Notley Young’s Slave Plantation

Map of part of the city of Washington showing the situation of the mansion house, graveyard & buildings belonging to Mr. Notley Young: original proprietor of that part of the city, 1796. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division. https://lccn.loc.gov/88693255

Washington, D.C. is located on the grounds of several former slave plantations, one of which was owned by Notley Young. He was the son of Benjamin Young, a commissioner of the crown lands and a member of the governor’s council in Prince George’s County, Maryland (now a part of Montgomery) in the 1730s. Notley Young was selected from the county in 1776 to serve on the committee of examination and observation, later known as the Committees of Safety that were authorized by the Continental Congress. In addition to various duties to prepare for the American Revolution, these committees seized trade goods, including enslaved people. Young’s slave plantation bordered the Potomac and was among the lands allotted for public buildings in the nation’s new capital. Site plans (see below) indicate the plantation’s original location and buildings, which included slave quarters, an overseer’s house and graveyards.

References and Further Reading

Henning, George C. “The Mansion and Family of Notley Young.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 16 (1913): 1-24.

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