Smallwood State Park’s History
The Life of General Smallwood
One of seven children, William Smallwood was born in 1732. Little is known about his upbringing. His family was a member of the emerging colonial-tidewater aristocracy and active in politics. Bayne Smallwood, his father, served as a delegate to the Maryland Assembly, was a justice of the county court, and served as a lieutenant colonel in the local militia. In private life, Bayne Smallwood was a merchant and tobacco planter. He owned a large tract of land, over 4,000 acres, on the Potomac River in Charles County called Mattawoman Plantation.
William Smallwood’s public career began in 1761 when he was elected to the Maryland Assembly. During the decade-and-a-half that he sat in the Assembly, Smallwood gained a reputation for decisive leadership while serving on several influential and important committees. As tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain increased, Smallwood consistently and strongly opposed British policies.
Upon the outbreak of hostilities between the American colonists and Great Britain in 1775, Smallwood took command of the first full-strength Maryland battalion to join the Continental Army. Smallwood's battalion played a key role in the Battle of Long Island on August 26, 1776, and in the Battle of White Plains in October of the same year. Smallwood was promoted to Brigadier General after being wounded at White Plains. Later in the war, Smallwood and his troops helped hold the American armies together after a major defeat at the Battle of Camden, in South Carolina, in August 1780.
Smallwood was also promoted to Major General, the highest rank attained by a Marylander in Continental service.
Following the war, Smallwood returned to his Charles County plantation. In 1785, the state legislature elected him governor. He served in that office until 1788 and played an important role in Maryland's ratification of the Federal Constitution. In 1791, Smallwood was elected to the State Senate and served as the chamber’s presiding officer.
Smallwood was a founder and the first president of the Maryland chapter of the Sons of the Cincinnati, an organization of regular officer veterans. He was also a member of the Alexandria, Virginia, Masonic Lodge and was active in the affairs of Durham Parish Episcopal Church.
Smallwood passed away on February 14, 1792, at 60 years old. He was buried in an unmarked grave, in accordance with his wishes. On July 4, 1898, a monument was erected near the estimated location of his burial, on the slope below his house. William Smallwood never married and died without heirs, which left his nephew to inherit his estate. To satisfy creditors, his nephew subdivided the land but retained ownership of his house and around 1,200 acres of his land until 1868, when it was sold. The house and its surrounding area were primarily occupied by tenant farmers in the late 19th century before being subdivided further and sold off.
Smallwood’s Plantation
William Smallwood’s life coincided with the emergence of the colonial-tidewater aristocracy, whereby wealth and influence were attained by enslaved African-American laborers raising tobacco on large plantations. Smallwood’s “Retreat” house, built in approximately 1760, with its early Federalist-style architectural features, illustrates the tidewater aristocracy’s ascendance.
By 1790, Smallwood possessed 56 enslaved people. Little is known about the enslaved laborers at Smallwood’s Mattawoman Plantation, but most likely lived in separate quarters elsewhere on the property. No structures associated with the property’s enslaved workforce survive. Most enslaved laborers served as field hands, but others were skilled in blacksmithing and carpentry. These workers were indispensable to the operations of the plantation, however, they likely worked and lived in harsh conditions. They could be sold at their owner’s whim and were typically required to perform hard labor from sunrise to sunset, especially during the hottest months of the year.
At peak production, Smallwood likely cultivated about 120 acres of tobacco annually. The remainder of the property was used to grow food such as barley, oats, corn, and wheat, plus raise livestock to feed his family and workforce. Many enslaved laborers likely maintained vegetable gardens.
The Creation of Smallwood State Park
In 1938, a group of Southern Maryland residents formed the Smallwood Foundation, Inc., with the goal of acquiring and restoring Smallwood’s Retreat and the surrounding 10 acres. Evidence of the reconstruction is still visible today; the darker brickwork on the corners of the house highlights how little of the original structure remained when the restoration began. In 1957, the State of Maryland donated to the project, and the Smallwood Foundation proposed transferring ownership of the house and surrounding land to the state. At the time, the state's goal was to incorporate historic landmarks into public parks to boost visitation and public interest. In line with this vision, the state agreed to complete the reconstruction and designated the restored home as the centerpiece of a new state park, named in honor of General William Smallwood himself.
In 1958, one year after the Smallwood State Park was formally created, the Smallwood Foundation, Inc. continued to use its membership funds and donations to furnish the house and landscape the surrounding area. The restored and furnished home now once again reflects the lifestyle of an 18th-century tidewater gentleman.
In the 1980s, a circa-1825 tobacco barn was relocated to the park from a nearby county-owned site to help interpret the important role tobacco culture played in the history of southern Maryland.
