Caleb Clarke Magruder (b. 1808 - d. 1884)
MSA SC 5496-10590
Slave Owner, Prince George's County, Maryland
Biography:
Caleb Clarke Magruder, known as C. C. Magruder, was a slave owner in Prince George’s County during the antebellum period. On July 10, 1808, C. C. Magruder was born to Thomas and Mary Clarke Magruder at Darnall’s Grove in the seventh district of Prince George’s County. Since formal law education had not yet become the norm, C.C. studied law with Judge Gabriel Duvall, the Associate Justice of the United States, near Glendale in Prince George’s County. He continued his law education with John Glenn of Baltimore. On May 28, 1833, Magruder married Mary Sprigg Belt, the daughter of Tobias and Rebecca Beall Belt in a ceremony performed by a Reverend Woodley. The couple had four children; Mary Augusta (born in May 1835), Thomas Belt (1837), Caleb Clarke Jr. (1839), and Edward W. (1840). In May 1843, Mary gave birth to twins, John Marshall and Mary Rebecca. Neither twin survived the summer, John died on June 24th and Mary on July 30th. Thomas and C. C. Jr. attended Georgetown University, where Thomas caught pneumonia and died in 1853, at the age of seventeen. C. C. Jr. graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1858 and received a master’s degree in 1861. Mary Augusta married Peter Hansbrough Hooe.
Mary Belt Magruder died in 1845 at the age of 33. C. C. Magruder remarried on June 3, 1847 to Sallie Beanes Waring, the daughter of Col. Henry and Sarah Contee Harrison Warring. Sallie, coincidentally, was the sister of Mordecai S. Plummer’s wife, Susan, and was raised Episcopalian in accordance to an agreement between their Protestant mother and Catholic father to raise the girls Episcopalian and the boy Catholic. Sallie died in 1866, leaving behind no children. C. C. Magruder remarried for a third time to Ellen Contee Turner, who survived Magruder. Throughout these various births, deaths, and marriages, C. C. Magruder was a prominent attorney in Prince George’s County who was active in civic affairs.
According to the 1850 census, Magruder’s real estate was worth fifty thousand dollars and his personal estate was valued at forty thousand dollars. His property included his law office and a home in Upper Marlboro and his farm in Nottingham called, “The Forest.” In 1850, he owned eighteen slaves. By 1860, he owned thirty. After the Civil War, Magruder claimed compensation for the sixty slaves he freed. This suggests that he had more slaves than reported on the slave schedules.
Henry ran from Magruder’s Farm in Nottingham in November of 1856. Henry may have been recaptured and freed after the Civil War, but none of the Henrys freed by Magruder match this Henry’s given age. It is possible that he was sold or that he managed to escape permanently. Sarah escaped in August of 1857. She was probably recaptured then freed after the Civil War as Magruder freed a Sarah Sewell who was the same age as the fugitive Sarah. Frank escaped in November of 1857. Frank may have been recaptured and freed after the Civil War, but none of the Franks freed by Magruder match this Frank’s given age. It is possible that he was sold or that he managed to escape permanently.
Caleb Clarke Magruder died on April 5th, 1884. He was buried in the Magruder family cemetery on his estate, “The Forest.”
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