brome s wharf in st. mary s city burned, part of brome-howard plantation, owned doctor brome, slave-owner , confederate sympathizer. there archeological evidence union army may have occupied plantation time. records show brome later complained union troops had damaged piano while ransacking main plantation house.

records show 1 quarter of 66 people living under slavery @ doctor brome s plantation in st. mary s city escaped during civil war , @ least 2 of them joined union army. before slavery legally abolished, union army had policy allowing enslaved men gain freedom if became union soldiers. other records show total number of people living under slavery there during time 59.

one escaped slave brome-howard plantation in st. mary s city served in famed 38th u.s. colored infantry, received unit citations service in battle of chaffin s farm. survived war , settled in baltimore. african american soldier in same unit, st. mary s county, although not st. mary s city, received medal of honor actions during battle.

medal issued valor in battle of chaffin s farm (also known battle of new market heights ) members of 38th united states colored infantry regiment in alexander gough, william gross, william h. barnes , james h. harris served.

it specific actions of 38th usct in battle inspired maj. gen. benjamin butler order creation of medal.

barnes , harris won medal of honor.

circa 1865 - smithsonian museum of american history.

two men had escaped slavery st. mary s city area, alexander gough , william gross, joined famed 38th united states colored infantry regiment of union army, won unit citations valor in battle of chaffin s farm (also known battle of new market heights ) in american civil war. gough known have survived war , lived rest of life in baltimore. 2 other african american men area, william h. barnes , james h. harris both great mills (which north of st. mary s city), had been free tenant farmers before war, served in same regiment. harris , barnes each won medal of honor actions in battle of chaffin s farm. there evidence suggesting additional slaves brome plantation fought in war well. in total, on 700 african americans st. mary s county served in union army during civil war.

the united states colored troops memorial statue, in lexington park, maryland, 7 miles north of st. mary s city, honors , memorializes african american soldiers st. mary s county, including men of 38th united states colored troops regiment, served soldiers or sailors in union cause during american civil war. educational plaque @ site mentions barnes , harris , how won medal of honor.

post-civil war farming

the civil war ended slavery on plantation , area remained under large farm owned descendents of original owners until 20th century. mid-20th century, few 17th-century buildings still stood. town center site appeared farmland exception of few private residences, , after 1840, expanding female seminary school began small part of total area.

writings decline of st. mary s city

in 1838 novel rob of bowl published; story struggle religious tolerance in maryland , written john pendleton kennedy, , set in st. mary s city , neighboring st. inigoes, maryland. book opens poem kennedy selected re-attribution describe st. mary s city long after abandonment capitol of maryland.

this refers part of 19th-century history , mythology of st. mary s city (in state of maryland) place great things happened (such founding of colonial government of maryland , birthplace of religious freedom in united states) became ghost town.

john pendleton kennedy, author of 1838 novel rob of bowl. circa 1800s.

no more thy glassy brook reflects day,

but choked sedges, works weedy way;

along thy glades solitary guest,

the hollow-sounding bittern guards nest;

amidst thy desert walks lapwing flies,

and tires echoes unvaried cries.

sunk thy bowers in shapeless ruin all,

and long grass o ertops mould ring wall

the deserted village