Bucktown in Dorchester County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Finding Freedom
The Call of Freedom
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, January 20, 2018
1. Finding Freedom Marker
Dorchester County occupies a central place in the story of the Underground Railroad, the secret network of "stations" and "conductors" that sheltered and shepherded hundreds of enslave African Americans to freedom in the mid-1800s. The famed Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman grew up here in Bucktown.
An Act of Defiance
Young Harriet Tubman made her first stand against the injustice of slavery at Bucktown village store. While on an errand with a plantation cook, she encountered a white overseer disciplining a slave. The overseer ordered Tubman to help tie the slave down. She refused an astonishing display of defiance for any slave, much less a girl of about age 13. The young man broke free, and the overseer picked up a two-pound weight and hurled it at him. Instead, he hit Tubman on the head with a blow that nearly killed her. Many historians believe this injury was linked to the frequent seizures Tubman experienced as an adult. These episodes were accompanied by vivid dreams that the deeply religious Tubman regarded as messages from God.
The Flight of the Dover Eight
In 1857, Thomas Elliot, Denwood Hughes, and Henry Predo fled from a nearby farm then owned by Prichett Meredith. The three joined five others in making the way north to freedom, but the group was
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • Women. In addition, it is included in the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1857.
Location. Marker has been permanently removed. It was located near 38° 27.55′ N, 76° 1.869′ W. Marker was in Bucktown, Maryland, in Dorchester County. It could be reached from the intersection of Bucktown Road and Greenbriar Road. This marker is on the north side of the Bucktown Village Store. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 4303 Bucktown Road, Cambridge MD 21613, United States of America.
We have been informed that this marker is no longer there and will not be replaced. This page is an archival view of what was.
Regionally, this marker was on the Eastern Shore. It was also in the American Mid-Atlantic, on the Delmarva Peninsula, in the Tidewater, and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it was in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this location, measured as the crow flies: Resistance (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named Harriet Tubman
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, January 20, 2018
2. Finding Freedom Marker
The marker has been displaced from its frame and is lying against the north wall of the Bucktown Village Store.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Harriet Tubman (was approx. 0.9 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Also see . . . Bucktown Village Store. Maryland Historical Trust Architectural Survey File PDF (Submitted on January 22, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.)
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, January 20, 2018
3. The Bucktown Village Store
Internet Archive
4. Harriet Tubman
“Harriet Tubman was cautious, cunning and brave. She penetrated the Rebel lines, told of their movements [and] brought back other information of great value.” — H. Bowley, 1939. Woodcut frontispiece (by J. C. Darby of Auburn) from Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, Sarah Bradford, 1869.
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, January 20, 2018
5. National Underground Railroad
Network to Freedom
Network to Freedom
MD Archives
6. $600 Reward
Ran away from the subscriber, on Saturday night last, two Negro Men, called Denard Hughes and Tom Elliot.
Denard is a very likely man, of dark chestnut color, stout built, with black whiskers; aged about 30 years; had on when he left a white hat with broad black band; his clothing is not recollected.
Tom is of ordinary size, about five feet six inches high, of dark chestnut color, aged about 24 years; his clothing is not recollected. They both have a rather down look when spoken to.
Tom has an uncle near Wilmington, called Moses Pinket.
The above reward will be given for these Negroes if taken out of the county, or $100 for either if taken in the county. In either case they are to be lodged in the Cambridge jail, so that I get them again.Pritchet Meridith
Near Cambridge, MD.
Baltimore Sun, March 13, 1857
Denard is a very likely man, of dark chestnut color, stout built, with black whiskers; aged about 30 years; had on when he left a white hat with broad black band; his clothing is not recollected.
Tom is of ordinary size, about five feet six inches high, of dark chestnut color, aged about 24 years; his clothing is not recollected. They both have a rather down look when spoken to.
Tom has an uncle near Wilmington, called Moses Pinket.
The above reward will be given for these Negroes if taken out of the county, or $100 for either if taken in the county. In either case they are to be lodged in the Cambridge jail, so that I get them again.
Near Cambridge, MD.
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, January 23, 2018
7. The Bucktown Village Store
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, November 19, 2018
8. Finding Freedom Marker
Missing
Missing
Credits. This page was last revised on October 5, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 22, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 893 times since then and 107 times this year. Last updated on November 20, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on January 22, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 6, 7. submitted on January 24, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 8. submitted on November 20, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
