Existing comment:
Slavery at Hampton:
Slavery at Hampton was unique and changed over time.
The Ridgely family derived its wealth primarily from extensive ironworks and agriculture. During the Colonial Era, work on the Hampton estate was mainly performed by indentured servants, wage mainly performed by indentured servants, wage laborers, and for a time, British prisoners. Following the Revolution, slaveholding at the Hampton estate grew and by 1800 became the primary workforce.
Slavery at Hampton was unique in a number of ways. It was not solely agricultural in nature. Many slaves performed industrial job in the Northhampton iron works. The close proximity of the large free black population in Baltimore and free state of Pennsylvania meant that refuges for runaways were close by. Hampton was one of the largest slave-owning estates in Maryland. Tax records show 130 slaves in 1783, over 339 in 1829 and 61 in 1860 in a time when 77% of all masters in the county owned fewer than five slaves. The mansion and lifestyle it represented were enjoyed by few Americans. Such a large building required a substantial domestic workforce for daily operations.
Charles Carnan Ridgely, second master of Hampton, owned approximately 350 slaves at his death and manumitted (freed) all that he legally could. This is one of the largest manumissions in the history of Maryland, but it did end slavery at Hampton. His son, John Carnan Ridgely, purchased some sixty or so more slaves and manumitted only one.
Following the abolition of slavery in Maryland in 1864, some African-American remained on the estate as tenant farmers while others chose to leave. |