Day 4 / Wednesday, July 11
“Southerners [in the 19th century] figured out that they had guessed wrong about signing the Constitution”
— Dr. Stephen Whitman
Beginning our day's journey by boat
Click on any photo to enlarge
For a different vantage point, our intrepid team of educators took to the water today — the York River, that is. The vessel for our day’s sojourn was the aptly named North Star, a 40-foot charter fishing boat that would be adapted today to lessons that delved into the struggle of bondsmen who yearned to be free in the 19th century. Special guests accompanying us on yet another sunny and warm day were Dr. Stephen Whitman and his delightful wife.
Dr. Stephen Whitman
The six-hour boat trip would take us from the Historic Triangle of Virginia across the state line into Maryland, with St. Mary’s City being the ultimate destination. Along the route, Dr. Whitman began the intellectually stimulating conversation with a lecture on what African-Americans did to challenge slavery and gain freedom. We learned of individuals like Harry Washington, who took a circuitous route from Virginia to New York, and Canada, eventually landing and getting thrown out of the west African country of Sierra Leone. In Washington’s effort to go from slave to freeman, did he leave his family behind? This and other questions are still open cases for historians to ponder.
Another interesting individual was John Willoughby. Dr. Whitman related that Willoughby was questioned by patriots in 1775 about his political inclination to the effect that his 87 slaves got the jitters and bolted the plantation a week later. We may never know whether that slave owner was a friend of the patriots or the British, but we can certify that he lost a fortune in black bondsmen.
Other historic events centered around figures like Stokely Sturgis, Richard and Harry Allen, and the highly regarded collector of runaway slave accounts, Rev. William Still. The content of our discussions were intriguing and questions from Shelly Westergard, Kees de Mooy, Mark Lowrie, and others were fielded quite adroitly by Dr. Whitman. Certainly the topics of our morning were momentous and the individuals discussed often went on to make important contributions in American history.
Jill tells about the Pearl Incident
The afternoon continued on the North Star with a tasty and overflowing boxed lunch and then an in-depth study of the “Pearl Incident” of 1848. Jill Ogline was the host and scholar for this remarkable tragedy surrounding a failed escape attempt by 87 slaves from our nation’s capital. The event generated rousing publicity for and against bondage with the worst sufferers being (as usual) the slaves themselves, for many of them ended up being sold south into an even more perilous status than before the botched attempt.
Perhaps the most poignant part of the Pearl discussion was that it was held onboard the North Star in the exact spot at the mouth of St. Mary’s River (Cornfield Harbor) where the re-capture of the 87 slaves took place 159 years ago. This entire Chesapeake Journey has been expertly choreographed to take advantage of such unique and fortuitous, geographic, vantage points such as this one. What a fortunate lot we are!
But Erick Brown perhaps summed up why events such as the Pearl Incident were so important to the pro-slavery whites of the South when he said that “playing with a man’s money is the same as playing with a man’s emotions”. Truly we can all agree that sentiments do run strongly when economic loss or gain is at stake.
Correctional system in olde St. Mary's City
Crabs in St. Mary's City
A smooth landing in St. Mary’s closed out our voyage as we paused by water to view the site of the earliest English settlement in Maryland, established in 1634. We settled briefly into our dorm rooms at St. Mary’s College (home of the Seahawks) before feasting on crabs, ribs, chicken, salad, cornbread, ice cream, pie, libations, and a host of other selections.
Monica tastes the buffet
Even more magical than the amount of food was the setting. Our group of 17 dined in the reconstructed, open-air, brick statehouse in historic St. Mary’s City! Some of us ate steamed crabs for the first time, some ended up being locked in the city’s stocks, some dipped their toes into the St. Mary’s River, and all of us enjoyed a perfect sunset in a sublime, historic setting. We can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!
—Darryl Calloway and Erick Brown
Click here for a gallery of more photos from Day 4.
A Chesapeake Journey: From Slavery to Freedom