Daniel and Mary Harris

A colorized photograph showing workings in the Hampton gardens in 1879.
Historic image of the Hampton gardens colorized, 1879.

NPS

Daniel Harris himself was manumitted in 1829. At 44 years old, he would not have been freed if he had been even a year older, due to the terms of Governor Ridgely's Will. His Certificate of Freedom, dated November 1829, described him as having a “yellow complexion” and a slave market worth of $100.

According to Ridgely's will, he allowed those under age two to go with their parents into freedom, Daniel’s three year old daughter Mary had just missed the cut off and was therefore resigned to having her entire youth spent in bondage to the Ridgely family. Daniel stayed on at Hampton following his manumission, “working in the garden” for $15 month. In 1831, Daniel purchased and immediately freed his daughter, Mary, for only $18, far beneath the estate value of $30, from Harry D.G. Carroll, one of the Governor’s sons-in-law.

Daniel spent much of his other pay at the estate’s store for supplies and food. Much of what he made was, therefore, returned to the Ridgely fortune. His credit was his work, which totaled 780 hours in the garden between 1829 and 1833, amounting to cumulative earnings of $450. Despite having to draw on his work credit for supplies and food, Daniel Harris managed to save enough to purchase a plot of land from Benjamin Payne in Towson, which made him one of the first formally enslaved people to build an African-American community in the area. The Baltimore Sun reported, in a 1983 article on Towson, that Harris paid $187.50 for the land, and a 1994 publication of Historic Towson, Inc., cites Harris as Baltimore County's first Black landowner.

 
 

Learn More

  • African American man holding a wheelbarrow outside of the mansion
    Enslaved People

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

  • Enslaved workers working on the plantation farm by the overseer's house and slave quarters.
    Slavery at Hampton

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

  • The codicil to the will of Charles Carnan Ridgely (1760-1829) NPS
    Codicil to the will

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

  • Living Historian demonstrates the 19th century technique for harvesting corn.
    Free Black Laborers

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

  • c. 1897 image of a tenant farmer woman outside the Enslavement Quarters. NPS
    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.

  • A historic picture of a part of the flower gardens called a parterre. A gardener in the middle. NPS
    History & Culture
    History & Culture

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

Last updated: June 3, 2024

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Mailing Address:

535 Hampton Lane
Towson, MD 21286

Phone:

410-962-4290 (option 2)

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