Even though Maryland was one of the few states that did not pass anti-literacy laws in the 1830s, most of the enslaved could not read or write. We know little about these individuals from their own words, except for a few memoirs of enslaved people from other plantations. However, with careful and thorough research, it is possible to recover some of their stories. Diaries, letters, memoirs, account books, inventories, manumission records, and newspaper notices can reveal ages, names, family relationships, trades and tasks, physical appearances, the clothes they wore, and the food they ate. When combined with information from census and military records, city directories, newspapers, cemetery records, and oral histories, a fuller picture of their lives can begin to emerge.
For example take what was written by James McHenry Howard, “Memoirs of the Ridgelys of Hampton,” 1894. Upon first glance at what James McHenry Howard says, it may seem that Jim Pratt was working this hard for the Ridgely family, and that he was "loyal." In reality Jim Pratt attempted seeking his freedom with a large group in 1863. His actions show that he did not want to be at Hampton anymore. Jim also had a very large family. When reading the following think of how him being a hard worker would have benefitted him and his family:
“Jim Pratt is still upon the farm as a laborer and though getting old, is one of the hardest workers that has been upon the place—when a younger man he took pride in eclipsing any hired hand in the harvest field, and in forking hay he generally succeeded in breaking down any rival.”
Manumission Record
1860, NPS.
This document is a court record of the manumission of Mary (“Polly”) Smith, freed from chattel slavery at age 25 in 1849. It describes the terms of Charles Carnan Ridgely’s 1829 will, which gives the ages at which his enslaved workers could be freed.
