The identities of Blair’s slaves will never be known — Jerry McCoy, In Search of the Lost Souls of Silver Spring (February 2018).
If only the Silver Spring Historical Society had made even the most rudimentary effort to go beyond Ancestry.com and digitized Washington newspapers in its search for people enslaved by Silver Spring founder Francis Preston Blair, they might have been able to learn about Albert, Abraham, Vincent, Henry, Emily, Sarah, Nancy, Olivia, Mary, and Phillis (who married Samuel Lytton, founder of Lyttonsville, in 1859). The group’s 2018 “Black History Month” posts in a local blog are yet another glaring example of erasure, one of many by the 20-year-old organization.
Maryland State Archives. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (Assessment Record, Slaves) C1112, 1853-1864.
Shortlink for this post: https://wp.me/p1bnGQ-3cG
Thank you for sharing what has been left out/ignored. It would be even more valuable if you could also explain the source in the picture, and where people should take the time to look for such important historical sources.
Thanks. It’s in the caption — unfortunately when the post published, the caption text was in the wrong field … all fixed now.
Thank you – that is an invaluable source!