Sebastian Hammond, known as Boss Hammond, was an African American gravestone carver who created master works in eastern Frederick and western Carroll counties from the 1830s into the 1850s. He is one of the earliest documented African American craftsmen in central Maryland. Hammond, born a slave, was around age 30 when he was bought by Col. Thomas Hammond. As Thomas Hammond’s slave from 1830-1839, Boss Hammond produced dozens of gravestones during what seems to have been his most productive period. He was able to buy his freedom and that of his wife and eleven children. He stopped carving gravestones around 1860, but lived in the area until his death in 1893. Hammond’s work is distinguished by bold, deeply-carved lettering embellished with graceful calligraphic motifs cut into the local dark metabasalt. In this paper I will examine the evolution of Hammond’s unique style of carving, comparing the variations in his style produced for individual families. I will place his work in the context of contemporary stone carving in the area, and examine the work of a local carver who may have taught Hammond.
About the presenterNancy Nelson Kurtz
Nancy Kurtz is National Register Coordinator with the Maryland Historical Trust, the state historic preservation office. She serves on the Governor’s Commission on Maryland Military Monuments, which sponsors conservation treatment for monuments in need of preservation and provides an ongoing conservation maintenance program. She coordinates the Maryland roadside historical marker program and provides technical assistance on cemetery preservation issues. Ms. Kurtz holds a BA degree from University of Maryland, College Park, and a Master’s degree in ceramics from the Columbia Visual Arts College.