Handsell House as African American historic site

By Don Morfe, June 1, 2013

1. The Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance Marker

By Don Morfe, June 1, 2013

2. The Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance Markers

By Don Morfe, June 1, 2013

3. The Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance Markers

Handsell-Original Land Grant 1665-A Restoration Project of the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance-www.restorehandsell.org

Inscription.   The Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance Inc. is a non-profit 501(c) 3, all volunteer organization that was formed in December of 2005 to purchase, study and restore the brick house at the Handsell plantation site and make it available for public tours and special education events in celebration of the Native American, Colonial and African American connections to the Indiantown-Vienna area.

Further up-to-date information and membership forms can be found at: www.restorehandsell.org or by contacting restorehandsell@aol.com.

The Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance, Inc. shall research, restore and preserve document, artifacts, and sites important to the history and heritage of the Nanticoke River watershed; shall promote community awareness of history through education, and shall cooperate with and support all other groups with a similar mission for the benefit of all people.

VisionArmed with knowledge of what the Indiantown has been and how the history was lost over the centuries, a dedicated group of volunteers in committing their time and talents to telling the forgotten story. Here on this site the NHPA celebrate the saga of the native people and their village at Chicone, the 17th century trading post known as “HANDSELL”, the early settlement of the Steele and Henry families among others and the important contribution of the African Americans who worked this soil and called the Indiantown their home.

ArchaeologyWith grants from the Bartus Trew Foundation and support from the Maryland Historic Trust, Mid-Shore Community Foundation and others, the NHPA began and will continue archaeological study of the property surrounding the brick house at HANDSELL. Keenly aware of the sensitive nature of the precious, irreplaceable and sacred artifacts that may remain in the Indiantown soil, every effort is being made to protect those historic resources and safe guard their survival now and in the future.

RestorationThe restoration of the “old brick house at Chicone” as Hansell has been known locally for many years, will take several years and a great amount of resources, heavily relying on local volunteerism and financial support. In every way, the restoration of this house is a community effort and everyone who joins the NHPA is helping to insure the preservation of not only the house, but the story.
SOURCE: https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=66629


African American Story at Handsell

One of the missions of the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance is to pay tribute to the people of African descent who worked the fields and labored at Handsell for 300 years as both free and enslaved people.  As a commitment to this goal, NHPA has produced a 25 minute documentary film with video interviews of those who grew up in the Indiantown area around Handsell who were the children of Sharecroppers.  Families with the names of Pinder, Jackson, Chase, Robinson have stories to tell of what life was like growing up in rural Dorchester County in the early to mid-20th century during a time of segregation.  These stories tell of the schools and churches attended and chore and jobs done on the farm that lead to further education and professional careers in adulthood.  NHPA is proud of this endeavor to capture these voices from the past to ensure they are heard in the future!

Life in Indiantown, a Work in Progress - a video link here 

Interviews with former Indiantown residents about the history of sharecropping and farming at the Handsell historic site near Vienna, Maryland. The footage is part of an NHPA film project, produced by Doug Sadler and the Pocket Media Group. (Indiantown is an African American Community.)

TV interview in 2016 video link here 
about Delmarva Treasure - Handsell House. 

Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, MD, as mentioned in an interview as part of the Black History Month celebration.

And one of the main people in the organization, "Restore Handsell House" is Margaret Wright Ingersoll, who wrote the following:

The Old Brick House at Chicone

 She slept so long under ivy shroud

That all who knew her passed.

So far gone in a village’s thoughts

There was no one left to ask.

Alone but strong, yet still she stands

Her walls at last are showing

The tilt and stress of weakened knees

And mortar cracks are growing.

Ancient hopes and dreams are hiding,

Sorrows, still, are lost to dust.

Plaster walls hide memories here

 As stairways sag and hinges rust.

Oh heal with mortar and patch with nails

And bless the ground below!

A thousand years she guards for us

And begs for us to know!

Find her a mason!  Call her a Carpenter!

She has not died, she waits and more

To see sunlight though new glassy eyes,

And feel breezes through her door.

by Margaret Wright Ingersoll, 2012

I apologize to only giving links to videos. I still can't get blogger to post a video directly. All this information was sourced from RestoreHandsell.org

Sharing again with Sepia Saturday.