Hays-Heighe House

The Underground Railroad

1860 Freedom Seekers Story key to Harford Sites Addition to Historic Register
JAN 9, 2015  |  By permission: The Baltimore Sun

The Hays-Heighe House is the first place in Harford County to be put on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. 

A part of the National Park Service, the Network to Freedom National Underground Railroad program was implemented “to coordinate preservation and education efforts nationwide and integrate local historical places, museums and interpretive programs associated with the Underground Railroad into a mosaic of community, regional, and national stories,” according to its website. 

While doing research for the exhibition “Faces of Freedom: The Upper Chesapeake, Maryland and Beyond,” which commemorated the 150th anniversary of the adoption of the Maryland Constitution of 1864 that ended slavery in the state, Hays-Heighe House coordinator Iris Leigh Barnes discovered that Sam Archer, an enslaved person living on the property, successfully escaped in 1860. Archer’s story was one of several local stories narrated in the exhibition. Sites with connections to  documented freedom seekers can apply for inclusion on the Network to Freedom, and it is on this basis that the Hays-Heighe House was accepted. 

Archer’s escape from his “so-called owner, Thomas Hays,” is documented in a major source about freedom seekers, “The Underground Railroad” by William Still. 

First published in 1872, Still’s book documents freedom seekers from the Delmarva region and beyond. It includes an account of nine freedom seekers from Maryland who sought help in 1860. One of these men was Sam Archer. 

Still published Archer’s story as follows: “Sam Archer was to ‘become free at thirty-five years of age.’ He had already served thirty years of this time; five years longer seemed an age to him. The dangers from other sources presented also a frightful aspect. Sam had seen too many who had stood exactly in the same relations to Slavery and freedom, and not a few were held over their time, or cheated out of their freedom altogether. He stated that his own mother was ‘kept over her time,’ simply ‘that her master might get all her children.’ Two boys and two girls were thus gained, and were slaves for life. These facts tended to increase Sam’s desire to get away before his time was out; he, therefore, decided to get off via the Underground Rail Road. He grew very tired of Bell Air, Harford County, Maryland, and his so-called owner, Thomas Hayes. He said that Hayes had used him ‘rough,’ and he was ‘tired of rough treatment.’ So when he got his plans arranged, one morning when he was expected to go forth to an unrequited day’s labor, he could not be found. Doubtless, his excited master thought Sam a great thief, to take himself away in the manner that he did, but Sam was not concerned on this point; all that concerned him was as to how he could get to Canada the safest and the quickest. When he reached the Philadelphia station, he felt that the day dawned, his joy was full, despite the Fugitive Slave Law.” 

It is not known whether Sam Archer reached Canada, which he told Still was his intended destination. It is not certain if he joined the ranks of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) and fought in the Civil War. According to the National Park Service’s database, All U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865, there were two Sam Archers who joined the USCT – one in the 65th Regiment and the other in the 67th Regiment.

About Sam Archer

The Hays-Heighe House has a significant connection to the Underground Railroad through the story of “Sam” Archer, an enslaved man who escaped from Thomas Hays in 1860. After reaching Pennsylvania, Sam shared his experience with the Hays family, which was later documented by abolitionist William Still in his influential book, The Underground Railroad.

The history of the Hays-Heighe House begins with Archer Hays, the original owner of Prospect Hill Farm, the current site of Harford Community College. In 1808, Archer, a successful and wealthy farmer, built the main family home, now known as the Hays-Heighe House. Among his property holdings were enslaved Africans, whom he regarded as personal property. When Archer passed away, his eldest son, Thomas Archer Hays Sr., inherited both the farm and several enslaved individuals. Thomas, a prominent lawyer and business owner, was later referred to as the “father of Bel Air,” the county seat of Harford County.

Sam Archer, one of those enslaved by the Hays family, was supposed to be granted freedom at the age of 35. However, having already served 30 years, Sam feared he might be denied his promised freedom, as he had seen others cheated out of their liberty. He recalled how his own mother was kept in bondage past her time so her master could claim ownership of her children, two boys and two girls, who were enslaved for life. These injustices heightened Sam’s determination to escape. Frustrated by the rough treatment from Thomas Hays and weary of life in Bel Air, Sam devised a plan. One morning, instead of heading out for another day of forced labor, Sam disappeared, setting off on his journey along the Underground Railroad, with Canada as his ultimate destination. While his enraged master likely considered him a thief for taking himself away, Sam’s sole concern was finding the safest and fastest route to freedom.