Emily Saunders Plummer facts for kids

The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where Emily and Adam were married, as it looks today.

Emily Saunders Plummer (born around 1815, died January 17, 1876) was an American woman who was enslaved in Prince George's County, Maryland. She married Adam Francis Plummer, who was also enslaved on a different farm, on May 30, 1841.

They had nine children. Emily and Adam worked hard to keep their family together, even though enslaved families were often separated by being sold. After many challenges, Emily bravely escaped in October 1863, taking five of her children with her. After a short time in a Baltimore jail, Emily and her children were able to join the rest of their family in Riverdale. She later became sick with pneumonia and passed away on January 17, 1876.

Emily's Early Life

Emily was born on a farm called Three Sisters Plantation in Lanham, Maryland. We don't know her exact birth date, but it was probably around 1815. Emily never knew her father, Richard Saunders, because he was sold in Annapolis when she was very young.

Her mother, Nellie Orne Saunders, had a mixed background. Nellie's mother was English, and her father was an enslaved African man. Nellie had 23 children in total, including Emily. Some of her children were from a different marriage.

Marriage and Family

In 1839, Emily and her mother visited the Riverdale Plantation. They went there to help Emily's Aunt Lucy, who was sick. While at Riverdale, Emily met Adam Francis Plummer, who was enslaved on that farm. They fell in love.

The couple got married at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. on May 30, 1841. This marriage was special because it was legally recognized with a license. At that time, marriages between enslaved people were usually not seen as legal.

Over the years, Adam and Emily had nine children. Eight of their children lived to be adults.

Life While Enslaved

For the first 22 years of their marriage, Adam and Emily could not see each other every day. This was because they lived on different plantations. Emily lived at Three Sisters, and Adam would travel about eight miles to visit her on weekends.

Adam was allowed to grow crops in his free time. He could sell these crops at the market. With the money he earned, he bought things for Emily's cabin and made it nicer.

Their lives changed eight years after they married. Emily's enslaver, Sarah Ogle Hilleary, died. Emily's new owner, Tilman Hilleary, tried to sell her. His first attempt to sell her in March 1849 did not happen because Emily's fourth child, Julia, was born. Instead, Emily's sister, Henny, was sold.

Adam then looked for someone to buy Emily and their children. He found Colonel Livingston Gilbert Thompson from Meridian Hill, Washington D.C. The sale happened on December 2, 1852. Emily and three of her children moved to Colonel Thompson's farm. However, two of their children had to stay behind at the Three Sisters Plantation.

The distance between Riverdale and Meridian Hill was similar to the distance between Riverdale and Three Sisters. But Colonel Thompson's wife was less willing to let Adam visit Emily. So, Adam started seeing his family every two weeks instead of every week.

Life at the Thompson home was harder for Emily than it had been at Three Sisters. In June 1854, Emily's sixth child, Marjory Ellen Rose Plummer, died when she was less than a year old. Colonel Thompson treated Emily's children badly. Emily would try to protect her children from his anger. Because of this, Thompson threatened her and thought about selling her.

In 1855, the Thompsons moved to Mt. Hebron in Howard County, Maryland. This move made the distance between Adam and Emily much longer, from about eight miles to 26 miles. Adam could only visit his wife and children twice a year, on Christmas and Easter.

Emily's problems grew when her oldest daughter, Sarah Miranda Plummer, tried to escape from the Three Sisters plantation. Sarah was caught and sold to an owner in New Orleans. During this time, Adam's ability to read and write was very important for keeping the family connected. He sent letters to Emily using a friend as a messenger. Emily relied on her enslavers to read and deliver letters for her.

Escaping to Freedom

Emily's oldest son, Henry.

The last building of the Riverdale Plantation was restored and is now a museum about the Plummer Family.

Emily and Adam had received their marriage license in 1841. In the Northern United States and Canada, this type of license was often seen as proof that enslaved people were free. The Plummers knew this. In 1845, they planned to escape with their children to a free state. However, their plan was discovered when Emily's aunt told Mrs. Hilleary about it and gave her the marriage license. As punishment, Mrs. Hilleary made Emily, who usually worked as a cook, work in the fields.

After Emily moved to Mt. Hebron with the Thompsons, she made her next attempt to gain freedom. On January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation became law. This law declared that all enslaved people in the Confederate States of America were free. However, it did not free enslaved people in states that had stayed loyal to the Union, like Maryland.

This did not stop Emily. Soon after, her oldest son, Henry, escaped from the plantation on his own. Emily took the next step in October 1863. She took the five children still with her and went to Baltimore. There, they were caught and held in jail for two months.

Emily became friends with the warden by working for him as a cook. Colonel Thompson did not pay the fees needed to get Emily and the children back. This gave Adam a chance to take custody of them instead. With most of the family finally together, Adam and Emily asked Henry to bring Sarah back from New Orleans. Henry succeeded in October 1866.

Final Years

In 1870, Adam bought a ten-acre piece of land near Riverdale. They called it "Mt. Rose." Adam and Emily lived there for the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, Sarah started the First Baptist Church of Bladensburg. On New Year's Eve of 1875, Emily watched her son Henry give his first sermon there. Emily started showing signs of pneumonia on January 9th and passed away on January 17, 1876.