09/16/2023
We are open today, 9/16/23, for tours, conversation and reflection! Hours 12:30-2:30.
Tolson's Chapel and School
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Tolson's Chapel was built in 1866 by the African American community in Sharpsburg, MD and served as a
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09/11/2023
https://www.facebook.com/100064260446763/posts/680495500769125/?mibextid=K8Wfd2
Located at the bustling nexus of America’s first railroad and a busy Chesapeake waterfront, the enslaved in Central Maryland had opportunities to find freedom. Freedom seekers escaped to the north on foot, hid and blended i [...]
09/02/2023
Hello friends,
The Chapel will not be opened today. If you are in the area, feel free to visit our cemetery. It's headstones introduce you to Tolson's Chapel and School congregants throughout the years. We will open for our next scheduled tour October 7, 12pm-4pm. Peace and Blessings
08/26/2023
We're preparing for a busy fall! Hopefully you will be able to join us as we tell the Tolson's story.
08/04/2023
Stunning research!
Researchers have compared the DNA of 27 Black people who lived at the Catoctin furnace between 1774 and 1850, finding a link between these enslaved Americans and nearly 42,000 living relatives.
06/21/2023
06/20/2023
06/19/2023
Celebrating Juneteenth 2023 with facts and fellowship!
06/16/2023
Juneteenth programming at Tolson's Chapel!
Saturday, June 17th 11-1 Lecture/Discussion with Olivia Williams from Antietam Battlefield, National Park Service
Monday, June 19th 11-1 Learn Juneteenth Facts and discussion of how Black's contributed to their own liberation.
06/14/2023
Join the Friends of Tolson's Chapel and School on Monday, June 19th 11-1, as we celebrate Juneteenth and discuss how Black's contributed to their liberation!
01/01/2023
Remembering the African American tradition of Watch Night! Happy New Year
12/23/2022
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
12/10/2022
12/10/2022
In person or live online at 4:00!
12/10/2022
Friends, join us today until 2:00 for our Open House or at 4:00 for Christmas by Candlelight!!!
11/26/2022
In this season
of gratitude, Friends of Tolson's Chapel is grateful for the visionary souls who worked for a better future for Black citizens of Sharpsburg.
11/18/2022
Blessed with a visit from the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area tour group! African American History is American History!
11/18/2022
Take a listen! We are ready for a season of Thanksgiving and joy! Christmas by Candlelight, in person or on fb live. December 10, 4:00PM.
11/18/2022
We are getting tuned up!!! Join us December 10th at 4:00 in person or on fb live for Christmas by Candlelight!
11/06/2022
Celebrating Maryland Emancipation Day with FREED(Female Re-Enactors of Distinction)
11/06/2022
Celebrating Maryland Emancipation Day representing Tolson's Chapel. Board member, Renee Emmanuel, story telling and Board member, Dr. Emilie Amt's book Black Antietam on display!
11/06/2022
Tolson's Chapel is being represented at the Maryland Emancipation Day Celebration, Brookside Nature Center!
11/04/2022
Great things are happening at the Chapel!!! Stay tuned.
10/27/2022
𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗬 𝗩. 𝗣𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 (1844-1905)
Henry Vinton Plummer was an American Baptist preacher and a chaplain with the United States Army with the Buffalo Soldiers. Plummer was born into slavery on July 30, 1844 on the Three Sister Plantation near Bowie, Maryland. His father was Adam Francis Plummer, and his mother was Emily Sauders Plummer. His siblings included Sarah Miranda Plummer Clark and Nellie Arnold Plummer. In 1851, Plummer and his mother were sold and taken live first in Washington D.C. and then later in Ellicott Mills, Maryland.
In 1862, Plummer escaped slavery while searching for his father who was on the Riversdale Plantation in Prince George’s County, Virginia. Finding Adam Francis Plummer, they both hid until they were able to free his grandmother and get her to Washington D.C. where slavery had just been abolished.
In 1864, Plummer enlisted with the United States Navy and was honorable discharged after a year. He initially returned to the Riversdale Plantation to live with his parent and siblings but in 1866, they sent him to New Orleans, Louisiana to search for his sister, Sarah who was sold in 1860. Plummer reunited with his and remained in Louisiana where in 1867, he married Julia Lomax. The couple had nine children together.
The Plummers returned to the Washington D.C. area where in 1870, he founded the Union Association of Bladensburg, Maryland. A year later, he received an appointment as a watchman for the U.S. Postal Service in Washington D.C. In 1872, Plummer enrolled at Wayland Seminary in Washington D.C and after he graduated, he became the pastor at St. Paul Baptist church in Bladensburg, Maryland. Plummer remained at St. Paul from 1876 to 1881 but in 1876, he co-founded Mount Carmel Church in Washington D.C. In 1882, Plummer became pastor of Mount Carmel where he served there until 1884. Plummer was also involved in politics where he was a representative for Prince George’s County at the Maryland State Republican Convention both in 1872 and 1876.
In 1883, Plummer was a Republican candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates but he believed because of his race he was passed over for the nomination. Plummer, however, remained active in the local GOP and in 1884, President Chester A. Arthur appointed Plummer chaplain of the 9th Cavalry Regiment, a Buffalo Soldier unit. At the time he was the only black officer in the U.S Army. Plummer was stationed at Fort McKinney in Wyoming from August 1, 1885 to March 10, 1891. He also served for a time at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Controversy swirled around Plummer while he stationed at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. In the 1890’s, he started a newspaper that called on black soldiers to physically defend themselves from abuse. In August 1894, with the support of famed minister preacher Henry Turner, a former member of the Georgia legislature, Plummer proposed a scheme to Secretary of War Daniel S. Lamount for moving some African Americans to Africa. On August 23, 1894, Plummer was court martialed for drinking, furnishing liquor to enlisted men, and behaving inappropriately. Despite protesting his innocence, he was found guilty and dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army. Plummer and his family then moved to Kansas, where he pastored churches and held offices in the Kansas State Baptist Convention. Henry Vinton Plummer died on February 10, 1905 in Kansas City, Kansas at the age of 60.
#𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 #𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝗢𝘂𝗿𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 🤎 ✊🏾
09/30/2022
Saturday October 1,2022, open house CANCELLED due to weather concerns. Please stay safe and send positive thoughts and acts of kindness to those affected.
09/24/2022
What a great Cemetery Preservation Workshop at Tolson's Chapel & 160th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam & signing of the book, Black Antietam on Sept 17th. Thanks to Zola Barnes, Preservation Maryland, Dr. Emilie Amt and all the Tolson's board members and participants.
09/18/2022
Friends of Tolson's Chapel is grateful to be a recipient of a Sharp Recovery Grant by Maryland Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities! Maryland Humanities .gov.
09/17/2022
Today 10am-12pm Book signing and Cemetery Preservation Workshop at Tolson's Chapel & 160th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam
111 E. High St Sharpsburg
09/16/2022
Great article about the new exhibits at Antietam National Battlefield that address the outcome of the battle and the Civil War - FREEDOM for millions of enslaved African Americans.
Lincoln had to wait for a Union victory to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. That victory came 160 years ago at the Battle of Antietam.
08/05/2022
Tolson's Curious??? Tolson's Chapel will be open for touring this Saturday, August 6 from 12pm-4pm!!! All are welcome.
07/27/2022
Many thanks to the Town of Sharpsburg for purchasing and hanging these wonderful banners celebrating Tolson's Chapel and School!
07/17/2022
"May everything change."
Hymn For The Hurting by Amanda Gorman
Everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed and strange,
Minds made muddied and mute.
We carry tragedy, terrifying and true.
And yet none of it is new;
We knew it as home,
As horror,
As heritage.
Even our children
Cannot be children,
Cannot be.
Everything hurts.
It’s a hard time to be alive,
And even harder to stay that way.
We’re burdened to live out these days,
While at the same time, blessed to outlive them.
This alarm is how we know
We must be altered —
That we must differ or die,
That we must triumph or try.
Thus while hate cannot be terminated,
It can be transformed
Into a love that lets us live.
May we not just grieve, but give:
May we not just ache, but act;
May our signed right to bear arms
Never blind our sight from shared harm;
May we choose our children over chaos.
May another innocent never be lost.
Maybe everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed & strange.
But only when everything hurts
May everything change.
06/13/2022
National Historic Landmark Plaque Dedication pictures. Courtesy of FOTC Board member ZSun-nee Kimbal Matema
06/13/2022
Tolson's Chapel's National Historic Landmark Plaque!
06/13/2022
National Historic Landmark Plaque Dedication!
Address
111 E High Street
Sharpsburg, MD
21782
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Videos
Juneteenth Commemoration at Tolson’s Chapel and School.
Emili Amt, Juneteenth examination, Emancipation Proclamation military strategy
Bridgett Jones Smith, Juneteenth examination, Happy Juneteenth
Edie Wallace, Juneteenth examination, modern celebrations
Edie Wallace, Juneteenth examination, early Juneteenth celebrations
ZSun-ne Miller Matama, Juneteenth examination, Freedom backlash and celebrations
Dan Henderson, Juneteenth examination, Confederate surrender, General Order No. 3
Mark Brugh, Juneteenth examination, U.S. Colored Troops
Kanika Pinto, Juneteenth examination, U.S. Colored Troops capture Capitol of Confederacy, Richmond, Major Garland White reunion
Dan Henderson, Juneteenth examination, Black secret societies
ZSun-ne Miller Matama, Juneteenth examination, Black Female Union Spies
Loretta Wright, Juneteenth examination, Black enslaved and freedmen military participation
Gene Schlotterbeck, Juneteenth examination, 4th of July, Black soldiers.
Bridgett Jones Smith, Juneteenth examination introduction.
Revisiting Tolson's Chapel
Ed Maliskas Interview: John Brown to James Brown
Happening now!
Today we were thoroughly entranced by Shana Oshiro...
Here's a taste of some of what we heard - Shana Oshiro, executive director of HALO, an all-woman African American barbershop quartet.
Dedication of John Monroe's tombstone
Edie Wallace laying wreath for the five African Americans who served in WWI, two who are buried at Tolson's
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Other History Museums in Sharpsburg
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Hagerstown Model Railroad Museum
Shepherdstown Pike -
East Main Street
Comments
In meeting with the Education Committee, two words came up that had great power concerning what visitors can learn from Tolsons Chapel. One was “real” as in real people, real times, real places as we face our history. The other was “magical,” which was such a contrast to the times of Reconstruction and the beginning of Jim Crow. How do these two words come to expand the Tolson’s Chapel’s educational theme of “community?”
I got my answer listening to the final words of John Lewis, speaking about learning from our own history. His ancestors were freed after the Civil War much like the original community of Tolson’s.
He first found his ancestor’s names on a voting roster artifact created soon after they were freed, which brought him to tears during an episode of “Finding your Roots.” Imagine fighting your whole life for the right for your community to vote and realizing that that inspiration came from generations of pursuit and perseverance before him. He explains how important his community was but that community was threatened in the days of Emmitt Till (his George Floyd). This drove him to reach out to MLK where he launched a lifetime of fighting for Social Justice for ALL.
Tolson’s Chapel represents the few remaining community learning centers still standing that represents a pivotal time in American History and beyond. It is a global symbol of how community can change the world if only we face the truth of the past to define OUR truths for the future.
John Lewis’s spirit and teachings of community were so real AND magical! I hope we can be so inspiring for future generations!
Edie Wallace James Fitch Janice Davis Dana Mott Margie Forbes Richard Stone Steve Lewis Michael La Fleur ZSun-nee Kimball Matema Jerome James Jr. Tom Furness Cindy Cotto Grimes Jennifer Musumeci
I got my answer listening to the final words of John Lewis, speaking about learning from our own history. His ancestors were freed after the Civil War much like the original community of Tolson’s.
He first found his ancestor’s names on a voting roster artifact created soon after they were freed, which brought him to tears during an episode of “Finding your Roots.” Imagine fighting your whole life for the right for your community to vote and realizing that that inspiration came from generations of pursuit and perseverance before him. He explains how important his community was but that community was threatened in the days of Emmitt Till (his George Floyd). This drove him to reach out to MLK where he launched a lifetime of fighting for Social Justice for ALL.
Tolson’s Chapel represents the few remaining community learning centers still standing that represents a pivotal time in American History and beyond. It is a global symbol of how community can change the world if only we face the truth of the past to define OUR truths for the future.
John Lewis’s spirit and teachings of community were so real AND magical! I hope we can be so inspiring for future generations!
Edie Wallace James Fitch Janice Davis Dana Mott Margie Forbes Richard Stone Steve Lewis Michael La Fleur ZSun-nee Kimball Matema Jerome James Jr. Tom Furness Cindy Cotto Grimes Jennifer Musumeci
I thought friends of this page may be interested in the new FB page for the historic Halfway African American Cemetery, a nearly-lost cemetery that we're working to restore.
I'm a Minister and member of the choir of Ebenezer AME Church in Hagerstown. And last summer we were honored to sing in this beautiful little church. Also the Pastor of our church performed a Christmas program here this past December.
We, at Tolson's Chapel are very proud of the restoration work accomplished on our historic Chapel and Freedmen's School. Today we celebrate the 85th Anniversary of the Freedmen's Bureau Act. We invite you to visit us and enjoy the work of those who first built Tolson's Chapel in 1866. Some were just released from enslavement and some were free. With love, devotion and dedication, the Friends of Tolson's worked to restore the building beginning in 2003. Happy 85th!
A little background on the Freedmen's Bureau Act:
"In the years following the Civil War, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen's Bureau) provided assistance to tens of thousands of former slaves and impoverished whites in the Southern States and the District of Columbia. The war had liberated nearly four million slaves and destroyed the region's cities, towns, and plantation-based economy. It left former slaves and many whites dislocated from their homes, facing starvation, and owning only the clothes they wore. The challenge of establishing a new social order, founded on freedom and racial equality, was enormous.
The Bureau was established in the War Department in 1865 to undertake the relief effort and the unprecedented social reconstruction that would bring freed
people to full citizenship. It issued food and clothing, operated hospitals and temporary camps, helped locate family members, promoted education, helped freedmen legalize marriages, provided employment, supervised labor contracts, provided legal representation, investigated racial confrontations, settled freedmen on abandoned or confiscated lands, and worked with African American soldiers and sailors and their heirs to secure back pay, bounty payments, and pensions."..African American records, National Archives
A little background on the Freedmen's Bureau Act:
"In the years following the Civil War, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen's Bureau) provided assistance to tens of thousands of former slaves and impoverished whites in the Southern States and the District of Columbia. The war had liberated nearly four million slaves and destroyed the region's cities, towns, and plantation-based economy. It left former slaves and many whites dislocated from their homes, facing starvation, and owning only the clothes they wore. The challenge of establishing a new social order, founded on freedom and racial equality, was enormous.
The Bureau was established in the War Department in 1865 to undertake the relief effort and the unprecedented social reconstruction that would bring freed
people to full citizenship. It issued food and clothing, operated hospitals and temporary camps, helped locate family members, promoted education, helped freedmen legalize marriages, provided employment, supervised labor contracts, provided legal representation, investigated racial confrontations, settled freedmen on abandoned or confiscated lands, and worked with African American soldiers and sailors and their heirs to secure back pay, bounty payments, and pensions."..African American records, National Archives
There's no other way to describe Tolson's Chapel other than SACRED . . . SPECIAL. It's a must see anytime of year!
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