45 years ago --- JEREMIAH SUMMERS, 80 year old who died recently, may have been the last survivor of local slave days. He had spent his entire life on the farm of Henry Piper near Sharpsburg, where he was born into slavery.
Source: Morning Herald – "Do You Remember"
(Hagerstown, Md) December 9, 1970
***********************************
With the death of JEREMIAH SUMMERS, 80 year-old negra, the last survivor of slave days in Washington County, is believed to have passed. Jeremiah was buried yesterday afternoon in Sharpsburg with funeral services at the colored church there where many mourners gathered for he was a well known character.
Jeremiah belonged to Henry Piper, the grandfather of Elmer Piper, 133 East Antietam Street, and lived his entire life on the farm where he was born. Henry Piper owned Jeremiah'/s mother of the boy, who was not quite eighteen at the time the battle of Antietam was fought, worked for the Piper family from 1862 until 1899. Although he took no part in the battle, the old negro used to love to tell his recollections of the soldiers encamped near his home and of the gory fight which gave to the the road where he lived the name of "Bloody Lane."
Old Jerry, after the slaves were given their freedom, continued to live at the Piper's and when he was married Mr. Piper built him a house on the farm, where he has lived ever since.
His wife and children survive.
Jerry was the last of the old slaves in the Sharpsburg section of the county and it is believed that he may have been the last in the entire county.
Source: Morning Herald (Hagerstown, MD)
Thursday, December 10, 1925
***********************************
Jeremiah Cornelius Summers was born a slave in 1949 on the Henry Piper farm near Sharpsburg. At age thirteen, Jerry accompanied the Piper family when they abandoned their home as the Confederate army began to set up their line of defense across the farms fields and orchard. Two years later, in April of 1864, Jerry was "enlisted" into the Union army. Only fifteen years old and reportedly much loved by his owner Henry Piper, Summers was permitted to return home as the slave of a Union loyalist. After his emancipation in November 1864, Jerry continued working and living on the Piper farm, employe by Henry's son Samuel. At Henry Piper's death Jerry was given the use for life of a small cottage and garden plot facing the northerly stretch of the "Bloody Lane."
Source: Tolson's Chapel Brochure
(see brochure for a picture of Jerry)
*************************************
His brother Emory W. Summers, Sr. is also buried in this cemetery.
*************************************
Source: Morning Herald – "Do You Remember"
(Hagerstown, Md) December 9, 1970
***********************************
With the death of JEREMIAH SUMMERS, 80 year-old negra, the last survivor of slave days in Washington County, is believed to have passed. Jeremiah was buried yesterday afternoon in Sharpsburg with funeral services at the colored church there where many mourners gathered for he was a well known character.
Jeremiah belonged to Henry Piper, the grandfather of Elmer Piper, 133 East Antietam Street, and lived his entire life on the farm where he was born. Henry Piper owned Jeremiah'/s mother of the boy, who was not quite eighteen at the time the battle of Antietam was fought, worked for the Piper family from 1862 until 1899. Although he took no part in the battle, the old negro used to love to tell his recollections of the soldiers encamped near his home and of the gory fight which gave to the the road where he lived the name of "Bloody Lane."
Old Jerry, after the slaves were given their freedom, continued to live at the Piper's and when he was married Mr. Piper built him a house on the farm, where he has lived ever since.
His wife and children survive.
Jerry was the last of the old slaves in the Sharpsburg section of the county and it is believed that he may have been the last in the entire county.
Source: Morning Herald (Hagerstown, MD)
Thursday, December 10, 1925
***********************************
Jeremiah Cornelius Summers was born a slave in 1949 on the Henry Piper farm near Sharpsburg. At age thirteen, Jerry accompanied the Piper family when they abandoned their home as the Confederate army began to set up their line of defense across the farms fields and orchard. Two years later, in April of 1864, Jerry was "enlisted" into the Union army. Only fifteen years old and reportedly much loved by his owner Henry Piper, Summers was permitted to return home as the slave of a Union loyalist. After his emancipation in November 1864, Jerry continued working and living on the Piper farm, employe by Henry's son Samuel. At Henry Piper's death Jerry was given the use for life of a small cottage and garden plot facing the northerly stretch of the "Bloody Lane."
Source: Tolson's Chapel Brochure
(see brochure for a picture of Jerry)
*************************************
His brother Emory W. Summers, Sr. is also buried in this cemetery.
*************************************
45 years ago --- JEREMIAH SUMMERS, 80 year old who died recently, may have been the last survivor of local slave days. He had spent his entire life on the farm of Henry Piper near Sharpsburg, where he was born into slavery.
Source: Morning Herald – "Do You Remember"
(Hagerstown, Md) December 9, 1970
***********************************
With the death of JEREMIAH SUMMERS, 80 year-old negra, the last survivor of slave days in Washington County, is believed to have passed. Jeremiah was buried yesterday afternoon in Sharpsburg with funeral services at the colored church there where many mourners gathered for he was a well known character.
Jeremiah belonged to Henry Piper, the grandfather of Elmer Piper, 133 East Antietam Street, and lived his entire life on the farm where he was born. Henry Piper owned Jeremiah'/s mother of the boy, who was not quite eighteen at the time the battle of Antietam was fought, worked for the Piper family from 1862 until 1899. Although he took no part in the battle, the old negro used to love to tell his recollections of the soldiers encamped near his home and of the gory fight which gave to the the road where he lived the name of "Bloody Lane."
Old Jerry, after the slaves were given their freedom, continued to live at the Piper's and when he was married Mr. Piper built him a house on the farm, where he has lived ever since.
His wife and children survive.
Jerry was the last of the old slaves in the Sharpsburg section of the county and it is believed that he may have been the last in the entire county.
Source: Morning Herald (Hagerstown, MD)
Thursday, December 10, 1925
***********************************
Jeremiah Cornelius Summers was born a slave in 1949 on the Henry Piper farm near Sharpsburg. At age thirteen, Jerry accompanied the Piper family when they abandoned their home as the Confederate army began to set up their line of defense across the farms fields and orchard. Two years later, in April of 1864, Jerry was "enlisted" into the Union army. Only fifteen years old and reportedly much loved by his owner Henry Piper, Summers was permitted to return home as the slave of a Union loyalist. After his emancipation in November 1864, Jerry continued working and living on the Piper farm, employe by Henry's son Samuel. At Henry Piper's death Jerry was given the use for life of a small cottage and garden plot facing the northerly stretch of the "Bloody Lane."
Source: Tolson's Chapel Brochure
(see brochure for a picture of Jerry)
*************************************
His brother Emory W. Summers, Sr. is also buried in this cemetery.
*************************************
Source: Morning Herald – "Do You Remember"
(Hagerstown, Md) December 9, 1970
***********************************
With the death of JEREMIAH SUMMERS, 80 year-old negra, the last survivor of slave days in Washington County, is believed to have passed. Jeremiah was buried yesterday afternoon in Sharpsburg with funeral services at the colored church there where many mourners gathered for he was a well known character.
Jeremiah belonged to Henry Piper, the grandfather of Elmer Piper, 133 East Antietam Street, and lived his entire life on the farm where he was born. Henry Piper owned Jeremiah'/s mother of the boy, who was not quite eighteen at the time the battle of Antietam was fought, worked for the Piper family from 1862 until 1899. Although he took no part in the battle, the old negro used to love to tell his recollections of the soldiers encamped near his home and of the gory fight which gave to the the road where he lived the name of "Bloody Lane."
Old Jerry, after the slaves were given their freedom, continued to live at the Piper's and when he was married Mr. Piper built him a house on the farm, where he has lived ever since.
His wife and children survive.
Jerry was the last of the old slaves in the Sharpsburg section of the county and it is believed that he may have been the last in the entire county.
Source: Morning Herald (Hagerstown, MD)
Thursday, December 10, 1925
***********************************
Jeremiah Cornelius Summers was born a slave in 1949 on the Henry Piper farm near Sharpsburg. At age thirteen, Jerry accompanied the Piper family when they abandoned their home as the Confederate army began to set up their line of defense across the farms fields and orchard. Two years later, in April of 1864, Jerry was "enlisted" into the Union army. Only fifteen years old and reportedly much loved by his owner Henry Piper, Summers was permitted to return home as the slave of a Union loyalist. After his emancipation in November 1864, Jerry continued working and living on the Piper farm, employe by Henry's son Samuel. At Henry Piper's death Jerry was given the use for life of a small cottage and garden plot facing the northerly stretch of the "Bloody Lane."
Source: Tolson's Chapel Brochure
(see brochure for a picture of Jerry)
*************************************
His brother Emory W. Summers, Sr. is also buried in this cemetery.
*************************************
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
