Tuckahoe River Trip - Bishop A. W. Wayman Memorial Tour

A.W. Wayman was born on the east side of the Tuckahoe River, in Caroline County, almost directly across the river from the birthplace of Frederick Douglass.  Douglass was born a slave on the Aaron Anthony farm in Talbot County three years before Wayman.

The Waymans of Tuckahoe Neck were acquainted with Bamberry Murray and his daughter, Anna, who later married Frederick Douglass.  Anna Murray visited the Waymans to help with household and children while Mrs. Wayman was away at camp meetings. 

A brother of Douglass was a church classmate of Wayman's in Tuckahoe Neck in the 1830s.   In 1865, Bishop Wayman became reacquainted with this classmate in Rochester, New York. Wayman recalled, “He and his wife were sold South long before the war. When they got free they found their way to Rochester, New York.  Mr. [Frederick] Douglass built them a house on his land. There this brother and his family were living; they soon got tired of that cold country, and returned home to Maryland.  Soon his wife died, and his own health became poor. Mr. [Frederick] Douglass went down to Eastern Shore, and brought his brother to Washington, D. C., where he now resides."

Wayman probably did not meet Douglass until both had achieved notoriety in the North and worked for the abolition of slavery and education of free blacks. Wayman considered Douglass a friend as well as a colleague in the cause African-American rights.   Another A.M.E. bishop, Levi Coppin, called Douglass and Wayman two of the “bright lights” of African-American causes.