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Mary Hill is on a lifelong mission to continue the legacy of her family and the historic village of Hobson.

The activist represents a family of seven generations that helped pioneer the African-American oystering village, originally known as Barrrett’s Neck before being renamed after Lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson. Hill had a chance to talk about the village’s history, the legacy she inherited and the recent declaration of Hobson as an endangered village. Hill says that according to deeds she received from her elders after expressing her desire to become an activist, Hobson’s freedmen had a long existence in the village.

“That gives us an existence of being here since the mid-1800s, but since then, we’ve been able to idefinity that we’ve been here since prior to the civil war. Which, my great-great grandfather, which was one of the freedmen, we were able to identify that his house was built in 1755 here,” Hill said. “…We’ve been here a lot longer than most people give us credit…”

Hill emphasized that despite some oral history and artifacts identifying these freed black families as “enslaved,” they were not treated as such due to their village being a Quaker asylum.

“Everyone knows that Quakers [were] always in opposition against slavery. So even in our original deeds with the Quakers and what we identified as ‘freedmen,’ I guess you got to go along with the program because that’s what was happening in that era – particularly people of color, or black people…,” Hill said.

Her published booklet, “Hobson, Virginia: Once Self Sufficient Still Strives to Survive,” further details that the families were able to purchase the original 13 acres of Hobson with other portions being purchased or deeded to other residents, including other freedmen, forming a thriving community. Hill says that according to the original deeds, Englishman George W. Carter brought over people of color in his migration from England, however, she notes history identifying Carter not treating them as slaves. Carter’s Cove Creek, located in Hobson’s lower village, was also named after Carter.

“Even in our deeds, it’s identified as ‘George W. Carter and others,’ so we’re like, ‘Who are the others?’” she said.

Deciding to become an activist after discovering a “sense of urgency to dispose of the heritage,” deeds were revealed detailing “the others.” This included Hobson individuals such as Richard Crocker, Fernie Hampton, Queenie Joyner and Hill’s own great-great grandfather James Newby. Hill talked about how her family and fellow Hobson’s residents were able to make ends meet with their own gift and talents, which include serving as carpenters, electricians, seamstresses and living off the river as oystermen and fishermen.

“We owned our homes, we owned our land. We were totally self-sufficient and independent living off the river,” she said. “And they were God fearing people. They recognized before they even disturbed the land to build, they would bring the Elders togethers and ask for permission to disturb the land, even until this day.”

Hill says due to men working as oystermen to provide for their families, women and mothers did not have to work. She says that if women wanted to work to support the men, they would help shuck oysters, using an oyster knife to crack open the shell.

“They would go to the oyster house and they would shuck. You could hear them singing miles away, praising God [while] shucking,” she said. “And sometimes, they would have shucking contests to see who can shuck the fastest! And I’ve learned how to shuck.”

Likewise, Hill says that despite black oystermen not receiving equal pay compared to white oystermen, it was still “an industry that we could call our own,” which helped them to build their own homes, schools, churches and restaurants. With her father and fellow oystermen working on the river during rain, sleet, snow and hail, Hill even recounted seeing her father come home with icicles hanging off of his hat. She says the only time she saw them complain was when the toxic insecticide Kepone was dumped into the James River, destroying Hobson’s fishing industry.

“That devastated them, that really devastated them,” Hill said. “Because, you built an industry, right? You did this in such a way that you built your own village, your own home, you have a family now. So now all of a sudden, your industry is taken away from you, how do you feed your family? How do you provide food, clothing and shelter anymore? But because of the God within them, they knew that God would provide.”

Hill also says that while the black watermen were told not to work on the river anymore and find jobs elsewhere, they saw “white watermen still out there working.” Nonetheless, the Hobson villagers continued forward with other ways to make ends meet while also paying taxes to the Virginia Marine Resource Commission.

“So they continued to pay because they always believed that those oysters would come back one day. Not for vanity, but for our survival,” she said. “And so they ended up still finding a job at the shipyard, the meat packing company, or the navy yard or they went in the military if they were eligible to go back into the military, because that was one of the things that they found a part of pride and for progress is that they served their country.”

Hobson alongside Oakland, another historic African-American village, was recently named as part of Preservation Virginia’s 2024 Most Endangered Historic Places List. Hill thanked Preservation Virginia for their acknowledging the village, calling them “a ram in the bush.”

“So with Preservation Virginia and just being persistent, not giving up, and they saw that we were in danger – they saw that for themselves,” she said. “It wasn’t like…they read about it in the paper or they read about me harvesting oysters that all of a sudden, we were endangered. No, they came and they saw it for themselves.”

Following Hill submitting the application, sharing Hobson’s story and consideration amongst all the applicants, the village was selected as one of the most endangered historic places in Virginia. On her mission to preserve the village’s legacy, Hill says that she stands on the shoulders of her elders, including her mother, Community Activist Marie Hill who passed away in 2023 at the age of 102. Hill says she doesn’t want Hobson to “become another Rosewood,” the Black Florida town that was massacred and burned in Jan. 1923. 

“It’s just a baton that was handed to me, it’s just a torch that was handed to me. So I am just carrying it through, and I am not going to live forever. And this baton, I am still going to have to hand to someone that’s coming behind me,” Hill says. “But what I do, and the reason that I do what I do is for what they say – future generations – that I will never know. And it’s not for vanity, it’s for our survival.”