NPS/Richard Schlecht Illustrations The term "Freedom Seeker" illustrates the African American decision to take control of their destiny from the enslaver to one of their own choosing by leaving the site of enslavement. Other terms that have been used in the past are "fugitive" and "runaway". The stories of freedom seekers can be as devastating as Abraham Patterns, an enslaved laborer hired out by his enslaver to the Ridgely’s to work at the Northampton ironworks on March 18, 1774. According to the Northampton Furnace Journal, 1775-1778, Patterns complained that he was constantly “sicke” and could no longer work. His pleas were ignored so he sought his freedom but was soon captured. In despair, he “cut his throat” rather than continue to labor for the Ridgelys at Northampton. This act caused his enslaver to retrieve him and remove him from the site. Such were the harsh conditions that some enslaved people would rather endure self-induced bodily injury than continue at the Northampton ironworks. 
NPS Enslaved freedom seekers were not the only ones to decide to leave Hampton's ironworks. European white indentured servants escaped as well, as is evident in ads printed in newspapers (Freedom Seekers). Between 1770 and 1820, there were at least thirty ads for freedom seekers from Hampton placed in local newspapers. A 1791 reward notice, handwritten by Charles Carnan Ridgely, advertised for the return of Bateman, a young enslaved man recently purchased from a Harford County farm. Bateman must have been captured and returned since he appears in later Hampton records. By the time of Governor Ridgely’s death in 1829, he was no longer working or living at the Northampton Furnace but was recorded at the Hampton Home Farm. Bateman was then 58 years old and too old to be freed by the governor’s will. Another advertisement brings to light the story of a man named Hercules. Charles Ridgely Jr.’s list of clothing received by enslaved persons at Epsom farm demonstrates that Hercules and his wife were on the site during the period from 1811 to 1817. During that time, it seems likely that Hercules attempted an escape to freedom. On August 21, 1813, Charles Ridgely, Jr., ordered an iron collar and two shackles made for him by a blacksmith, at a cost of fifty cents. These were items of torture and confinement, normally purchased to constrain the liberty of an enslaved person who had previously attempted escape. Ultimately, at age 41, Hercules was manumitted, or freed, in 1829 by the terms of Governor Ridgely’s will, one of the 74 adults who were freed immediately. However, following freedom, Hercules stayed on at Hampton as a low wage employee. 
NPS/Harpers Ferry Center Freedom seekers often set out for Baltimore City where they might hope to be supported by a large free Black community or for Pennsylvania, a “free state” with laws making it difficult for human traffickers and enslavers to pursue and recapture them. Some freedom seekers did not even look for their own freedom but rather sought to return to family members on other plantations. Over 80 enslaved persons sought their freedom from Hampton over the century of enslavement. Large groups of freedom seekers were generally doomed to failure and most successful journeys to freedom were taken by young men traveling alone or in pairs. Some notable exceptions include the teenaged Rebecca Posey and housekeeper Lucy Jackson. By the mid-nineteenth century, under John Ridgely’s tenure, enslaved persons were engaged in agricultural and domestic tasks, rather than in the industrial slavery of the Northampton Furnace, which had largely ceased operations by the 1830s. Fewer enslaved workers attempted escape during this period, as opportunities for potential free employment in Baltimore or Pennsylvania had also diminished. When enslaved persons did attempt escape, John Ridgely would advertise his or her escape in the press, hire human traffickers, and file affidavits and grants of power of attorney with Pennsylvania courts to return his enslaved people. 
NPS Harsher laws and more comprehensive efforts on the part of enslavers meant that free Blacks were often detained, questioned, and threatened with return to bondage if they could not document their free status. Mary Jones, for instance, formerly enslaved to Governor Ridgely with the name of “Polly,” had to petition for her certificate of freedom as late as 1860, even though she had been freed for eleven years. As the Civil War progressed, enslaved persons sought more opportunities to free themselves. A group of four young men (Henry Jackson, Bill Matthews, Charley Buckingham, and Josh Horner) all fled in early May 1861, immediately after the hostilities began. By early 1864, the number of enslaved individuals at Hampton had dropped from 61 to 49. Enslavement at Hampton was forced to end on November 1, 1864 with emancipation in Maryland. Freedom Seekers
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Last updated: March 27, 2024