Home Ownership for Black Families in the 1800s

Home Ownership for Black Families in Guilford Started in 1866

Guilford has a remarkable history dating back to the late 1600s when Henry Ridgely and Richard Warfield patented Ridgely’s Forrest and Warfield’s Contrivance, respectively. In 1701 Benjamin and Richard Warfield patented Wincopin Neck and in 1734 Henry Ridgely’s grandson patented Harry’s Lott and John Jones patented Jones Fancy. A basic chain of title was prepared including the Guilford Mills, Guilford Quarry, and the Guilford Pratt Through Truss Bridge.

We already have documented the land ownership of the First Baptist Church of Guilford in 1903 and Willis Carter's farm land purchase in 1904. But I was curious when the very first Black land owners came to Guilford. While Black families owned land in Ellicott City and elsewhere before the Civil War, it appears that did not happen in Guilford until the war was over.

In 1866, Henry and Elizabeth Penny sold just over 4 acres to William Watkins for $101.25 within the land patent Jones Fancy. In 1869, Henry and Elizabeth Penny sold 7 acres of land to Daniel Boston, a farm laborer, for $175 also within Jones Fancy (see documents to the right).  Daniel Boston took a mortgage from George W. Marlow, the son of Eliza Marlow who is buried in the Guilford Quarry Cemetery. Daniel and Matilda Boston sold the land back to George W. Marlow in 1873 for the same price as the mortgage.

The year after William Watkins purchased his land, he sold one acre of it to Edward Holland, another farm laborer, for $30 in 1867. In 1883, William Watkins and Isaac Watkins (presumed to be his grandson due to their more than 50 year age difference in the 1870 census), sold their land to Wesley Watkins for $225. It is likely they were related but how is not yet known.

 In 1871, Edward Holland sold to his sons Edward Jr. and William Holland the one acre of land he owned for $100. In 1881, Edward Jr. and William Holland, then in Baltimore City, sold their one acre of land to Hickman M. Morris, a White civil war veteran, for $140.

According to the 1900 census, Wesley Watkins still owned his home as did Daniel and Matilda Boston, but the Boston family had relocated closer to the Savage/Annapolis Junction area by then. Daniel Boston was a trustee  for about 30 years for the Annapolis Junction "colored" school near Asbury Church starting in 1886.  

The next opportunities for Black land owners occurred in 1903 and 1904 when Henry A. Penny, Jr. sold 1 acre to the Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Guilford for $50 and then sold 13.25 acres of land to Willis J. Carter for $700 at about $52 per acre. The church trustees included Willis J. Carter, his brother James Carter, Richard Chaney, William S. Harding, and John Holland. It is not yet known whether John Holland was related to Edward Holland.

By the 1910 census, Isabella Boston, Mollie Thomas, Carrie Moore, Charles Green Jr., John Holland, Mary Carter (Willis’ widow), James Carter, Elizabeth Harding, Nicholas Boston, William Oliver, Charles Green Sr., James Curtis and George Curtis were all listed as Black homeowners in Guilford.

The above families were the founders of the historically Black community of Guilford.