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Collections - African American
The Calvert County Slaves and the War of 1812
During the War of 1812, British ships sailed the waters surrounding
Calvert County and troops invaded the land destroying or seizing property.
British Admiral Alexander Cochrane issued a proclamation promising freedom
and relocation to the enslaved people. Those who left Calvert County were
taken to Nova Scotia, Canada or Caribbean islands.
The War officially
ended in 1815 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. Hostilities ceased
and the British agreed to pay reparations for the damaged property and
escaped slaves. Official lists were provided and used by Americans as proof
of loss. Between 1821 – 1828, sixty-nine property owners in Calvert County
made claims for 273 escaped slaves. Affidavits were submitted to John Quincy
Adams, the Secretary of State under President James Monroe.
The
original handwritten claims are housed at the National Archives and Records
Administration in College Park, Maryland. (RG 76, Case Files Ca. 1814-28).
The Maryland State Archives has scanned these records and posted them on
their website under the “Legacy of Slavery in Maryland”. (http://slavery.msa.maryland.gov/
).
Transcriptions of these claims (listed below alphabetically)
were accomplished by Catherine Couchman, member of the Bayside History
Museum.
Avis, David Sr
Ballard,
Elizabeth
Ballard, Levin
Billingsley,
Thomas
Blake,
Mary
Bond,
John T
Bourne, James E
Bourne, James I
Bowen, Isaac
Bowen, Perigrine
Brooke, John J
Broome, Alexander
Broome, John
Chew, John
Colberth, Hezekiah
Cook, Thomas
Cox, Sarah
Dare, Ann
Dare, John
Dawkins, William C
Denton, James
Duke, James Sr
Fitzhugh, John
Freeland, Jacob
Gantt, Edward
Gantt, Elizabeth
Gantt, Thomas C
Gray, John M
Hall, Richard T.
Hance, Benjamin
Harris, William
Hellen, Rebecca
Hungerford, Elizabeth
Hungerford, Thomas
Ireland, John C
Jenkins, John M
King, Thomas E
Mackall, Ann
Mackall, Benjamin H
Mackall, John G
McKay, Elizabeth
Morgan, Jonathan
Parran, Jane
Rawlings, Susannah
Rawlings. Isaac
Rawlings. Juliet
Reynolds, Thomas
Sedwick, Sarah Rawlings
Skinner, Alexander
Sollers, Ann
Sollers, James
Somerville, William A
Taney, Michael
Taylor, James M
Tucker, John
Tucker, John and Taylor, James
Turner, Samuel
Ward, William
Wells, Walter
Whittington, William
Wilkinson, George
Williams, Benjamin
Wilson, Martha
Wood, John |
