Rediscovering free blacks In Somerset County, Maryland, 1663-1863

Abstract

From the first days of settlement by non-native-American pioneers. free blacks counted themselves among the inhabitants of Somerset County, part of Maryland's Eastern Shore. The most well documented of these free black settlers was Anthony Johnson who moved into Somerset County from neighboring Accomack County, on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Johnson had owned nearly 1,000 acres of land in Virginia, but moved his family into Maryland during the first wave of settlement, thus establishing a tradition of free black land ownership and presence in the new county. Other free black families also moved into the area, owning varying amounts of land. Generally, the free black residents tried to fit into the social and cultural arena established by the dominant white culture: land ownership, self-sufficiency, church membership and even slave-ownership. Although African cultural identity survived in the slave portion of the population, and networks of free black support existed, acceptance of the norms set by the successful white residents was a strong incentive for free blacks to identify with that culture and society.