Revocation of Edict

The historic Catoctin Iron Furnace located in Thurmont, Frederick County, Maryland, was established in 1774 and has played a crucial role in American history manufacturing iron used to produce household tools and Franklin stoves. It also produced arms and ammunition for use during the Revolutionary War. The majority of the early workers were enslaved African Americans. The hard furnace labor and toxic fumes from the furnace had an impact on the health and bodies of the enslaved people, causing many to have spinal problems.

Over one hundred people who worked, lived, and died at Catoctin were buried in the Catoctin Cemetery. The cemetery was all but forgotten until the 1970s when during highway construction unmarked graves and old stones used as markers were discovered. This brought renewed interest in the cemetery. Because of the historical value, The Smithsonian Institute has exhumed thirty five of the graves believed to be slaves that worked at the furnace. They have cataloged, measured, determined gender, extracted DNA (bone) and have tried to determine which individuals belong to the same families. They have also done digital photography for facial reconstruction and created two busts. One is of a female between 30-35 years old who died during childbirth. There was no adult coffin available so they broke her legs to bury her. The baby lived to be about four months old and buried on top of her in the same grave. The other bust is of a boy about 15 years old. His back was so deteriorated that he had to be buried on his side in order to fit in the coffin.

In November 2021, I was contacted by a cousin who told me the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society was looking for descendants of Robert Patterson, the only "free person of color" to have worked at the furnace. Initially, we did not think descendants of Robert had any connection to any of the individuals in the unmarked graves, however, our DNA with DNA from those individuals has given us some evidence that proves we are connected to some of them.

Research on Robert Toogood aka Robert Patterson, my fourth great grandfather, is thought to have been "free born" about 1780. As a young man, he became an indentured apprentice learning the blacksmithing trade on the John Ross Key Plantation, Terra Rubra, in Frederick County, Maryland. When his term of servitude expired, he applied and received a certificate of freedom from Frederick County on July 31, 1810. After being freed he moved from Frederick County to Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland, where his son, my third great grandfather was born

Robert Patterson, my third great grandfather, was born in 1811 in Sharpsburg. By 1840, Robert, his wife, Rachael, and their children had located to Frederick County, Maryland, where he became the only "free person of color" to work at the Catoctin Iron Furnace. Over time he purchased land and built a small two room house which is now a part of the Maryland Historical Preservation Program. He was influential in building a school for the African American children in the neighborhood, stood against the mistreatment of the whites against the blacks, and from time to time took care of children not his own. He died in 1895 at the age of 84 in Thurmont, Frederick County, Maryland.

The manumission document for Robert Toogood aka Robert Patterson led us to the family and ancestors of Robert and we now have proof of a connection to many of his ancestors going back to 1660 when one of his multi x's grandmothers, a white woman from Ireland named Mary Molloyd came to America as an indentured servant on the Van Swearington plantation and had a child with another indentured servant on the plantation, a man of color.

DNA has allowed us to verify that we are all connected to the ancestors of Robert Toogood aka Robert Patterson's family although without birth certificates and detailed census records it is hard to put the family together