BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Sandy Spring -- Woodlawn Manor (and Underground Railroad Trail)

MD -- Sandy Spring -- Woodlawn Manor (and Underground Railroad Trail):

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. WOODLM_160424_011.JPG: Welcome to the Woodlawn Stone Barn Visitor Center More than 150 years ago, Woodlawn plantation was the envy of Montgomery County farmers and the pride of its owners, the Palmer family. The estate boasted one of the County's grandest manor homes, productive fields, and several outbuildings. In 1832, Dr. William Palmer built the farm's centerpiece -- a finely crafted stone barn that stands strong to this day. Surrounded by a vibrant community of progressive Quaker farmers at Sandy Spring, Woodlawn and the Palmers prospered. The farm still saw its share of struggles. Enslaved laborers toiled in the fields, within reach of the Underground Railroad and a chance for freedom. The Palmers also faced a choice; enslave men, women, and children for profit, or free them as many Quakers had done. Today's tranquil park belies the years of change Woodlawn has seen. Get to know the farm and its neighborhood through the voices of people who once called Woodlawn home.
2. WOODLM_160424_031.JPG: Heart of History Before the Civil War ended slavery, Maryland was a state divided. Home to the country's largest communities of free blacks, Maryland was also a slave state where nearly 90,000 men, women, and children were held in bondage. Slaveholders were neighbors to those who supported emancipation -- particularly the Society of Friends, or Quakers. Freedom in the North lay just beyond Maryland's border. Many enslaved individuals liberated themselves by escaping through this region. A loose network took shape that assisted fugitives in their flight from bondage. It came to be called the Underground Railroad. Crossed by several routes to freedom, Montgomery County sat at the heart of it all. Its landscape became the backdrop for events that made history, and its people, important players in one of the nation's most trying eras.
3. WOODLM_160424_034.JPG: A Farming Physician Trained at the University of Pennsylvania, the oldest medical school in the country, William Palmer became a doctor at age twenty-three. He treated locals ranging from wealthy slave owners to free blacks. Palmer became farming to earn more money, taking to heart the advice of one of his former professors, Dr. Benjamin Rush, who noted, "The resources of a farm will prevent your cherishing, even for a moment, an impious wish for the prevalence of sickness in the neighborhood." Who Lived Here? When Dr. William Palmer arrived at Woodlawn in 1822, this farming physician quickly set about turning the estate into one of the most successful plantations in the neighborhood. A native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, William Palmer grew up in a prosperous Quaker farming family and was looking for a familiar place to settle. Here at Woodlawn, he joined the thriving Quaker community in Sandy Spring. Known for its innovative farming techniques and a willingness to led support to neighbors, Sandy Spring had a cooperative spirit that could mean boom or bust for a struggling farmer. Through their Quaker neighbors opposed slavery and used only paid laborers, the Palmers held men, women, and children -- at one point numbering thirteen -- in bondage. The enslaved community was put to work in the farm's fields, outbuildings, stone barn, and in the manor. For almost 100 years, the Palmers flourished at Woodlawn. After the death of William Palmer in 1869, his son, Benjamin, continued farming with the assistance of hired help until the property was sold out of family hands in 1919. Woodlawn's Laborers: Woodlawn's enslaved laborers worker from sun up to sundown, and spent precious free time with family and each other. They may have lived in the estate's modest log cabin near the grand manor house, or perhaps in the manor's kitchen wing. Woodlawn also employed hired help -- some of whom lived on-site -- to work the fields and attend to the Palmers inside the manor. The First Family: Woodlawn's fine brick manor house was constructed between 1806 and 1822 by Samuel and Anna Thomas. The couple operated a boarding school at the house for several years, teaching pupils from Georgetown and Washington, including Francis Scott Key's daughter. William Palmer purchased Woodlawn from the Thomases' children.
4. WOODLM_160424_038.JPG: A Farming Physician Trained at the University of Pennsylvania, the oldest medical school in the country, William Palmer became a doctor at age twenty-three. He treated locals ranging from wealthy slave owners to free blacks. Palmer became farming to earn more money, taking to heart the advice of one of his former professors, Dr. Benjamin Rush, who noted, "The resources of a farm will prevent your cherishing, even for a moment, an impious wish for the prevalence of sickness in the neighborhood." "[William Palmer was] peculiarly fitted for a country pioneer physician, with a sound mind in a sound body. He had a quick and vigorous intellect, an iron constitution with great energy and will power. He always made visits on horse back, and never knew any distinction between those who paid him and those he called 'God Almighty's patients.'" -- John Thomas Scharf, History of Western Maryland, 1882
5. WOODLM_160424_045.JPG: Woodlawn's Laborers: Woodlawn's enslaved laborers worker from sun up to sundown, and spent precious free time with family and each other. They may have lived in the estate's modest log cabin near the grand manor house, or perhaps in the manor's kitchen wing. Woodlawn also employed hired help -- some of whom lived on-site -- to work the fields and attend to the Palmers inside the manor. The First Family: Woodlawn's fine brick manor house was constructed between 1806 and 1822 by Samuel and Anna Thomas. The couple operated a boarding school at the house for several years, teaching pupils from Georgetown and Washington, including Francis Scott Key's daughter. William Palmer purchased Woodlawn from the Thomases' children.
6. WOODLM_160424_055.JPG: How do we know what we know? Uncovering touchstones to a vanishing past Documentary Research: Woodlawn's story was pieced together using many primary sources -- documents or objects created during the time of study. Researchers combed through archived, libraries, historical societies, and personal collections looking for pieces that filled in the puzzle. "I was born down on the river bottom about four miles below Edward's Ferry... I belonged to old Doctor White... They raised most corn and oats and wheat down on the river bottom in those days... They had a lot o' men and would slay a lot o' wheat in a day. It was pretty work to see four or five cradlers in a field and others following them raking the wheat in bunches and others following binding them in bundles." -- 1937 Works Progress Administration oral history or Reverend Philip Johnson, formerly enslaved in Montgomery County Oral Histories: No one understands history like those who have lived in. Oral histories are recorded or transcribed memories -- often of everyday people -- that capture unique personal perspectives available nowhere else. These valuable records reveal facets of history that are not recorded elsewhere, like the daily lives and struggles of formerly enslaved men and women who were rarely allowed to learn to read or write.
7. WOODLM_160424_059.JPG: Archaeology: Most of the occupants at Woodlawn did not produce written documents about life on this farm. But many left behind material evidence, or artifacts. Recovered by archaeologists, these small fragments are valuable clues. Every piece unearthed has the potential to make our idea of the past more accurate, complete, and inclusive.
8. WOODLM_160424_104.JPG: Log Cabin: The actual construction date for this log cabin is unknown. Originally, this building might have been used as a workshop or shed. It was later converted to a dwelling by the McKeever family, who owned the estate following World War II.
9. WOODLM_160424_113.JPG: The Inner Light by Marcia Billig, 1988
10. WOODLM_160424_150.JPG: Woodlawn Built by the Thomas Family in the early 1800s,this property, formerly known as Woodlawn, has national significance. In 1816, Samuel and Anna Thomas established a Friends Boarding School here. Francis Scott Key frequently visited his daughters who attended this school. Another owner, Phillip Evan Thomas, chartered the first American railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, in 1827. Quaker physician, William Palmer, an incorporator of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgomery County, Maryland, one of the nation's earliest, purchased the property in the 1820s. In 1832, Dr. Palmer hired stonemason, Isaac Holland to build the unique barn. The property remained in the Palmer family for the next century. In the 1940s, Woodlawn became the McKeever Estate until the M-NCPPC purchase in the 1970s.
11. WOODLM_160424_165.JPG: C. W.P.Palmer 1832
12. WOODLM_160424_185.JPG: Woodlawn Manor & Barn. This ca. 1800-1815 Federal style brick house was built by the Thomas family, prominent Quakers of the area. From 1822 to 1919 it was owned by the Palmer family. Dr. William P. Palmer was a successful local physician and farmer. Although raised as a Quaker, Palmer's membership was eventually revoked because his family utilized slave labor at Woodlawn. The unique stone barn was constructed in 1832 by master stone mason, Isaac Holland. M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks converted the barn into a county-wide Visitor Center with exhibits focused on Quaker heritage, African American communities, the Underground Railroad, and barn architecture.
13. WOODLM_160424_192.JPG: The Rachel Carson Greenway In 2004, this trail corridor was named in honor of the mother of the modern environmental movement, Rachel Carson. When complete, the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail will be 25 miles long, connecting the Anacostia Trail System in Prince George's County to the Patuxent River State Park in the north. The Greenway will eventually connect to the Seneca Creek Greenway and the Potomac River, creating a 50-mile continuous trail system in Montgomery County. For more information and updates as this trail is built visit: www.MontgomeryTrails.org. 1. Trailhead at Rachel Carson Conservation Park * Our Agricultural Heritage - There has always been a rich tradition of agriculture in Montgomery County, now preserved in the Agricultural Reserve. * Mills in Montgomery County - Mills along the Hawlings River stream valley turned grain into flower, sawed trees for timber, and wove fleece into wool. * Forest Birds - A walk in these woods still affords a chance to see and hear forest interior birds, such as the Kentucky Warbler and Ovenbird. Many forest interior species are declining due to forest fragmentation. 2. Layhill Road & Norwood Road * The Holland Red Door Store - Located at the intersection of the toll roads to Baltimore and Olney, the store was at the heart of a community that became known as Holland's Corner 3. Woodlawn Manor * African Americans and Quakers in Sandy Spring - Encouraged by their regional and national Religious Society, most Sandy Spring Quakers had freed their slaves by about 1820. * The Night Sky - For those traveling the Underground Railroad darkness meant safety, and the stars helped guide the way north to freedom. For wildlife, night is an active time when predators and prey are engaged in a drama for life and death. 4. Trolley Museum Trailhead * The Magic of Meadows - Open meadows and hedgerows in the park provide habitat and plants and animals whose needs cannot be met in the forest. 5. Kemp Mill Road Trailhead * Prehistoric Rock Shelters - Beginning about 1000 B.C., local American Indians used these rock shelters as "prehistoric motels." * Mica Mine Ruins - The Gilmore Mica Mine was located in a wooded area on the western bank of the Northwest Branch, which now is adjacent to the Springbrook Forest subdivision. * Vernal Pools - Low spots in the forest collect winter and spring rainwater into temporary pools that provide essential breeding habitats for frogs and salamanders. * The Northwest Branch - This stream has flowed here for millions of years, gradually changing its course to create a stream valley that supports a rich diversity of plants and animals. 6. Burnt Mills Dam Trailhead * Burn Mill - One of the county's earliest grist mills stood here starting in the 18th century. Originally called Bealle's Mill, it ground grain into flour for nearby residents. * Rachel Carson - The famed author and environmentalist lived along this beautiful stream valley while she wrote her book, Silent Spring. * The Fall Line and the Gorge - This rocky gorge marks the "Fall Line" where tough metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont, meaning "foot of the mountain," give way to the sandy sediments of the Coastal Plain. 7. Trail Kiosk Near Broad Acres Elementary School * Natural Treasurers - The Rachel Carson Greenway Trail is the perfect place for children and adults to explore the natural world -- take a hike and experience it for yourself. "If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life." -- Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder (posthumously 1965)
14. WOODLM_160424_201.JPG: Underground Railroad Experience Trail
15. WOODLM_160424_204.JPG: African Americans and Quakers in Sandy Spring Sandy Spring has had large Quaker and African American populations since its founding in the 1720s. Encouraged by their regional and national Religious Society, most Sandy Spring Quakers had freed their slaves by about 1820, creating a significant free black population in the area. African Americans in Sandy Spring owned and worked on farms, and ran schools, churches, and fraternal organizations such as the Sharp Street United Methodist Church and the Odd Fellows Lodge. In the years before the Civil War, the Underground Railroad was active in Montgomery County, and escapees knew they would be aided by free blacks and Quakers of Sandy Spring as they headed north. "One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?" -- Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder (posthumously 1965)
16. WOODLM_160424_208.JPG: Friends Meeting House, Sandy Spring , Md. After meeting for years in a tobacco barn, the Quakers of Sandy Spring built a Meeting House in 1817. This woodcut of the structure, which still stands today, was done in 1833.
17. WOODLM_160424_210.JPG: Remus Hill was a farm worker, carpenter, and a trustee of the Sharp Street Church. This photo was taken around 1870.
18. WOODLM_160424_213.JPG: Caleb Bentley came from Pennsylvania to Sandy Spring, and co-founded the Sandy Spring Store. This portrait was made around 1850, when Bentley was in his late 80s.
19. WOODLM_160424_217.JPG: National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
20. WOODLM_160424_245.JPG: Park Notice Park closed to the public 6:00pm to 6:00am weekdays, January 10 to February 28 During this period, M-NCPPC Park Police officers will be conducting a sharpshooting removal program, in an effort to manage an overabundant population of white-tailed deer. For public safety, park closure regulations will be strictly enforced.
21. WOODLM_160424_248.JPG: The Woods. Slaves seeking freedom would often escape at Christmas since they usually had from three days to a week of holiday when they would not be expected to work, and were often given a pass to visit relatives during this time. Another opportunity for escape would be under the cover of a rain storm. The rain washed away tracks and made it difficult for dogs to follow a scent. You would have tried to get away from open spaces and main traveled roads, and head toward heavily forested areas where you could not be seen from a long distance.
22. WOODLM_160424_251.JPG: The Brambles. A good place to hide while resting on your journey would have been a large bramble patch. Dogs, horses, and men all shy away from brambles because they stick to fur and clothes and make traveling very uncomfortable. Burrowing a hole beneath a thorny bush would have been a good way to take a short nap without being detected.
23. WOODLM_160424_265.JPG: Crossing of Paths. The danger here is that it is easy to get disoriented among the trees and to lose your way. If you were following an underground railroad route the path to take may have been marked with secret signals such as bent tree limbs or stones piled in a certain way. This portion of the trail was made possible through a donation of land from the nearby Sandy Spring Friends School. The path to the left goes to the school
24. WOODLM_160424_272.JPG: Hollow Tree and Boundary Stone. Large hollow trees such as this one were often used by fugitives as hiding places. Sometimes a fire for warmth or cooking could be kindled inside the tree at night without being seen from a distance. A hollow tree could also be used as a cache for food and water provided by friends helping fugitives. The boundary stone marked the dividing line between "Snowden's Manor" and "Woodlawn Manor." Boundary stones were often used as markers for people trying to follow the trail north.
25. WOODLM_160424_299.JPG: Stream Crossing. Escaping slaves faced many obstacles. Since most did not know how to swim, creeks and rivers were formidable barricades. Creeks might be crossed with stepping stones but rivers and streams posed more of a challenge. A hidden boat or kindly ferryman sometimes provided a way across. A replica of a period bridge has recently been provided at this location by Winchester Homes, developer of nearby Ashton Preserve.
26. WOODLM_160424_308.JPG: Farm Fields. Open elds were dangerous since you could be seen from a far distance, so you would have kept to the wooded edges of the eld. But if the eld was grown tall with corn or tobacco it provided excellent cover and you could cross through the middle without fear
27. WOODLM_160424_314.JPG: The Sandy Spring. The local community took its name from this spring which provides fresh water filtered through a sandy soil. Every farm and home nearby had a path leading to this spring so it would have been a natural meeting place and trail marker for fugitives on the Underground Railroad. The water feeds a creek which flows into the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River. The concrete archway over the spring was constructed by Asa Stabler in 1914. The date over the spring, 1745, refers to the time that the local Quakers first formed the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting.
28. WOODLM_160424_317.JPG: Way too many guns!
29. WOODLM_160424_326.JPG: The Sandy Spring The Sandy Spring community took its name from this spring, which provides fresh water filtered through the sandy soil. In 1745, the spring was located on what was once known as "Snowden's Manor" and later known as "Harewood". In 1910, John and Rosalie Gittings and William and Mary Bosley sold this parcel of land to Herbert and Elsie Stabler. It was purchased by Samuel Childs McCeney and Katharine Marlow McCeney in 1942 and remained in their family until 2002. This site is dedicated to the past, present, and future residents of Sandy Spring in hopes the activism that has characterized the community for centuries will continue in the future. This spring has long been a source for contemplative thought and a place to recognize that we are dependent on this land and should be watchful caretakers. The spring and a one-acre parcel of land surrounding it were donated to the Sandy Spring Museum by the families of Kathleen Hoffman Smith and Richard McCeney Hoffman in memory of their parents, Virginia McCeney Hoffman and Leon D. Hoffman, Jr. The leadership shown by several organizations including Greater Sandy Spring Green Space, Inc., The Religious Society of Friends, The Sandy Spring Museum, The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and Winchester Homes, Inc. resulted in the preservation of this site for the community.
30. WOODLM_160424_359.JPG: The Sandy Spring Ash Tree White Ash | Fraxinus Americus Maryland Champion White Ash Tree Approximate age 300 years Dedicated this day by The Montgomery County Department of Park and Planning, April 29, 2006
31. WOODLM_160424_381.JPG: Champion White Ash Tree. Dear to the hearts of many residents of Sandy Spring, this 300 year old giant of the forest has witnessed the founding of the Village of Sandy Spring in the 1720s, the clearing of the land for farming and possibly the passing by in the darkness of many people seeking freedom from enslavement.
32. WOODLM_160424_413.JPG: The Night Sky and Nature
33. WOODLM_160424_450.JPG: The Holland Red Door Store In 1860 James Holland purchased this land and built the general store that still stands today. Located at the intersection of the toll roads to Baltimore and Olney, the store was at the heart of a community that became known as Holland's Corner. In 1889, the intersection was renamed Norwood and issued a post office. James Holland was selected as the first postmaster. Holland's building was expanded to accommodate the store, post office, and a living area for Holland's family. A former shopper recalled visits to the Holland Store in the early 1900s. Sugar was scooped from a barrel and sold for 54 cents per pound. Cheese was also sold by the pound. "Chunks" were cut from a cheese wheel stored in a wooden box.
34. WOODLM_160424_456.JPG: Children Growing Up in Montgomery County 1861-1865 Mothers and fathers alike sought to ensure that their sons and daughters had continual access to education between 1861 and 1865. At the height of the Civil War, public primary schools in Montgomery County were closed due to deficient state funding. Advertisements in local newspaper highlighted the constant presence, however, of private academies, such as Fair Hill and Stanmore in Sandy Spring, for residents with means to afford such instruction. Some parents chose to keep their children closer to home and hired private tutors. Until 1872, schools excluded black children. When school did commence, discussion of the war captivated the classroom. Virginian Maria Troth attended Fair Hill School and recorded in her diary the day she learned of General Stonewall Jackson's death. The news disturbed many of the pupils, who, like Maria, were from Virginia. Scholars at Fair Hill were divided by regional loyalties, and the tension between students ran so high that the Quaker school forbade any discussion of the rebellion during class hours. "Clashing loyalties also filled homes. Brookeville native Miss Rebecca Davis felt loyalty to the Rebel cause, while her father was a committed Unionist, and her mother remained neutral. Rebecca felt no shame in her convictions: "Sister and I do not make our appearance when Yanks are in the house, entertaining no sympathy for them." -- Rebecca Davis Diary, 25 July 1863, Maryland Historical Society
35. WOODLM_160424_465.JPG: Enjoying the outdoors was common for children in the mid-19th century. Other than ice skating, can you think of any other recreational activities children might have experienced in 1861? Hint: Imagine this scene in the summer time… "The Skating Season." Harper's Weekly, 18 January 1862.
36. WOODLM_160424_468.JPG: Children also served with troops during the Civil War, though many lied about their ages so they could enlist. This young boy was photographed in front of a painted backdrop featuring a Union encampment, c 1861-1865.
37. WOODLM_160424_471.JPG: The ability to have his daughters tutored at home was an affordable luxury of Dr. Nicholas Brewer of Darnestown who advertised here for a female instructor in 1864. Baltimore Sun, 12 September 1864
38. WOODLM_160424_474.JPG: Despite the war, both Stanmore and Fair Hill schools attracted a steady stream of students. Shown here is the report card of Benjamin Palmer who lived at Woodlawn Manor. 1863.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].