Gabe Gross (b. circa 1812 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51066
War of 1812 Refugee, Calvert County, Maryland
Biography:
Gabe Gross was the 15 month son of Daniel and Betty Gross. Gabe and his parents were the enslaved property of John Wood of Calvert County, Maryland. Gabriel was the youngest child of Daniel and Betty and had two older siblings Sampson and London. In the summer of 1814, three armed men from the British fleet came to the home of John Wood were Gabe and his family were being hidden. The British soldiers demanded that Wood's slaves be turned over and swore that "if they were not delivered to them immediately they would blow the house to hell in a moment." Gabe and his family were carried away and taken aboard a barge which carried them to the British fleet lying in the Patuxent River. Gabe Gross and his family were taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia where they settled.
Following the war, slave owners from Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Louisiana submitted claims to the Department of State to recieve compensation for the loss of their property. Maryland claims were for enslaved people, destroyed property, tobacco, livestock, and household items. John Wood filed a claim in 1828 to be compensated for the loss of his slaves. Maryland slave owners were paid $280 per slave that they lost to the British during the War of 1812. John Wood received $1400 for the loss of his five slaves.
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