Oxon Hill- Free Black Landowners of the 19th Century

The vicinity of Washington DC, a map by Griffith Morgan Hopkins Jr. in 1894
Adjacent to the land marked 'US Government Land', now Oxon Cove Park, are the properties of the Butler, Hatton, and Procter families.

(Courtesy of Library of Congress)

 

In the 19th century, three free Black families lived right along the modern border of Oxon Cove Park: the Hattons, Butlers, and Proctors.

 

U.S. Colored Troops 1st Infantry
Photographed by Mathew Brady

(Library of Congress)

The Hattons

Henry Hatton acquired 21 acres of Mt. Welby from Joseph H. Bowling in 1868. Hatton, a self-employed blacksmith, and his wife Margaret had six children. Their eldest sons Henry and George joined the 1st U.S. Colored Troops and fought for the Union in the Civil War.

The two brothers were some of the first to enlist in the new USCT. Henry served in Company E and was promoted to corporal before being appointed as a bugler. George served in Company C and rose to First Sergeant. In his time in the USCT, George wrote a number of letters to the Christian Recorder newspaper, providing us with excellent first-hand accounts of his life and the experiences of the USCT.

“We responded to the call of the Government at the time when her very metropolis was threatened with conflagration, willing to stand by her until the very last drop of blood be drained from our veins, on the promise of being treated as white soldiers, but, ah, I have been a soldier for more than a year, for the small sum of seven dollars per month. I want to know if the star spangled banner represents such unjust deeds.” G.W.H. 1864

Though George was wounded in the leg by a Minnie ball, both he and Henry survived the war. They discharged from the US Colored Troops just as they had enlisted, together.

 

The Butler house in 2004

Julie Darsie

The Butlers

Imagine what has taken place in this home, built by the Butlers, a family of free blacks, in 1853. How did its inhabitants interact with their enslaved neighbors at Oxon Hill Manor? How were they impacted by the Civil War? How did they celebrate emancipation?

By 1850, Maryland was home to more free blacks than any other state in the Union. 1,138 of those individuals settled in Prince George’s County where they made up roughly 5% of the population. One family that moved to the county was the Butler family.

Henry Alexander Butler and his wife Julia moved their family of 6 to a piece of land along the present day western border of Oxon Cove Park. They made a home, established a farm, added to their family, and expanded their wealth. Henry Butler became a leader in the community and the family socialized with prominent black Washingtonians.

The Butler House remained in the hands of the family for 150 years. In 2005, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a “rare surviving example of a documented pre-Civil War house inhabited by a free African American family”. After years of abandon, the Butler House has deteriorated to ruin. The property left the hands of the Butler family in 2019 and the building suffered a major collapse sometime after.

The Proctors

Little is known about the Proctor (or Procter) family beyond what is recorded by the census. What that tells us is that the Proctors owned two homes on 3 ½ acres and are employed as laborers.