Redland in Montgomery County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Farming and Labor in Montgomery County

1861-1865

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, July 5, 2017

1. Farming and Labor in Montgomery County Marker

Inscription.

Farming and Labor in Montgomery County. , Local farmers attempted to maintain their agricultural operations despite disorder caused during the Civil War. Out of necessity, planters paid particular attention to weather and planting information provided by almanacs and newspapers. The Rockville Sentinel supplied regular updates on how Mother Nature actually affected routine farming practices and crop production in Montgomery County:,

Our farmers during the past week have been quite busy planting corn, their oat seeding having been finished.… The destruction of much of the fencing in this county by the troops lately stationed in it, together with the wet weather, has necessarily interfered very much with many in getting in their oat and corn crops at the usual time. (20 May 1862)

, By 1864, sources of labor were of as much interest as the weather. Because of the war, the available number of both young white men and enslaved laborers was dwindling. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln in January 1863, freed only the those enslaved in states that had seceded from the Union. It did not apply to border states like Maryland that remained loyal to the Union. Yet some enslaved were not willing to wait for a government proclamation to seek freedom:,

The slaves have been leaving our [Montgomery] county in so continuous a stream as to leave most of our farmers in the vocative (or lacking) for help to save their fodder, corn, and other outstanding crops. From present indications, the agriculturalists of our county will be compelled to abandon their pursuits altogether, or circumscribe them within such narrow limits as to minister to their own domestic wants. (Baltimore Sun, 30 September 1863)

, Farmers, like Edwin Muncaster who maintained 45 bondspeople in this very property in 1860, had “great apprehensions....that serious loss may occur from scarcity of labor necessary to secure the various crops.” On this 800 acre farm, enslaved men, women, and children worked fields of wheat, Indian Corn, Irish potatoes, rye, and hay. In time, hired hands and tenant farmers were employed to ensure peak cultivation of these cash crops." (Baltimore Sun, 28 June 1864)

Local farmers attempted to maintain their agricultural operations despite disorder caused during the Civil War. Out of necessity, planters paid particular attention to weather and planting information provided by almanacs and newspapers. The Rockville Sentinel supplied regular updates on how Mother Nature actually affected routine farming practices and crop production in Montgomery County:

Our farmers during the past week have been quite busy planting corn, their oat seeding having been finished.… The destruction of much of the fencing in this county by the troops lately stationed in it, together with the wet weather, has necessarily interfered very much with many in getting in their oat and corn crops at the usual time. (20 May 1862)

By 1864, sources of labor were of as much interest as the weather. Because of the war, the available number of both young white men and enslaved laborers was dwindling. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln in January 1863, freed only the those enslaved in states that had seceded from the Union. It did not apply to border states like Maryland that remained loyal

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to the Union. Yet some enslaved were not willing to wait for a government proclamation to seek freedom:

The slaves have been leaving our [Montgomery] county in so continuous a stream as to leave most of our farmers in the vocative (or lacking) for help to save their fodder, corn, and other outstanding crops. From present indications, the agriculturalists of our county will be compelled to abandon their pursuits altogether, or circumscribe them within such narrow limits as to minister to their own domestic wants. (Baltimore Sun, 30 September 1863)

Farmers, like Edwin Muncaster who maintained 45 bondspeople in this very property in 1860, had “great apprehensions....that serious loss may occur from scarcity of labor necessary to secure the various crops.” On this 800 acre farm, enslaved men, women, and children worked fields of wheat, Indian Corn, Irish potatoes, rye, and hay. In time, hired hands and tenant farmers were employed to ensure peak cultivation of these cash crops." (Baltimore Sun, 28 June 1864)

Erected by Montgomery Parks.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, July 5, 2017

2. Farming and Labor in Montgomery County Marker

• Agriculture • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #16 Abraham Lincoln, and the Maryland, Montgomery Parks series lists. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1863.

Location. 39° 9.837′ N, 77° 7.849′ W. Marker is in Redland, Maryland, in Montgomery County. It can be reached from Rock Creek Park Road half a mile north of Muncaster Road, on the right when traveling north. The marker stands in Agricultural History Farm Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 18400 Muncaster Mill Rd, Derwood MD 20855, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds 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 walking distance of this marker: Water Tank House (here, next to this marker); Maintenance Shed (a few steps from this marker); Dinner Bell

Emancipation image. Click for full size.

Library of Congress

3. Emancipation

The issue of abolition in Maryland came to a popular vote through the adoption of a new state constitution in September 1864, and after successful ratification, all slaves in Maryland were freed on November 1 that same year. “Negroes Leaving the Plough” by Alfred Ward, March 1864.

(within shouting distance of this marker); Bank Barn (within shouting distance of this marker); Childhood and Slavery in Maryland (within shouting distance of this marker); Bussard Farmhouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Granary (within shouting distance of this marker); Corn Crib (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Redland.

Harvesting Wheat image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Libary of Congress

4. Harvesting Wheat

Enslaved laborers stacking wheat during the harvest, 1863. Edwin Forbes, artist.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 17, 2026. It was originally submitted on July 5, 2017, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 518 times since then and 33 times this year. Last updated on July 17, 2026, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 5, 2017, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.