Linden-Lyttonsville Museum

LL-001

Simeon DeLoatch

Faded sepia photograph of Simeon DeLoatch standing in a grassy yard between his two harnessed horses, holding their leads. He wears a brimmed hat, vest, and work trousers. A white picket fence runs along the right, with tall trees overhead.
Simeon DeLoatch tends his property with his horses, reflecting Lyttonsville’s rural origins. Founded by free Black landowners in 1853, the community was rooted in self-sufficiency and the land.

Photo details

Title
Simeon DeLoatch
Display ID
LL-001
Date
ca. early 1900s
Collection
Charlotte Coffield

Listen

The audio is a spoken reading of the summary below.

About this photo

Simeon DeLoatch tends his property with his horses in this photograph from the early 1900s, a living picture of Lyttonsville’s rural origins. His name is one of the few attached to a photograph from this era. Simeon is the first of five generations of the DeLoatch/Coffield family in this community. He is the grandfather of Gwendolyn Coffield, for whom the local community center is named. The community was founded in 1853 by free Black landowners, and for generations self-sufficiency meant working the land: keeping horses, raising crops, and building homesteads that families held onto for decades. Simeon is shown in this scene in the open fields at the edge of a growing county which would be transformed within a generation.