Excerpt from Historic Resource Study, Ferry Hill Plantation

This study was undertaken through a cooperative program administered by the University of Maryland at College Park and the National Park Service. As outlined in the contract between these agencies and the author, the object of this Historic Resources Survey is to research and drafi a careful, thorough study of Ferry Hill Plantation, which the National Park Service can use as a reference for subsequent efforts to interpret the plantation's history. Furthermore, the contract stipulates that particular attention should be devoted to the Blackford's and Douglas' slaves, and that every effort should be made to integrate the plantation's history into a local economic, political, and social context. Pursuant to these ends, the National Park Service directed that transportation corridors, agricultural practices, industrial development, immigration and settlement, and the plantation's connection with the Chesapeake and Ohio (c 0) Canal receive due consideration.

The staffs of several local libraries and historical societies provided invaluable assistance. The staff at the Western Maryland Room at the Washington County Free Library in Hagerstown, Maryland, guided me to local histories, volumes of the John Blackford Journals, and information on General Henry Kyd Douglas. Likewise, the staff at the Washington County Historical Society in Hagerstown, Maryland, provided me with detailed genealogies of the blackford-douglas families, along with photocopies of the Blackford family portraits and unpublished letters written by John Blackford. The librarians at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore, Maryland, provided me with John Blackford's 1829-1831 journals, and, perhaps more importantly, guided me to additional farm journals and account books from northern Maryland. Without the assistance of these dedicated professionals, the task of researching this project would have been much more difficult, if not impossible. At the University of Maryland, Professor James K. Flak provided administrative assistance and support to maintain this project.

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