SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE: Town of slaves-turned-soldiers gets its
due (Baltimore Sun)


 > Maryland is loaded with history of African Americans in Defense of
America.
 > In our lifetime, we will not be able to compile this history but we must
 > continue to try.
 >
 > Clarence Davis
 > Chairman, African American Patriots Consortium, Inc.
 >
 > -----Original Message-----
 > From: Slave Descendants Freedom Society, Inc.
 > [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
 > Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 10:17 AM
 > To: Slave Descendants Freedom Society Partners
 > Subject: SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE: Town of slaves-turned-soldiers gets its due
(Baltimore Sun)
 >
 >
 >
 > --------------------
 > Town of slaves-turned-soldiers gets its due
 > --------------------
 >
 > Unionville is joining Civil War Trails system
 >
 > By Chris Guy
 > Sun Staff
 >
 > November 11, 2004
 > UNIONVILLE -- Residents and others whose roots are deep in this Eastern
 > Shore village will gather today to honor their founders -- former slaves
who
 > fought for the Union army, then returned to build houses, a church, a
school
 > and a modest life of freedom.
 >
 > The mile-long cluster of 50 or so homes on a winding country road a few
 > miles outside Easton is one of a handful of African-American communities
 > that began as slave quarters near sprawling plantations in rural Talbot
 > County and blossomed after the Civil War.
 >
 > For Pamela Roberts-Price and others who grew up here in the shadow of St.
 > Stephens African Methodist Episcopal Church, Unionville remains a
 > touchstone, a home place -- even if they are a little fuzzy about the
 > details of their history.
 >
 > "To us, they were 'the soldiers,' and I remember following our parents
 > across the street to the cemetery on Memorial Day," says Roberts-Price,
 > whose great-great-grandfather, Henry Roberts, was buried there in 1885.
"We
 > were a close-knit and prideful community. Because of them, there was
always
 > an aura that kept us standing tall."
 >
 > The 18 veterans will be honored today at the cemetery with a plaque making
 > it a stop on the state's Civil War Trails system. Unionville was
designated
 > a Maryland historic site in 1998.
 >
 > The attention to black history comes after the County Council ended a
bitter
 > squabble by voting in March to allow a statue of abolitionist Frederick
 > Douglass on the courthouse lawn in Easton, where it will join a
Confederate
 > monument. Douglass, perhaps Talbot's most accomplished native, lived his
 > early life in slavery in several locations near Unionville.
 >
 > Roberts-Price, 46, whose brother William "Butch" Price has researched some
 > of the family history, is related to at least two of the Civil War
veterans,
 > both named Roberts. Living now in Clinton, where she owns a printing
 > business, she keeps in touch with some of Unionville's elderly residents
and
 > a few relatives and friends who have moved back after leaving for college
 > and careers.
 >
 > Theresa DeShields, a retired union organizer, is happy to be living in her
 > mother's home after years away working in the garment district of New
York.
 >
 > "It's different now, but there are so many memories," says DeShields, 63.
 > "When I was a child, we had kerosene lamps in the houses. Everybody had a
 > porch, and they kept an eye on you. It was one big, extended family."
 >
 > As old-timers left, some properties became run-down, and a Habitat for
 > Humanity housing campaign has brought new homes and new faces to
Unionville
 > in recent years.
 >
 > >From its founding, St. Stephens and a one-room schoolhouse were the twin
 > anchors of the village. The church was built in 1871, then rebuilt after a
 > fire in 1897, but the first church was a log structure built about 1830.
The
 > schoolhouse burned about four years ago.
 >
 > Martha Ray Chase Greene, an Anne Arundel County native, moved to Talbot
 > County in 1932 and taught in the one-room school. She married a local man
 > and has lived here ever since. At 92, the retired teacher known by
everyone
 > as "Mom" is also the oldest active member of St. Stephens.
 >
 > "I remember some of the old people when I moved here who talked about the
 > soldiers they had known in their old age, but it's a long time ago,"
Greene
 > says. "Things change. When I first came here, I taught 30 kids in first
 > through seventh grade."
 >
 > Bernard Demczuk, who is working on a doctorate in African-American studies
 > at George Washington University, is writing a book about the community. He
 > says his research shows that Unionville might be the only community in the
 > nation built by former slaves who also fought in the Civil War.
 >
 > "This is one of the great untold stories of social history," Demczuk says.
 > "These men could have sat out the war, just waiting to see how it came
out.
 > If the South wins, they remain slaves; if the North wins, they are free.
 > Instead, they volunteered to fight for their freedom. I believe it was
that
 > inner strength, that elevated confidence, that they were able to bring
home
 > after the war."
 >
 > Like most of the more than 200,000 black volunteers, the 18 from
Unionville
 > saw a lot of combat, taking part in the siege of Petersburg and the battle
 > of Cold Harbor outside Richmond, among other action. According to their
 > tombstones and pension papers, at least half fought with the 7th Regiment
of
 > Maryland.
 >
 > Discharged in 1866, the soldiers began building new lives in 1867 when the
 > Cowgill family, Quakers who owned nearby Lombardy Plantation, offered the
 > veterans an opportunity to own plots of land for $1 a month. Originally
 > called Cowgillstown, it was renamed in honor of the Union army.
 >
 > Roberts-Price, who helped organize a Roberts family reunion of about 100
 > relatives near Easton last month, says descendants of "the soldiers" hope
 > the sudden surge in historical interest will continue.
 >
 > "I guess what this really says is that their legacy continues,"
 > Roberts-Price says. "That's what we want, for everything they started
 > continues."
 >
 >
 >
 > Copyright (c) 2004, The Baltimore Sun
 >
 > Link to the article:
 >
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.unionville11nov11,1,3305789.st
 > ory