Adam Anthony (b. 1850 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-8007
Fled from slavery, Dorchester County, Maryland, 1857
Biography:
Adam Anthony was one of twenty-eight slaves to escape from the Cambridge District of Dorchester County on October 24, 1857. He was only eight years old at the time, and his parents Kit and Leah were hauling two younger siblings as well. Local planter Samuel Pattison lost the majority of his enslaved work force on a single night. Adam was one of about eleven young children who courageously made the journey from the only homes they had known.1
The news of the escape quickly spread throughout the
Eastern Shore of Maryland. Their profile was much too high to head
directly
to the known accomplices in Wilmington, Delaware. Pattison had already
bought a runaway advertisement, with a $2000 reward for the "fourteen
head of negroes."2 He and the other
fugitives' owners, were also reportedly on the trail of the massive
group. Adam's parents had to guide the children through constant rain
with scant supplies, assuming that plotting enemies could be anywhere.
They were finally able to make it to William Still's
Philadelphia depot in early November.3 Still described their pitiable
condition, "with several of the children sick, some of their feet bare
and worn, and one of the mothers with an infant in her arms, incapable
of partaking of the diet." This infant was his brother Murray, whose
survival must have been seen as a minor miracle. The group, who
were heavily armed for the perilous journey,
even
had a violent encounter with "several Irishmen" in Delaware. One of the
white attackers was severely injured from either a stabbing or bullet
wound
from the determined fugitives.4
Despite his public efforts, and the likelihood that he utilized slave
catchers, Pattison was not able to retrieve any members of the Anthony family.
In fact, nearly all of the Cambridge party was able to successfully
relocate to the growing fugitive community in Canada. The Anthonys
appear in the 1861 Canada Census, where they lived as freemen alongside
many of the same individuals that they had labored with as slaves in
Maryland, including Joseph and Susan Viney.5 Here, Adam's literate father was able to support the transition of
newcomers in his role as secretary of the Fugitive Aid Society of St.
Catharines, established and staffed by Harriet Tubman.6
However, life was difficult in the new country and many succombed to the weather conditions or lack of basic necessities. It seems that Adam's mother Leah was one of these victims as she is no longer documented after 1861. The rest of the family, save for his sister, would move back to the United States shortly after. By 1870, "Morris" was living with his father Kit, stepmother Mary, and brother Robert in Elmira, New York.7 The family was on the move once again in the subsequent decade. An Adam Anthony does appear in the 1880 Census, living in Baltimore.8 Though the age corresponds, there is no definitive evidence that this is the same individual. However, it is known that Adam's brother Murray died that same year, while residing with their father in Philadelphia.9
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2012.
Return to Adam Anthony's Introductory Page
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