Archeologists Uncover Large Slave Village Near Washington DC

Recovered artifacts offer glimpse into lives of enslaved men and women

February 15, 2011

The Vincendieres, a French family from the colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), lived on a 300-hectare plantation that called L'Hermitage.

Archeologist Joy Beasley walks across the land now known as Best Farm. But approximately 200 years ago, it was a 300-hectare plantation called L'Hermitage, owned by the Vincendieres, French farmers from Haiti. Their stone home and outbuildings still stand. The National Park Service archeologist says her team discovered evidence of six other homes on the property where slaves were kept. The Vincendieres owned 90 slaves.

"That's roughly 10 times the number you'd expect them to have for the size of plantation they were operating," says Beasley. "That made them the second-largest slave holders in Frederick County and one of the largest in Maryland at that time."

Joy Beasley, archeologist at Monocacy National Battlefield, stands next to the foundations of the slave village. The homes of the Vincendieres are in the background.>

The Vincendieres were also one of the most brutal, according to Beasley, who says it's likely the family imported the harsh slave system practiced in Haiti to Maryland.

"There's an eye-witness account that refers to stocks and whipping posts and wooden horses - torture devices, in other words - being visible on the farm."