Mysteries of the Hopkins House / Free Black Slaves Settled the Norbeck Community

Mysteries of the Hopkins House, also, Free Black Slaves Settled the Norbeck Community. Sandy Spring African American Heritage Trail. , Mysteries of the Hopkins House , Set back from the main road at the end of a gravel driveway, stands the Hopkins House at 18465 Brooke Road. The oldest part of this house, of log construction, is a two-story, gable-roofed structure that runs parallel to the road. The west end of this part of the house is partially hidden by a two-and-one-half story gable-roofed structure that was added in the 1920's. A two-story shed-roofed addition on the rear dates from the 1950's. There is an enclosed one-story porch across the main (north) facade., Residents of Hopkins House were Richard E. Hopkins, Leanna Howard Hopkins and brother, the late Harold Howard. Leanna still resides there. (House abandoned and condemned this year, 2020). The late Harold Howard, brother of Leanna Hopkins, and descendant of Enoch Howard is considered the historian of the Howard-Holland Families., Dred Scottt, born into slavery sometime in 1795. He made history by launching a legal battle to gain his freedom. He tried to buy freedom for himself and family but failed, so he took his case to the Supreme Court which overturned it (Dred Scott v. Sanford). The event was so controversial it was the harbinger for Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and inevitably the Civil War. Scott died in 1858., Harold Howard, who describes himself as the Howard family historian, is the great-grandson of Enoch George Howard, the oldest of Polly and Jack's eight children. It is known that Enoch Howard or an Enoch descendant purchased land on Brooke Road. The Hopkins House was built by Elsie Waters, cousin of Louise Howard Hopkins, mother of Leanna Howard Hopkins the current resident., The Hopkins House is shrouded in mystery. It is alleged that this house and its house might have been involved in the Underground Railroad. Although Sandy Spring was considered a hub on the Underground Railroad, there is no evidence the Hopkins House served this purpose. (The only real evidence for underground railroad activity in the area comes from the escape to Canada by Leatha Howard Holland's sons, see Leatha Hoard Holland Panel)., It is further alleged that when Dred Scott arrived in Montgomery County in 1857 to await the controversial Supreme Court decision that denied his claim to be free, reportedly boarded with the Howard family at 18465 Brooke Road. Attorney Montgomery Blair of Silver Spring represented Dred Scott during the Supreme Court trials. This claim has not been verified., Free Black Slaves Settled the Norbeck Community: , Paul Emily, Mary Edmondson, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Larkin Johnson of Sandy Spring Were Principals in This Effort , Paul Edmondson purchased land in the Norbeck region of Montgomery County where he established a family. Paul was a free man, but his wife Amelia continued to work for her master. Norbeck is located south of Olney and North of Aspen Hill areas. The area encompasses a part of Maryland State Route 28, East of Georgia Avenue to Layhill Road. Leisure World and surrounding homes are located on lands previously owned by the Edmondsons., Emily Catherine Edmondson was born in 1835, to parents Paul, a free black, and Amelia, a slave belonging to Rebecca Culver. She was one of fourteen children. Together with her sister Mary, Emily was hired out by Culver to work as housemaids in the homes of wealthy families in Washington DC., At thirteen years, Emily, Mary and four brothers attempted to escape slavery on the Pearl, a merchant schooner belonging to Captain Edward Sayers. The plot was discovered, escape was aborted, and the escapees were imprisoned and sold into slavery., In the effort to raise funds for his daughter's freedom Paul Edmondson traveled to New York where he met Rev. H.W. Beecher. The girls were freed November 4, 1848, educated at a school in Brooklyn, NY and in 1853, Mary and Emily enrolled in the Young Ladies Preparatory School in Oberlin College in Ohio. These arrangements were made possible through the assistance of the Congregational Church, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe. At the age of 20, and after Mary's death at Oberlin, Emily returned to Washington and enrolled in the Normal School for Colored Girls., From the age of thirteen when Emily and Mary participated in anti-slavery activities, the sisters became close friends with Frederick Douglass., In 1850 as Congress considered passage of a harsh new Fugitive Slave Law, more than 2000 people heeded the call of abolitionist Gerrit Smith (standing center) to meet in Cazenovia, NY and protest the impending legislation. Among the nearly 50 escaped slaves to participate were Emily and Mary Edmondson (in plaid shawls) whose freedom had been purchased by abolitionists in 1848, and Frederick Douglass (seated center right, who served as the convention's presiding officer., In 1860, Larkin Johnson of Sandy Spring, MD married Emily Edmondson. At the time of their marriage Emily was 25 and Larkin was 45. Emily became the stepmother to Larkin's four children, mother to four children by Larkin and another son Charles Fisher from a previous marriage. The Johnsons purchased land from Richard and Edith D. Bentley of Sandy Spring. This land was located just South the Odd Fellows Lodge and the Sandy Spring church (between Norwood and Dr. Bird Roads. AFter spending 12 years living in Sandy Spring, Larkin and Emily Johnson and family moved from Maryland to live in Anacostia, Washington DC, where a lifelong friendship between the Johnsons and Frederick Douglass was forged. Frederick Douglass remained close friends with Paul Edmondson, but it is not known if he ever visited the Edmondson family home.