Bernard Barber, Sr. and Ruth Barber
A family that maintained Sotterley Plantation during Reconstruction and Jim Crow.
Bernard and Ruth Barber were part of two generations of the Barber Family who lived and labored at Sotterley Plantation, St. Mary’s County, Maryland in the 20th century. In 1917, Herbert Satterlee, the plantation owner, had a new house built for Bernard’s parents Walter and Harriet Barber on the grounds of what is now Tranquility Lane.
Bernard was one of their seven children, born to his parents at Sotterley. He attended the Phillis Wheatley School for six years. The Phillis Wheatley School was a one room schoolhouse for African Americans located in Hollywood, Maryland.
Bernard started working at Sotterley as a child. Later, he left St. Mary’s County, but returned in 1934 and married Ruth Sommerville and they raised seven children together. Bernard and Ruth lived in several houses while working on the land owned by the Satterlee’s. Bernard worked as a farm hand, taking care of Satterley’s gardens and grounds. He was responsible for the upkeep of the main house. light carpentry, plumbing and some mechanical work. Bernard was also responsible for letting the sheep out in the morning and returning them at the end of the day. Bernard was a quiet gentleman according to his children. He was always working and was a man of many skills.
Ruth grew up in Hollywood near St. John’s Church, She went to Catholic school and attended Cardinal Gibbons High School in St. Inigoes. Ruth worked as a housekeeper and cook in the main house. She loved housekeeping and sewing. She was interested in furniture, china, crystal, and nature.
Additional Resources
The Barber Family: From Slavery, through Segregation and the Civil Rights Movement – four generations in St. Mary’s County, by Donald M Barber and David G Brown, Printing Press, Inc, 2024. Book.
Chapter Five: Sotterley The Satterlee and Ingalls Restoration, Samuel C. P. Baldwin, Jr. pages 22-26
Knott, Richard, and Shawn Knott. Memories of Sotterley. Hollywood: Richard Knott, 2010.
Brown, David G. Sotterley: Her People and Their Worlds, Three Hundred Years of a Maryland Plantation. Baltimore: Chesapeake Book Company, 2010
