George W. Hilleary (b. 1803 - d. 1863)
MSA SC 5496-2926
Slave Owner, Prince George's County, Maryland
Biography:
George W. Hilleary was a slave owner in Prince George’s County during the antebellum period. He was born in 1803 to George and Sarah Smith Hilleary of Prince George’s County. After his father died in 1815, George W., who was twelve at the time, and his brother, Henry, received joint ownership of Moore’s Plains, the family plantation in the Marlborough District of Prince George’s County. The brothers held this property jointly until 1839, when Henry and his wife, Matilda sold their share to George. George and Henry remained close throughout their lives as George provided for his nieces and nephews because of Henry’s chronic illness.
George married Rebecca Magruder, the daughter of Samuel and Anne Hilleary Magruder, on January 10, 1826. George and Rebecca did not have any children. Rebecca’s mother, Ann, lived with the couple after her husband’s death as was confirmed by the 1850 census. Louisa Ann Magruder Wilson, Rebecca’s niece, also lived in the household. Rebecca died at the age of forty-eight on July 26, 1854. Ann moved in with Matilda Hilleary, who was both her daughter and Henry Hilleary’s wife, while Louisa continued to live with George. George married Harriet Clotilda Gwynn on August 20, 1855, a couple of months after Ann Magruder died. George and Harriet did not have any children.
George W. Hilleary, however, was known more for his wealth than for his complicated family ties. The 1850 census values his real estate at 21,145 dollars. By 1860, his real estate was valued at 40,000 dollars and his personal estate at 45,000. According to the 1850 slave schedule, Hilleary owned 42 slaves. This number surely increased as he became wealthier.
Hilleary also had many slaves run away from Moore’s Plains before abolition. Fortunately for historians, Hilleary left behind evidence of his life as a slave owner. There are runaway advertisements that he took out in newspapers and the inventory of his estate after his death that lists the values of his slaves by name and slaves who had “absconded up to 1st June 1863.” From these sources, it is possible to piece together which slaves were still fugitives, which slaves ran away but were caught, which runaway slaves were not owned by Hilleary at his death and may have been sold out of state, as Maryland law prescribed.
Henny ran away in both June and September of 1846. She was neither owned by Hilleary at his death nor listed as a fugitive, leading to the conclusion that she was sold sometime before 1863. Six of Hilleary’s slaves ran away together on the 21st of August 1848. The group was most likely lead by Dennis Henry, who had previously escaped in May of 1846, possibly spurring Henny’s June attempt. Dennis was sold sometime before 1863. Tippet and Tobias were still fugitives as of Hilleary’s death. Grafton and Davy were both included in Hilleary’s estate. Zadoc was caught and later escaped in July 1858. He does not appear in either list and may have been recaptured and sold.
On October 14, 1863, George W. Hilleary died suddenly, without a will, and without any heirs. He was buried at Moore’s Plains next to his first wife, Rebecca. Harriet, his second wife, later married Benjamin Hall Clark Bowie. She died on January 22, 1928 at the age of 97. Louisa Wilson became a nun in the Order of the Sisters of Mercy in Mt. Washington, Maryland.
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