The eight hundred and twelth volume of the Archives of Maryland Online was originally created between 1867-1868. The Archives of Maryland edition was published in 2009 by the Maryland State Archives.

In a law passed in 1867 the General Assembly complained that "under the Military of the United States, a large number of slaves owing service to loyal citizens of Maryland, were induced to leave their owners and enlist in the military service of the United States." The lawmakers pointed out that Marylanders had received "no compensation for their inconveniences, public and private" (1867 Laws of Maryland Chapter 189). Hoping that the federal government would repay the state's loyalty and compensate its citizens for the chattels lost, the General Assembly ordered that a listing be made of all slave owners and their slaves as of November 1, 1864.

The federal government never compensated the owners, but these records, called Slave Statistics, are the only evidence available of slaves and owners at the time of state emancipation. Besides the names of owners and slaves, the lists include the age, sex, physical condition and term of servitude for each slave. The schedules also indicate those slaves who enlisted in the Union Army, and sometimes give the regiment in which the slave enlisted.