Boston Man Uncovers Ancestor's Freedom Papers While Cleaning Out Mom's Maryland Home
A discovery of an ancestor's long-lost freedom papers in his Maryland family home led Aaron Haynes to uncover his Black familial history.
Boston Man Uncovers Ancestor’s Freedom Papers While Cleaning Out Mom’s Maryland Home
The discovery led Haynes to learn more about his ancestor’s life. When he returned to Boston, he visited a library within American Ancestors. With the help of conservator Todd Pattison, Haynes confirmed the legitimacy of the document
“Generally, we don’t have as much material from more marginalized people, from people that didn’t have access to collections and weren’t collected by institutions,” said Pattison. “I think there has been a bias in institutional collecting that we collect, you know, Founding Fathers materials, and we collect wealthy people because we have historically tried to tell that story.”
The actual document was produced in 1834. The text itself states that Jones was 21 years old when he signed the crucial paper., which declares he was born and raised a free man in a Maryland county.
“Knowing that, probably I’m here because he did this step,” said Haynes. “Just a feeling of being grateful of what I have and feeling grateful for what my family has been through and knowing that through these trials and tribulations we can just overcome any obstacle.”
His family passed down the treasured paper unknowingly for years.
