Rich Henry Hubbard of James was one of the seven investors in Samuel L. Byrn’s Oakley Farm. In 1875 he loaned Byrn $3300. The loan was secured with a mortgage against Byrn’s Oakley acreage (78 acres at that time). Then, as Byrn continued to sell off his acreage to other investors, he paid Hubbard a portion of the selling prices to get clear title for each sale. Upon Byrn’s death in 1878, Hubbard, as the Oakley mortgage holder, auctioned off what was then a 53-acre farm. We begin the 2024 Oakley Farm posts with what we know about Mr. Hubbard’s life.
In 1803 Henry Hubbard was the first child born to farmer James Henry Hubbard and his wife Amelia Marshall Hubbard. They lived in the Neck District of Dorchester County in a neighborhood called James. James was centered at the intersection of Hudson, Hills Point, and Cassons Neck roads. We have no current population total for James, but a 1940’s Cambridge map estimated it as about 300 people.
As a young man Henry started working on a bay vessel as a cook. Eventually he purchased a bay vessel of his own. We therefor assume that he was a waterman in his early years.
When he was 30 years old, Henry married Ann Applegarth. They lived on one acre on the east edge of Brooks Creek. Two years later he purchased the 75-acre Dail’s Addition farm. Census records from 1840 through the end of his life indicate that Henry continued to live on a farm in the James area and described himself as a farmer. He also acquired many more acres of land in the period leading up to the Civil War. By the eve of the Civil War, he reported on the 1860 census that his property was worth $5000, and that he had a personal estate worth $10,000. So, by 1860 at the age of 57 Henry Hubbard was a moderately successful farmer and waterman.
What a difference a decade makes! Henry Hubbard’s fortunes changed during the 1860’s, specifically during the Civil War. He was hired by the Federal government to transport supplies to Union troops engaged in a standoff with Confederate troops along the Rappahannock River in Virginia. Two facts stand out from this period of Henry’s life. First, he was involved in a risky business. In fact, per the Baltimore Sun, his boat came under fire and was once hit and nearly sunk. Secondly, the risk was high, but the rewards were higher. His transportation of supplies for the Union Army was so lucrative, he became a very wealthy man.
After 1870 we find Henry referred to as “Rich Henry Hubbard of James”. People in Dorchester County added the nickname of “Rich Henry”, but it appears that Henry added “of James” to his title. He is referred to as Henry Hubbard of James in all of his deeds and mortgage documents at the Dorchester County Court House after 1870. In addition to his mortgage on Oakley Farm he became one of the major providers of mortgages in Dorchester County between 1870 and his death in 1885.
As previously mentioned Hubbard lived in James his entire life. In 1815 the Spedden family donated land to build the Spedden M. E. Church at the center of James. This was the church that the Hubbards attended. So, it should not be surprising that when the church members decided to build a new church building on the same site in 1874, Henry Hubbard stepped up and made a big donation to the building fund. However, Henry “requested” that the church name be changed to the Hubbard’s Chapel M. E. Church. The church name was changed per Hubbard’s request. At a later date the church name was changed again. Today the Spedden United Methodist Church can still be found in the center of James.
On October 14, 1885, the Baltimore Sun reported that at the age of 82, “Rich” Henry Hubbard had died at his home on Ross Neck in Dorchester County. The newspapers estimated that he had accumulated property worth over $60,000. That would be equivalent to approximately $2,000,000 today!