Adam Green
MSA SC 5496-50839
War of 1812 Refugee, Calvert County, Maryland
Biography:
Adam Green was an enslaved man who was owned by Elizabeth Ballard of Calvert County Maryland. Mrs. Ballard also owned Adam's sisters Sarah, Phillis, Mary, Eve and their children. Adam was the husband of an enslaved woman Matilda who was owned Elizabeth M. McKay, a resident of the county. Adam and Matilda had four children, Levi, Henny, Mary, and Ginney, who were all enslaved by their mother's mistress Mrs. McKay. Adam worked as a plantation hand at the home of Elizabeth Ballard.
In 1814, America was a at war with Britain. In April of that year, British Admiral Alexander Cochrane issued a proclamation offering immediate emancipation to any person willing to take up arms with the British military or to those who wished to resettle in a British territory. Adam Green was one of many slaves who accepted Admiral Cochrane's offer. Adam along with his sisters husband, Charles Stewart, was able to escape from Elizabeth Ballard in June of 1814. Adam and Charles, accompanied by British soldiers, returned to the home of Elizabeth Ballard at 10 pm to retrieve their family members from the slave quarters. They returned again at 3:00 am to retrieve Adam's niece Eliza from Elizabeth Ballard's dwelling house. Adam and Charles who were armed, with the help of British soldiers in the Royal Marines, were able to secure the successful escape of their family. Among the family members who escaped to freedom were his wife and children as well as his sisters and their children. The British vessels carried Adam Green and his family to Nova Scotia.
After the war ended slaveholders
in Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Louisiana filed claims in the
Department of State seeking compensation for the loss of their slaves.
Levin W. Ballard, the son of Elizabeth Ballard submitted a claim on
behalf of himself and his mother for the loss of their
slaves. Adam who was 25 years of age at the time he escaped was
valued at $500. Joseph Reynolds, a resident of Lower Marlboro who was
taken prisoner on board the British ship Loire, gave a deposition that
he saw Adam and Charles with several women and children being received
onto the barge. Mary Hodgkin another resident of Calvert County gave
information regarding the surnames and family connections of the
slaves. Elizabeth Ballard was compensated $280 for each of her slaves
that fled to the British.
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