By Ariyana Griffin
AFRO Staff Writer
agriffin@afro.com
Members of the AFRO American Newspapers and Afro Charities team recently had an inside look at the early life of Martha Howard Murphy, the wife of the publication’s founder, John H. Murphy Sr., and her parents, Enoch and Harriet Howard, by visiting the land where they were enslaved and later owned in Montgomery County, Maryland. The sale of that land provided seed money for the founding of the AFRO.
“It’s pretty amazing to be able to go back that far in history and have the land speak to you,” said Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, great-granddaughter of the newspaper’s founder and current AFRO publisher.
Enoch Howard was an enslaved man until he purchased his freedom on March 1, 1851. He later purchased his wife’s freedom on Sept. 5, 1853, and their four children’s freedom in 1860.
That same year, he began to purchase land that he would use to produce and sell crops, furthering his wealth. Throughout his lifetime land records show him purchasing over 600 acres of land as well as helping others in the Black community purchase land for their families.
Two homes are on the land, one of which is the plantation home of Samuel Gaither, his wife’s enslaver, which Enoch Howard purchased from him. That home, Locust Villa, has since crumbled. However, the home that the Howards built – which Martha inherited and later sold to her brother – is still standing.
Upon his passing, Enoch Howard passed down land to each of his children, including Martha. She sold the land to her brother, which allowed her to give $200 to her husband, John H. Murphy Sr., a formerly enslaved man who was freed by the Maryland Emancipation Act of 1863 and a Civil War veteran.
In today’s society $200 may not get one far but in 1892, it was the key investment to develop what we know now as the AFRO American Newspapers. The $200 allowed John. H Murphy Sr. to purchase a vital piece of equipment, the printing press. The initial loan is worth approximately over $7,000 today.
AFRO team members had the momentous opportunity to take a stroll down the annals of history by planting their feet on the land and walking down the same halls that Martha Howard did.
“I’m looking forward to the time where the public can see this because I don’t know too many families who can really go back that far,” Draper said. “Our history is important. When you know where you’ve come from and you know who you are, then you have a better idea of where you’re going.”
Diane Hocker, AFRO director of community and public relations, shared that the visit was touching. “It’s very emotional, just the whole story and this whole experience,” she said. “It’s almost like I’m seeing my ancestors.”
