Abraham Lyles (b. circa 1790 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-001564
War of 1812 Escaped Slave, St. Mary's County, Maryland, 1828

Biography:

Abraham Lyles fled his enslavement on Swan Point around September 1814, reaching British ships on the Patuxent River. He escaped with Jacob Murray, Elijah Lyles, George Horner, Delilah Murray, Hannah Lyles, John Chambers and Polly Chambers.¹ All eight refugees were slaves of Arthur T. Jones.

He served in the First Company of the Colonial Marines, along with George Horner. Abraham settled in Trinidad following the war, where the British recorded his name as "Abraham Lyall."²
 

1.     Claim of Arthur T. Jones, Case 731. Case Files, compiled ca. 1827 - ca. 1828, documenting the period ca. 1814 - ca. 1828, *ARC Identifier 1174160 / MLR Number PI 177 190,* National Archives, College Park.

2.     John McNish Weiss, The Merikens: Free Black American Settlers in Trinidad 1815-1816 (London, UK: McNish & Weiss, 2002) 27.
 

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