Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Benjamin Phillips (b. circa ? - d. circa ?)
MSA SC 5496-050777
War of 1812 Claimant, Dorchester County, Maryland, 1828

Biography:

Benjamin Phillips was a property owner who lived at Fishing Creek, Dorchester County, Maryland. Fishing Creek divided Hooper’s Island from Meeking’s Neck.  Phillips married Jemima Kirwan October 10, 1787. Benjamin and Jemima Phillips had the following children, Solomon, Benjamin, Peggy, Thomas, and Eliza Ann. Phillips owned property in Dorchester County, which included land and enslaved people. Phillips property included a tract of land called Phillips Chance. In 1800, Phillips owned one enslaved person. Ten years later when the 1810 Census was recorded he owned three enslaved people. That number would grow to include two more slaves by 1814, bringing Phillips' total enslaved property to five individuals.

During the War of 1812 five slaves, comprised of a husband and wife and their three children, escaped from Benjamin Phillips. The slaves, Jerry, his wife Martha, and their children Joseph, Mary, and Jerry fled to the British using a canoe belonging to Captain John Parker, a resident of Dorchester County. Phillips neighbor Thomas Wallace also lost an enslaved person during the war. When the war came to an end, after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Phillip’s enslaved people were never seen or heard from again.

Following the war Benjamin Phillips filed a claim for his five slaves with B. L. Lear an agent who submitted the evidence to the Department of State. Maryland slave owners were awarded $280 for each slave they lost during the war. Having submitted sufficient evidence in the form of depositions from individuals who were well acquainted with his slaves, Benjamin Phillips was awarded $1400. Depositions were given by Charles Aron, Henry Parker, Matthew Wallace, Elias Parker, and Captain John Parker. All of the men made an oath that they knew the escaped slaves and what they were valued at. According to Phillips claim and the depositions within the claim, his enslaved property were valued as follows, Jerry age 27 or 28 was worth $350, Martha age 23 was worth $250, and the three enslaved children Joseph age 6, Mary age 5, and Jerry age 2, were valuated at $200 or less. The total value of Phillips slaves was $1075. He eventually profited from the loss of his slaves when he was awarded $1400.

In 1817, Benjamin Phillips sold some of his real and personal property. Phillips sold land to his son Benjamin Phillips, Jr. for the sum of $200. The elder Phillips sold the lot of ground where he lived called Tuckers Discovery and a tract of land called Phillips Chance. He also sold land to Levin Phillips and Thomas Phillips. Levin Phillips purchased the north part of a parcel of land called Phillips Chance for the sum of $200. Thomas Phillips purchased one half of Phillips Chance for the sum of $200. Jemima Phillips, wife of Benjamin Phillips, acknowledged that she approved of the sales of land to the three men. In another transaction Phillips sold household items and livestock to Nancy and Eliza Ann Phillips for the sum of $100. Nancy Phillips purchased all of Benjamin Phillips household furniture, including two beds, a mare named Piggon, and eight heads of sheep. Eliza Ann Phillips was sold a yoke of steer and eight heads of sheep. 


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