Experts Digging In Maryland Have Finally Solved An Enduring Mystery About Harriet Tubman

Deep in the woods of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, a diminutive woman struggles through the hostile terrain. Following in her footsteps is a stream of escaped slaves making a desperate bid for freedom and liberty in the north. Two centuries later, the story of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad is well known. But one mystery has endured across the years.

Buried beneath the marsh

Now, thanks to the work of a Maryland archaeologist and her team, that mystery has finally been solved. Since 2020 Julie Schablitsky has been investigating a tract of land operating as a reserve by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And she’s found something incredible buried beneath the marsh.

A hazy history

So what exactly did Schablitsky and her colleagues unearth at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge? And what can it tell us about the life of one of America’s most famous abolitionists? For years, Tubman’s role in history has been taught in colleges and schools — but one aspect of her story has remained curiously obscured.

Delving into the past

By delving into the marshy forests of Tubman’s home county, though, Schablitsky has managed to uncover more of the American heroine’s past. And what she’s discovered provides a fascinating insight into the woman who led scores of slaves to freedom. At last, the truth about the former slave’s early years has been revealed.

Early struggles

The daughter of Ben Ross, an Underground Railroad conductor, and his wife Rit, Tubman was born into a life of slavery. And back then, even marriage wasn’t a guarantee that African-American families could stay together. When she was just six years old, Harriet was sent away to work in a stranger’s home.