 According to the 1860 Census, the area around Accokeek had a slave population of 1,600 (52.6%).There were multiple Confederate spies in the area, including Thomas Harbin who open a hotel in the area and had plans to kidnap then-President Abraham Lincoln.Henry and Alice Ferguson settled in Accokeek when they purchased Hard Bargain Farm overlooking the Potomac River in 1922 as a vacation retreat.