The Choptank River traveling North/South divides much of Caroline County, MD in half and played a role in the history of slavery. The river was wide and deep enough to be barrier of escape for freedom seekers. The Wharf in Denton was a steamboat port. Steamboats made weekly trips from Denton to Baltimore loaded with freight and passengers.
Although the current Caroline County Court House in Denton was constructed after the Civil War, the Court House Square was a location of a slave market. The Square was also the site of the jail where captured runaways and Underground Railroad conductors were held.
Even though Martinak State Park, located just south of Denton is not on the official tour, I am including it. Escaping slaves would usually travel at night. During daylight they would be hiding. I can imagine them being in wooded areas, such as Marinak, looking at the blue skies dreaming of the freedom they were traveling towards.
Peter Harrington, the founder of Greensboro, MD, was one of president of the Choptank Abolition Society, formed to promote the end of slavery in Maryland. Many freedom seekers fled nearby Talbot County, MD and probably passed near Greensboro on their route. This stop on the Harriet Tubman Byway is the Methodist Meeting House on land that Harrington donated in 1789 and where he is buried.
There weren’t many bridge crossings of rivers in the 19th Century, the last on the Choptank River was in Greensboro. While slaves seeking freedom did use bridge crossings they often avoided these crossing since the dangers of being captured were high. A few miles north of the Greensboro bridge the Choptank narrowed and was shallow enough to wade across at Red Bridges/Christian Park. Just a few miles east they could Mason/Dixon line into Delaware.
When one hears of the Mason/Dixon line, they think of it the line dividing the North and the South. The surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon was commissioned in colonial times to settle a border dispute involving Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. They did their survey between 1763 and 1767. The portion of the line between Maryland and Delaware is the states East/West boundary.
Delaware during this time was still considered a slave state. The the number of slaves, 1,800 compared to 20,000 free blacks, was small. Delaware had a strong abolition movement many Delaware residents, both whites and free and enslaved blacks, were actively involved in the Underground Railroad. Even crossing the Mason/Dixon line to Delaware was seen as a large step closer to freedom
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This is the 3rd of a 4 part series on the Harriet Tubman Byway.
The first – Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center
The second – Stops in Cambridge, MD
The fourth – Choptank River
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Each Friday a photo-essay by photographer SG (Steve) Atkinson will appear with information and photographs of ‘Points of Interest’ on the MD Eastern Shore. Click Here to see previous photo-essays.
Visit his Website ShoreToBePhotographs.com for more information about him and his work.