William J. Berry (b. 1811 - d. 1867)
MSA SC 5496-10197
Slave Owner, Prince George's County, Maryland
Biography:
William Jeremiah Berry was a planter in the Queen Anne’s District of Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 1835, Berry married Sarah Eliza Clagett, and together they had four children: Sarah, Jeremiah, William, and Lucy. At the time of the 1850 census, Berry’s mother, Sarah Clagett Berry, was living in their household.
Berry was born into a prominent antebellum Maryland family. His wife and mother were both of the Clagett clan, another well-known Maryland family at the time. Thus, Berry earned the reputation of being one of the wealthiest planters in Prince George’s County. His riches were evident in his valuable plantation land, numerous slaves, and expansive personal possessions. The 1850 Assessment Record, which lists the value of each aspect of a person’s property, names two large plantations amongst his real estate holdings, Chelsea and Bowieville. Berry had purchased Bowieville from Mary Bowie, a descendant of Robert Bowie, a former governor of Maryland. Altogether, these two properties totaled over twelve hundred acres in size, and were worth more than forty-eight thousand dollars, an incredible sum for that time period. He also held hundreds of dollars worth of furniture, silverware, gold and silver watches, and other household luxuries. His riches endured throughout his lifetime and beyond, as he bequeathed each of his plantations to each of his sons upon his death, Bowieville to Jeremiah and Chelsea to William
It is difficult to know exactly how many slaves Berry owned at any one time; slave turnover occurred frequently in the form of sales, births, deaths, and runaways. However, it’s almost certain that at any one point around the year 1850, Berry owned over fifty slaves, and valued them at no less than $8,385; however, they were likely worth much more.
On April 27, 1850, one of Berry’s male slaves, David Green, escaped from one of his plantations, which were both located near Upper Marlborough. Berry ran an advertisement in the Baltimore Sun offering a reward of up to one hundred dollars for his return. It is not clear whether Green succeeded in his escape, but there is evidence that suggests he was recaptured. Near the conclusion of the Civil War, the Constitution of 1864 abolished slavery in Maryland. The General Assembly, hoping the government would compensate former slave owners for their loss, compiled a registry of “Freedom Records,” which kept track of slaves owned through November 1864 that were manumitted by their owners. The Freedom Records for Prince George’s County list a David Green freed by a William J. Berry in the Queen Anne’s District of Prince George’s County. Thus, it is probable that Green was recaptured, but fortunately, he did eventually gain his freedom.
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