On 15 July 1861, six enslaved men—Alexander Franklin, David Harris, John Hunter, Miles Hunter, Peter Hunter, and Samuel Hunter—fearing impressment into Confederate service, sought refuge in the Stingray Point Lighthouse near here and hailed the USS Mount Vernon. Similar escapes followed. Following the contraband theory established at Fort Monroe, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy authorized the employment of self-emancipated men and, in Sept. 1861, approved their enlistment in the U.S. Navy, nearly a year before black men could enlist in the U.S. Army. After serving in the Navy, Harris is the only one of the six men known to have returned to this community, where he had been enslaved.

Photo: Cherlanda Sidney-Ross

Deltaville, Virginia · USA