John Stokes (b. 1811 -
d.?)
MSA SC 5496-002968
Fled from Slavery, Caroline County, Maryland, 1849
Biography:
John Stokes fled from his owner, David Knotts, on September 1, 1849. Stokes had been passed down to Knotts by his father of the same name, who died in 1827. At that point, John was 16 years old and appraised at $200, making the most highly valued of five slaves in the inventory.1 Stokes would have been in his late 30's when he escaped, but there is no evidence of the familial or community connections that might have influenced his decision to flee. Knotts does not appear to have placed a runaway advertisement in the local newspapers. However, it is clear that his former owner was quite zealous in his effort to make someone pay for his loss. Over a year and a half later, a free black man named Isaac Gibson would be given 3 years in prison for allegedly aiding the slave's flight.2 Gibson was later pardoned based on his solid reputation within the community, and the questionable motives of the state's witnesses in the case.3
Unfortunately, none of these
developments revealed
any definitive information about Stokes' whereabouts or the method of
escape.
He may be the John W. Stokes, a 40 year old "cake seller" that appears
in the 1850 Census, living in Philadelphia.4
This African-American man and
his wife Caroline are both listed as having been born in Maryland,
while
their daughter Sarah was born in Pennsylvania.
Footnotes -
1. CAROLINE COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Inventories), 1827-1834, p. 408-9.
2. "Caroline County Court Adjourned," Baltimore Sun,19 March, 1851.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2011.
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