From the Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society: Potential Case Studies

I’ve expanded my record stripping to include all five counties (Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot) of the Eastern Shore that are covered in the U.S. Department of Education grant. Interesting individuals that I’ve encountered so far and are potential case studies:

-         Samuel Harrison, a wealthy landowner and slave owner in Talbot County, who manumitted over 100 slaves (most gradually) in his will. Many of the manumitted slaves were over the age of 45 and some were disabled, two conditions that  outlawed manumission.

-         A couple of cases of freed slaves whose manumissions were conditional on their emigrating to Liberia. I need to dig deeper, but it does not appear as if these particular people emigrated despite this condition.

-         Ebenezer Welch, a slave owner in Kent County, freed his “negro children” in his will.

-         James A. Jones, an African American butcher from Kent County and a delegate to the 1852 Colored Colonization Convention, who was pro-emigration but did not emigrate.

I’ve found many heartbreaking cases but the case of the boy Asbury is particularly sad because poor records management was the cause. Robert Butler of Queen Anne’s County gradually freed his slaves in his will, stating the date that each was to be free. However, in the case of Asbury, Butler’s will was torn in the space that specified Asbury’s term of service, leaving it as 18?7.

As a result:

Transcription: “Note: The Administrator feels himself at a loss to know the exact time of service of Negro Asbury, last the will of the testator was so badly defaced and torn that the figure between 8 and 7 was entirely obliterated and he has substituted the figure six as the most probable.”

The administrator may have guessed correctly, or may even have shortened Asbury’s term of service. Yet, it is unfortunate that his time in servitude had to be decided so arbitrarily due to a hole in paper.*

* Maryland State Archives Special Collections (Maryland State Colonization Society Papers) Extract of the will of Robert Butler,1834. MSA SC 5977, Reel 13249 p. 19. (http://mdhistory.net/msa_sc5977/scm013249/pdf/msa_sc5977_scm13249-0019.pdf)

Historical Adventures in Baltimore

Last week’s highlights were attending a lecture by local African American historian and genealogist, Agnes Kane Callum, and an all-day unconference called Bmore Historic.

Mrs. Agnes Kane Callum (in the center of the photo to the left) attended Morgan State University after being out of school for 28 years. She wrote one of her term papers about freed blacks of St. Mary’s County, Maryland, an experience which uncovered a wealth of information about her own family’s history. This spurred her to do additional genealogical research, tracing parts of her family tree to the 17th century. Mrs. Callum also earned a master’s degree from Morgan State and was a Fulbright-Hayes Fellow at the University of Ghana. She has published more than 25 books on African American history and genealogy, some of which are in the reference collection of the Maryland State Archives’ library. Her historical research of enslaved at the Sotterley Plantation helped save the historic site ruin. It was a pleasure to meet her and to see how much a dedicated local historian can contribute to knowledge of the past.

I finished the week by attending the Bmore Historic unconference at the Maryland Historical Society. It was a great way for public historians, librarians, historic re-enactors, museum staff, historic preservationists, and community developers to exchange information and form collaborations. In the morning, I attended a session on marketing woes and learned of some great ideas and resources for reaching local audiences. During lunch, some attendees gave “lightening talks” of less than 3 minutes about their current projects. I led an afternoon session on social media and received some great advice about formulating policies and tapping into interested audiences. 

Washington Monument

Mt. Vernon, Baltimore

To end the day, I went on a walking tour of the nearby historic district of Mt. Vernon. The neighborhood of Mt. Vernon erected one of the nation’s earliest memorials to George Washington (hence the name of Mt. Vernon). During the nineteenth century, Mt. Vernon was the neighborhood of choice for elite, white Baltimoreans. The home interiors were similar to those of robber barons and gilded age industrialists in New York and Newport, RI. We also stopped inside the beautiful Peabody Library (pictured, right).

It was a great week and I learned a great deal about Baltimore and Maryland history.