Boston Man Uncovers Ancestor’s Freedom Papers While Cleaning Out Mom’s Maryland Home

Aaron Haynes used the freedom papers to learn more about his long-lost relative.

Boston resident Aaron Haynes used the discovery of long-lost freedom papers to reveal more about his family history.

Haynes is the descendant of freed man Samuel Jones, whose own identity as a freed Black man was concealed for generations until Hayes discovered Jones’ freedom papers after cleaning out his mother’s home in Anne Arundel, Maryland, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“And I opened it up and looked at it and was very confused as to what this might be,” he told WCVB. “And she said, ‘That’s your ancestor’s freedom papers.’ And I said, ‘Hold on!'”

The discovery led Haynes to learn more about his ancestor’s life. When he returned to Boston, he visited a library within American Ancestors. With the help of conservator Todd Pattison, Haynes confirmed the legitimacy of the document

“Generally, we don’t have as much material from more marginalized people, from people that didn’t have access to collections and weren’t collected by institutions,” said Pattison. “I think there has been a bias in institutional collecting that we collect, you know, Founding Fathers materials, and we collect wealthy people because we have historically tried to tell that story.”

The actual document was produced in 1834. The text itself states that Jones was 21 years old when he signed the crucial paper., which declares he was born and raised a free man in a Maryland county.

“Knowing that, probably I’m here because he did this step,” said Haynes. “Just a feeling of being grateful of what I have and feeling grateful for what my family has been through and knowing that through these trials and tribulations we can just overcome any obstacle.”

His family passed down the treasured paper unknowingly for years.

“I haven’t realized just how much it just weighs in on just the history of not just my family but of this country itself,” said Haynes. “And what it means to be just as an African American man, knowing that I have a relative’s freedom papers.”

Now, Haynes hopes that others can find these keepsakes that remain a testimony to Black American history.