Original Extant 19th Century Slave Dwelling

This is the only remaining original slave quarters at Sotterley, a reminder of many similar structures that were present during centuries of slavery at the former plantation. This structure housed people who worked in or around the manor house, most likely skilled enslaved people. The structure continued to be used after the Civil War and there were people living in these structures in 1910, when Herbert Satterlee purchased Sotterley.

This dwelling was built between 1830-1850 and would have housed 10 to 19 people. The Cane family, held in slavery by Dr. Briscoe in the 19th century, most likely lived in a structure like this. This dwellig has been restored and preserved by the museum over the years. Visitors can enter the cabin, (watch your step and your head) and visit the award-winning Slave Dwelling Exhibit. This exhibit uses the Cane family oral tradition and history passed down to Agnes Kane Callum, and other research, to tell the story of a family who preserved their culture, used their ingenuity, and resisted their enslavement.

Visitors should take time to reflect on the people who lived in this home, and they should be respectful of the surroundings and also be careful about the narrow exit. Once a visitor exits the cabin they will s a large sign that says "This is Sotterley's Middle Passage Marker." The sign tells the story of the "Generous Jenny," a slave ship that landed at Sotterley in 1720 from the West Coast of Africa with its human cargo. Sotterley is one of five middle passage sites in Maryland. Sotterley is a UNESCO Site of Memory for the Routes of Enslaved Peoples Project.

The Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition has more information on the life of Hilry Kane:

" Hilry Kane was born into slavery in 1818 in St. Mary’s County. Hilry’s parents, Raphael Kane and Clara, were enslaved by different owners. Hilry lived with his mother on the plantation owned by William Neale of Jeremiah until his mother was sold to another plantation. At that time in 1827, Hilry was transferred to James J. Gough to settle a debt.

While with Gough, Hilry learned the craft of plastering and farming skills. In 1847, Hilry married another who was enslaved on the plantation, fourteen-year-old Mariah, and together they had seven children. When Gough died in 1848, his will dictated that the family be divided among his seven children. Gough’s estate was liquidated and Hilry, Mariah, and their children were put on the slave auction block in Leonardtown. Hilry was sold to Colonel Chapman Billingsly for $600 and Mariah and their children were sold to Dr. Walter Hanson Stone Briscoe.

Briscoe’s Sotterley Plantation, was situated next to the Chapman Billingsly plantation, and Hilry was permitted to live with his family at Sotterley. Mariah died shortly after arriving at Sotterley and Hilry married fifteen-year-old Alice Elisa Bond. Together, they had thirteen children who were all born in a small cabin in the slave quarter at Sotterley.

Hilry had many skills and talents. Colonel Billingsly often hired Hilry out for plastering jobs. Oral tradition relates that Hilry plastered many of the finest homes in St. Mary’s County. When he was with his family, Hilry made furniture and musical instruments, including a banjo that he could play. Hilry was considered the “doctor” for the enslaved as well and utilized his knowledge of medicinal herbs to treat a variety of conditions.

Hilry obtained his freedom at age 46 in 1864, following the abolition of slavery in Maryland on November 1, 1864. After emancipation, Hilry chose to stay at Sotterley and work as a tenant farmer. He officially left Sotterley in 1879 to settle with Elisa in their own home in Hollywood. Hilry died in 1889.

Hilry Kane lived through multiple pivotal and tumultuous moments in United States history in his near 71 years of life. After facing chattel slavery, the Civil War, emancipation, and reconstruction, Hilry autonomously established his life in Hollywood, Maryland.  Hilry’s legacy lives on through the work of his descendants including Agnes Kane Callum."

To learn more about the Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition go to: https://www.equityinhistory.org/

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In the state of Maryland students at various grade levels explore the history of slavery in our world, our nation, and our state/region. As students uncover and develop an understanding about this history they try to answer "Essential Questions" that are included in the state social studies curriculum. Touring Historic Sotterley's grounds and buildings can help connect students and teachers with the content that they are learning about in the classroom.

Essential Questions related to this section of the tour:

4th grade: What causes people to deny freedoms to others?

5th grade: How did conflicts over slavery result in the Civil War?

Middle School: Consider the following:

• Evaluating the impact of technology on the geographic expansion of the institution of slavery.
• Analyzing the conditions that defined life for the enslaved.
• Contrasting the various ways in which enslaved African Americans and free blacks resisted enslavement, oppression, and institutionalized racism

Hilary Cane (circa 1820) was the patriarch of the Cane family, son of Raphael. Hilary was not held in slavery by Dr. Briscoe, but by Chapman Billingsley, Briscoe's next-door neighbor and brother-in-law. Billingsley bought Hilary, a skilled plasterer, from the James J. Gough estate in 1848. Hilary's family members, his wife, and three of their surviving children, Ellen (Nellie), George, William Francis (Frank), were held in slavery at Sotterley by Dr. Briscoe. Mariah Cane, Hilary's wife, was purchased by Dr. Briscoe in 1849 in a private sale from the Gough estate after Mariah did not bring enough on the auction block in Leonardtown. She was a laundress and spinner. The Dr. paid $500 dollars for her. Briscoe paid for her children also. The infant son, Francis (Frank) Cane cost Briscoe $50. Mariah bore two more children at Sotterley, Henrietta (Henny), and Matilda. Mariah died and was buried at Sotterley within four years.

Hilary then married Alice Elsa Bond and they had ten children, Temperance, Alice, Sarah, unknown, Hilary, James Henry, Mary, John. Their sons Webster and Sam were born after emancipation. Alice Elsa was a laundress and spinner, and she was also held in slavery by Dr. Briscoe.

The Cane family thrived spiritually and culturally even in these impossible circumstances. In fear, in hardship, cruelty and want. On November 1, 1864, slavery was abolished in Maryland and the Cane family were freed. Opportunities for freed Blacks were almost non-existent. Freedom was not the end of hardship as emancipation did not erase the traumatic legacy of racial chattel slavery. However, the Cane family eventually earned enough wages that they were able to buy their own homes and farms away from Sotterley. Cane, Kane, Cain, descendants of this family can be found all over the country.

 Alice Kane Callum was a descendant of the Cane family. In the early 1970s she had traced her heritage back to Sotterley and her ancestors held in bondage. She worked tirelessly to tell their story and keep the place that they lived and survived preserved so their stories can now be told to future generations.

Callum, Agnes Kane. Kane-Butler Genealogy: history of a Black family. Baltimore, Maryland. Agnes Kane Callum, 1979.