Detail of remains of Northampton Furnace, Map of Hampton
By Joshua Barney 1843, NPS
Much of the Ridgely’s initial wealth derived from the Northampton Iron Furnace. Enslaved laborers and indentured servants performed the grueling work required to run this operation, including cutting and hauling trees, making charcoal for the furnaces, mining and burning limestone, breaking up slag, working the rolling mill, and driving horses as teamsters. Col. Charles Ridgely’s 1772 will lists the names of only two enslaved workers with skilled positions: Toby and David. They worked as “founders,” supervising others and determining the amount of ore and limestone put into the furnace. Indentured servants provided the majority of the labor up until the 1780s, but by c. 1800, all the workers were enslaved. The number of enslaved workers and their families at the Northampton Furnace was about 34 by the time it ceased operation in 1830.
Stereograph of Nancy Davis in front of Mansion
1872, NPS
Chattel Slavery was founded upon violence and torture. Overseers and Enslavers held absolute authority over the enslaved human beings and would force them to perform physically difficult and dangerous work. Conditions at the Northampton Iron Furnace were especially brutal. Not surprisingly, many laborers there sought their freedom, despite the inherent risks.
The Ridgely’s large mansion and elaborate lifestyle required an extensive and specialized workforce of enslaved people, referred to at the time as "domestic workers" or “servants.” They worked as cooks, waiters, laundresses, dishwashers, nannies, nurses, seamstresses, housekeepers, maids, butlers, manservants, and carriage drivers. Before the Civil War, the number of enslaved house servants at Hampton ranged from about 12 to 16.
Agricultural Labor
Photograph of paid farm laborers’ children
c. 1895, NPS
At its height, the Hampton plantation included several farms totaling nearly 25,000 acres, which required the labor of hundreds of workers. To produce the crops grown for profit and as food for the Ridgely family and their workforce, the enslaved people and other workers plowed, planted, raked, harvested, mowed, threshed, and milled wheat, corn, and other grains. They tended extensive orchards and grounds; mined and burned limestone; operated a dairy; and looked after mules, horses, hogs, cattle, sheep and poultry. In the winter they chopped and hauled wood; killed and butchered hogs; cut and hauled ice; transported goods to town; and repaired buildings, fences, equipment, and tools.
We know from Helen Ridgely's descriptions of workers harvesting at Hampton as late as 1907 that it was still essentially done by hand without powered machinery or vehicles. Women were responsible for important farm jobs, like supervision and operation of the dairy, the production of hams, sausage, and other work related to the annual slaughter of numerous hogs, caring for poultry, etc.
Haying in a field near Hampton
c. 1915, NPS
Enslaved children were usually made to work starting at age five. They collected eggs, watched younger children, fed livestock, ran errands, assisted the Ridgely children, and helped their parents with tasks. Enslaved children also had to do small household chores and cleaned up after the Ridgely children's pets.
From the 1830s onwards, the Hampton plantation was reduced from 25,000 acres to about 4,000 acres. This meant fewer enslaved workers were required. They often worked alongside both free African American and white laborers, especially in the busy harvest season. The mechanization of some farm equipment, such as the horse-drawn sickle bar mower (1850s), took the place of some human labor, but the number of enslaved workers at the Hampton home farm remained steady at about 60 people from the 1830s until the 1860s.
