Israel Coleman (b. 1817 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51756
Manumitted Slave, Dorchester County, Maryland

Biography:

Israel Coleman was born a slave in 1817; in 1838 his rightful ownership was contested.

In February 1838, Thomas Layton filed a bill of complaint against William Collison in the Chancery Court. The complaint explained that on April 12, 1830 he pledged his fourteen year old "negro boy" Israel Coleman to Elizabeth Ayres to secure repayment of a $28.47 loan. Ms. Ayres transferred the mortgage to James Layton that same year. Thomas claimed to have repayed the full amount but James' heirs, his daughter Mary and her husband William Collison, had not returned Coleman.¹ The official record of James Layton's last will and testement, and other documents concerning Coleman, Collison, and the Laytons were likely destroyed in the May 9, 1852 courthouse fire.² Because of inconsistent record keeping and this fire, it is difficult to learn more about Coleman during this period. After reading Thomas Layton's petition for Coleman's return, the chancellor of the court ordered Collison to deliver him.³

In 1840, Collison's large household in Vienna District included 21 whites, 9 free persons of color, and five slaves.⁴ For unknown reasons, Coleman remained Collison's slave because on Februrary 15, 1848 he filed a delayed manumission for a 32 year old "Negro Man named Israel" with an emancipation date of December 31, 1855.⁵ On January 29, 1849 Collison superceded that manumission and declared Coleman would be freed on January 1, 1852.⁶ An 1853 Certificate of Freedom record, which states Coleman was freed the same day Collison filed the the second manumission, described Coleman as being "36 years five feet eight inches high, of a dark Complexion with a scar on each hand on or near the first joint of  thumb near the wrist" and was born and raised in Dorchester County.⁷

Some time before 1860, Coleman moved to the city of Cambridge where, according to that year's Federal Census, he apparently rented and maintained his own residence while working as a "Jou[rneyman] Carpenter." As was often the case with former slaves, Coleman was illiterate.⁸

Sources:

1. CHANCERY COURT (Chancery Papers) [S512-9254] 9337 Thomas Layton vs. William Collison, p. 3-4 [MSA SC 4239-5-136]

2. Radoff, Morris, The County Courthouses and Records of Maryland: Part One: The Courthouses (Annapolis: The Hall of Records Commission, State of Maryland, 1860) p. 77-78

3. CHANCERY COURT (Chancery Papers) [S512-9254] 9337 Thomas Layton vs. William Collison, p. 5 [MSA SC 4239-5-136] 

4. Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census, 1840, Dorchester County, Vienna District, Maryland, p. 21
    Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census, 1840, Dorchester County, Vienna District, Maryland, p. 22

5. DORCHESTER COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Chattel Records) 1852-1860, FJH 2 p. 59, William Collison to Negro Israel Coleman 01/04/04/045 [MSA C692-2]

6. DORCHESTER COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Chattel Records) 1852-1860, FJH 2 p. 153, William Collison to Negro Israel Coleman 01/04/04/045 [MSA C692-2]

7. DORCHESTER COUNTY COURT (Certificates of Freedom) 1806-1851, p. 176, Israel Coleman 01/04/04/040 [MSA C689-1]

8. Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census, 1860, Dorchester County, Cambridge District, Maryland, p. 19

Researched and written by Alex Champion, 2013 

 
 
 
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