Thomas E. Berry (b. 1815 - d. 1879)
MSA SC 5496-14839
Slave holder, Prince George's County, Maryland
Biography:
Thomas E. Berry was born circa 1815 to Thomas and Mary Williams Berry of Concord in Prince George's County, Maryland. Thomas Berry was the owner of Oxon Hill Plantation on the Potomac River in southeastern Prince George's County, Maryland. Oxon Hill was originally purchased by Berry's grandfather, Zachariah Berry, who willed the property toThomas E. Berry's father, Thomas Berry. Thomas E Berry received the property from his father Thomas Berry. Prior to residing at Oxon Hill, Berry owned a large tract of land called Partnership in the Queen Anne's District of Prince George's County. Thomas Berry married his first cousin Elizabeth Berry, daughter of his uncle Zachariah Berry, Jr. Thomas and Elizabeth had the following children: Owen, Fanny, and Norman.
Berry owned a sizable slave labor force for much of the Ante-bellum Era. Berry owned at least nineteen slaves at Partnership. As other slave holders also lived in his neighborhood, in particular, Dr. John Bayne at Salubria Plantation; cross-plantationcommunities among the slaves developed. These connections were important in flight attempts, for blacks from neighboring plantations often ran together. Indeed, when Bayne's slave Sam Tyler fled Salubria in December 1840, his owner suspected that he had run off with one of Berry's Oxon Hill slaves, a man named Jacob Shaw. Since Washington, D.C., a city that promised freedom to slaves who served in the army, was nearby, runaway slaves from Berry's neighborhood often only required minimal assistance. Thomas Berry also owned slaves on his Henson Quarter Farm in the Spalding District.
During the 1850's Thomas E. Berry did not reside at Oxon Hill in the Spalding's District. While battling an insanity case in court and Berry resided at Ellersbie which was part of the Partnership tract in the Queen Anne's District. He had 46 slaves working at his Ellersbie property and 55 at Oxon Hill. By 1874 Thomas E. Berry and his wife Elizabeth seperated and would divide the property they inherited from family members. In her petition to the court Elizabeth Berry asked for protection from her husband who was threatening violence against her and himself. Thomas Berry would spend several months in an asylum during this time. Although he was diagnosed as being mentally insane, Berry was the executor of his uncle/father-in-law, Zachariah Berry, Jr.'s will. His children recieved slaves through this will. Thomas E. Berry died in 1879.
Return to Thomas E. Berry's Introductory Page
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|