Rich Hill in Charles County, Maryland is an important site in the history of the United States, witnessing the birth of founders and the flight of assassins.
– John Wilkes Booth, Rich Hill’s infamous visitor
Rich Hill was the birthplace and childhood home of Margaret Brown and her brother Gustavus Richard Brown.
Margaret Brown grew up to marry Thomas Stone, one of our founding fathers and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown went on to be one of President George Washington’s physicians and tended to the “Father of our Country” on his deathbed.
Dr. Gustavus Brown
Physician to George Washington
“Connections to the very foundation of the nation rooted here at Rich Hill.”
April 16, 1865
Rich Hill’s infamous visitor during the escape.
In 1865, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, and his accomplice, David Herold, sought food and shelter at Rich Hill after they left the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd.
Booth and Herold were assisted by the owner, Samuel Cox, who asked his foster brother, Thomas Jones, to care for the fugitives as they hid in a nearby pine thicket.
Rich Hill plays an important role in the escape and manhunt of Lincoln’s assassin.
The Enslaved African-Americans of Rich Hill and the story of Mary Swann
From the early 1700s to 1864, over 100 men, women and children were enslaved at Rich Hill. Although their names appear in estate wills, inventories, and distributions, they have been forgotten—relegated to the shadows of history.
Enslaved persons labored in the tobacco fields, served in the house, and engaged in a variety of other tasks vital to daily life at Rich Hill. Through images and the voices of others, we hope to shed some light on the lives of the people who toiled at Rich Hill.
The voices within our panels come from former slaves who were interviewed as part of the Federal Writers Project (1936-1938) under the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt. These interviews were assembled by the Library of Congress and include the narratives of former Charles County slaves Charles Coles, James V. Deane, Page Harris, and Richard Macks.
We attempt to represent those enslaved peoples of the following owners of Rich Hill:
Preserving the heritage of Southern Maryland
