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Author Don Singleton discusses Long Hill plantation history on Renegade Riders
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Summary
Author Don Singleton describes 12 years living at Long Hill, archival research that separated myth from documented history, the plantation's lineage and tobacco-era economy, and the tentative sale of the 400-acre property to the state for use as a park.
Pamela Andrews interviewed author Don Singleton on the Renegade Riders program about his new book, Colonial Long Hill: A History of the DeShield Plantation. Singleton, who lived on the property for 12 years, said his work drew heavily on records at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, the Maryland Historical Society and regional libraries, plus microfilm collections at Salisbury University’s NAB Center.
Singleton said Long Hill is a colonial-era plantation and ‘‘probably the best kept secret in the county,’’ and described how he traced ownership through the DeShield/Stewart and Hanbury families. He said James DeShield — an early owner who received large land grants under Lord Baltimore — ranked among the wealthiest residents of Somerset County, but ‘‘most of that wealth was land, livestock and slaves,’’ with few household comforts recorded in inventories.
The author said some local stories about the property did not hold up to documentary scrutiny. He cited, as an example, an oft-told claim that British forces sailed up Tippewin Creek during the Revolutionary War and riddled the house with bullets; Singleton said he found no archival evidence of such an assault and omitted unverified myths from his book.
Singleton described Long Hill’s landscape and architecture, including a cluster of buildings restored to evoke a colonial village and an ‘‘1800 House’’ reconstructed from an outbuilding. He said the property’s creek access supported tobacco shipping in the 18th century and that repeated tobacco cultivation exhausted soil quality over time.
On the property’s future, Singleton said a February sale to the state of Maryland was announced for $3,300,000 and that the tract — about 400 acres including additional parcels the Grahams purchased — is expected to become a state park tentatively named Tippin Creek State Park, though he said the state had not yet closed on the purchase and he had not received a response from the Department of Natural Resources about access for filming. He described possible public uses such as guided tours of the main house, agricultural demonstration plots, trails, camping and water access for kayaking.
The interview included accounts of Singleton’s archival trips, a visit to the DeShield family’s ancestral chateau near Lyon, France, and reflections on the restoration work that preserved original features. The program concluded with Andrews thanking Singleton and noting the episode was part of a series spotlighting local authors.
