| THE CHITTAMS' |
| Cora Ellen Chitham was freed from slavery in 1864 in Prince George's County, Maryland at the age of three. She had been in servitude to the family of Robert Bowie of Cedar Hill which included his wife Ellen and offspring Cora, Robert W. W. , M, Louise, and Margaret H. Bowie. The 1864 Slave Statistics show that the following slaves were freed by Margaret H. Bowie: Catherine Chitham, age fourty-four, Elizabeth Chitham, sixteen, Edward Chitham, twelve, Francis Chitham, ten and Cora Ellen Chitham, age three. Further, one of the slaves freed by M. Louise Bowie was Charles Chitham, age eighteen. And among the slaves freed by Robert W.W. Bowie was Margaret Chitham, age twenty. The inference is that from the family of Robert Bowie of Cedar Hill were freed Catherine Chitham and her six children from Margaret, age twenty to Cora Ellen age three. Cora Ellen, was the youngest child of Catherine Chitham and the only one whose name appeared in the baptismal records of Acension Church in Bowie, Maryland, however, the date of the baptism was not recorded. By that time, however Cora had been dropped as her first name and she was known as Ellen or Nellie. According to family legend, Ellen was reared by her older sister Margaret after her mother died. Margaret Chitham is remembered in Bowie today as person who had firsthand knowledge of slavery and for having said she had changed hands five times. She lived to the age of seventy-nine when she died of kidney disease. Ellen married Samuel Snowden of Prince George County on April 19, 1883. The marriage was recorded by Rev. James Cotting, a Catholic Priest, on the reverse of a religious icon. Among the children of Samuel and Ellen (Nellie) Snowden were Georgianna, Samuel, and Carrie who was born in 1984. The names of all the children were recorded in a small booklet in Ellen (Nellie) Snowden's own handwriting. |
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