L'Hermitage Slave Village Archeological Site is an
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
near
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
in
Frederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick.
Frederick County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ...
. The location, within the boundaries of
Monocacy National Battlefield
Monocacy National Battlefield is a unit of the National Park Service, the site of the Battle of Monocacy in the American Civil War fought on July 9, 1864. The battlefield straddles the Monocacy River southeast of the city of Frederick, Maryland. ...
, was the site of l'Hermitage Plantation, founded about 1793 by the Vincendière family. The Vincendières are believed to have been former
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
an landowners who had fled the
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...
to the Catholic-leaning state of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. L'Hermitage was notable during its time for its size, brutality and for the large number of slaves on the property.
The site was the subject of an archaeological excavation by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
in the summer of 2010 which focused on the structures on the site, believed to have been slave cabins. The Park Service had acquired the area in 1993 as part of an expansion of the battlefield site, and conducted preliminary investigations in 2003.
The location became known as the Best Farm, and many of its structures remain extant as part of the battlefield's landscape.
L'Hermitage Plantation
The Vincendière family was initially headed by Marguerite Magnan de la Vincendière, some of her children, and a relative, . Marguerite's husband, Etienne Bellumeau de la Vincendière did not come to Maryland, choosing instead to establish himself in
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
. Twelve slaves accompanied the Vincendières. Marguerite and Etienne's daughter Victoire, aged 17 in 1793, was responsible for assembling the lands of the
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
between 1793 and 1798 and became head of the family by 1800.
By 1800 there were ninety slaves on the property, which encompassed at its peak. The plantation was notable for its size and ethnic character; more typical landholdings in the area were much smaller, with no more than a dozen slaves, and were owned by German immigrant farmers.
The slave population at l'Hermitage was the second largest in Frederick County, and one of the largest in Maryland.
The Vincendière family may have been trying to re-create the large-scale slave labor system that they were familiar with in Haiti, possibly in order to cultivate labor-intensive crops. The Vincindières built many of the structures still visible at the site.
Slavery
L'Hermitage was also known in its time for its harsh regime.
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz ( , ; 6 February 1758 – 21 May 1841) was a Polish poet, playwright and statesman. He was a leading advocate for the Constitution of 3 May 1791.
Early life
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz was born 6 February 1758 in Skoki, near ...
traveled through the area in June 1798, recounting that he had been told of tyranny and torture at the plantation:
June 15. ... Four miles from the town f Frederickwe forded the river onocacy On its banks one can see a row of wooden houses and one stone house with the upper storeys painted white he secondary house ... One can see on the home farm instruments of torture, stocks, wooden horses, whips, etc. Two or three negroes crippled with torture have brought legal action ...
Nine court proceedings against family members for cruelty to slaves are recorded, including proceedings against Boisneuf for "cruelly and immercifully beating and whipping" six slaves and against Victoire Vincendière for beating her slave Jenny. These charges were dismissed, but Boisneuf was found guilty in 1797 of beating a slave named Shadrack and of "not sufficiently clothing and feeding his negroes."
The Vincendières sold L'Hermitage in 1827, after gradually dispersing most of their slaves. Victoire moved to a townhouse in Frederick.
Victoire died in 1854, still the owner of three slaves. Her will stipulated their freedom.
Slavery at the property continued under the new proprietors. John Brien (or O'Brien) bought the farm and continued the practice, and David Best, the farm's tenant from 1843 kept slaves. Best had six slaves in 1860, making him one of the largest slave owners in the county. Slavery ended in Maryland in 1864.
The L'Hermitage site was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2007.
References
External links
Slavery at l'Hermitage Monocacy National Battlefield
L'Hermitageat Journey through Hallowed Ground
*
*, at Maryland Historical Trust website
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Archaeological sites in Frederick County, Maryland
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
French-American culture in Maryland
Haitian-American culture in Maryland
Haitian-American history
Plantations in Maryland
Plantation houses in Maryland
Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland
National Register of Historic Places in Frederick County, Maryland
Slave cabins and quarters in the United States