Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Spencer Waters
MSA SC 5496-1525
Fled from slavery, Somerset County, Maryland,

Biography:

Spencer Waters was imprisoned as a runaway on July 19, 1844 in the Kent County jail.1 He was committed to the jail by William Camp, a Justice of the Peace. Waters stated that he had been a slave in Somerset County, where he belonged to Doctor Thomas Robinson. Waters also claimed that he was a free man and the records of Somerset County would show that Robinson had manumitted him. There are no manumissions by Thomas Robinson nor any record of a Doctor Thomas Robinson in the records of Somerset County. No record has yet been found of a manumission of Spencer Waters, although it is possible that Waters and Robinson had a verbal agreement that was never officially recorded.

Prior to his imprisonment, Waters was living with and working for William and George Gardiner in Fells Point, Baltimore. William and George Gardiner were shipbuilders from 1835 at the latest, and were active until at least 1852. In 1852 they were the first to build a three-decked ship in Baltimore, and it was "truly a noble looking vessel."2 It is unknown why Waters decided to leave his work in Fells Point to return to the Eastern Shore.

William H. Blackiston, the Sheriff of Kent County advertised that Waters was being held in the Kent County jail. Although Waters insisted that he was free and the records of Somerset County would show him to be so, the notice written by the sheriff asked the owner to come forward "or else he will be discharged according to law." The commital notice in the Easton Star described Waters as having "a light complexion, about 5 feet 5 1/2 inches high... has a scar on the left cheek, and one on the back of the right hand," he was wearing "blue cassinett pantaloons, blue muslin shirt, black wool hat, also had in his possession a pair of white cotton pantaloons." It is unknown if Waters was ultimately claimed by an owner or what his fate was after being imprisoned in the Kent County jail.

1. "Runaway Negro." Easton Star. July 30, 1844.

2. "Local Matters." Baltimore Sun. August 31, 1852.

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