Hez (b.?-d.?)
MSA SC 5496-15127
Charged with conspiring to raise an insurrection, Frederick County, Maryland, 1814

Biography:

In 1814 in Frederick County, Maryland, Hez, a slave of Francis Mantz, was one of nine blacks held in the Frederick County jail charged with consulting and conspiring to raise an insurrection.  The others charged were free black Jacob Green, Parman, a slave of Charles Shell, Harry, a slave of Jacob Bentz, Osswell, a slave of Henry Koontz, Daniel, a slave of Roger Nelson, Simon, a slave of John Mantz, Bill, a free indentured servant of Tobias Haller, and Elias Jones, a free Frederick County resident.  The men were said to be conspiring on August 1, 1814.  As Green apparently informed the authorities of the plot, Maryland Governor Levin Winder granted him a nolle prosequi, which kept the charges against him from being pursued.

The trial for the remaining eight men began on September 13, 1814, in a special court session commissioned by Governor Winder.  Without the special session, the men would have had to wait until February of the next year to be tried, and officials did not want them taking up space in the jail for that long.  With Judge Abraham Shriver, John Buchannan, and Roger Nelson leading the proceedings, the eight men were convicted on September 16, 1814, of conspiracy to raise an insurrection.  Most likely to protect their owners from losing money, Hez and four of the other slaves were given no jail time; they were simply whipped and sent home.  One slave, Simon, and the two free men, Elias and Bill, were each sentenced to six years in the penitentiary.  While Elias, supported by a number of respectable citizens, secured a pardon a few months later and was released on December 23, 1814, Simon and Bill remained in prison, and both died there before their terms were up.
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¹ GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL (Pardon Record) MSA S1107, Nolle Prosequi for Jacob Green, August 22, 1814, MdHR 1932, MSA S 1107-3, Location: 2/26/5/26
² GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL (Pardon Papers) MSA S1061, Jacob Green, 1814, Box 16, Folder 35, MdHR 5401-16, MSA S 1061-16, Location: 2/46/1/16

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