Harriet Tubman s father s home discovered by archeologists in Maryland
By Elisha Fieldstadt
15 hours ago
The home of Harriet Tubman s father has been discovered by archaeologists in Maryland, state officials announced Tuesday from the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center. The site where Ben Ross once lived dubbed Ben s 10 was unearthed on property acquired last year by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Archaeologists believe they have found the site in Maryland where Harriet Tubman’s father had a cabin, where she once lived. Julie Schablitsky, who works for the state transportation department, used a metal detector to unearth an 1808 coin in a remote section of the eastern shore that led her to dig deeper. Her team then discovered more artifacts from the same time period that convinced them it was the very spot on the Thompson Farm where Ben Ross Sr. had lived while enslaved and after he was freed. The sit
Last modified on Wed 21 Apr 2021 03.31 EDT
Socially distanced archaeologists in masks trudged through the wet forests on Marylandâs eastern shore, searching for signs of a long-abandoned home.
Julie Schablitsky, the chief archeologist for Marylandâs state highway administration, used a metal detector, hoping for nails or other signs of an old building.
Instead, along the roadway, she found an 1808 coin imprinted with the word âlibertyâ.
âWhen this thing came out of the ground, I was shocked,â Schablitsky told the Guardian.
Her discovery in November became a hopeful calling card: she and her team understood they might be getting close to finding the one-time home of Ben Ross, father of the famed Underground Railroad conductor, political activist and abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Harriet Tubman’s Family Home Located in Dorchester County
The historic homesite of the father of abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman has been located, according to a press release Tuesday from Maryland Lieutenant Governor Boyd K. Rutherford and federal partners at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center.
The home of Ben Ross, Tubman’s father, was discovered on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service land that was acquired in 2020 so it could be added to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County. An archeology team led by the state Department of Transportation State Highway Administration conducted research that resulted in finding the Ross home.