Trappe Marks the 159th Nace's Day Nov. 7 With a Worship Service and Parade Honoring ‘Uncle Nace’ Hopkins

TRAPPE, MARYLAND — Trappe holds what the Talbot250 Commission bills as its 159th annual Nace's Day on Saturday, Nov. 7, honoring Nathan "Uncle Nace" Hopkins, whom the commission calls Nathaniel, the formerly enslaved man who led the town's first celebration of Maryland's emancipation in 1867.

The day begins with a 10 a.m. worship service at Scotts United Methodist Church, 3748 Main St., where Minister Eddie Roberts of Church of the King in Easton, a descendant of Hopkins, will preach. The Rev. Charles A. Bell Jr. is host pastor. At 1 p.m., the Nace's Day Parade travels through Trappe with bands, classic cars, civic groups and community participants, according to the Talbot250 Commission's event page. This year's theme is Mapping Our Way Forward.

Maryland abolished slavery when its new constitution took effect Nov. 1, 1864. In 1867, Trappe residents created an annual Emancipation Day, and Hopkins, a former slave, led it, organizing the parade, the meals and the church service at Scotts United Methodist Church, according to his biography in the Maryland State Archives. He led the parade every year until his death on March 23, 1900. After his death the celebration became known as Uncle Nace's Day.

The Archives biography, which calls him Nathan, says two 1864 letters show he enlisted and served; one, written Feb. 15, 1864, by a lieutenant of the 30th Regiment, calls him an enlisted man of the 30th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, on sick leave.