Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Abraham Lancaster (b. circa 1815 - d. circa 1890)
MSA SC 5496-035303
Property Owner, Cracklin District, Montgomery County, Maryland

Biography:

Born into slavery around 1815, Abraham Lancaster was one of Ann "Nancy" Burns' two slaves in 1850.1 He was the only slave on her farm in 1853.2 On June 24, 1858, Burns freed Lancaster, specifying that his freedom would begin on June 24, 1862, or "on the day of my demise."3 Following his manumission, Lancaster established his own farm north of Gaithersburg, which appeared on Simon Martenet's Map of Montgomery County in 1865.4

Lancaster's children were Abraham Jr. (b. 1846), Isaac (b. 1849), Elijah (b.1856 ), Margaret (b. 1864), and Jessie (b. 1865). Abraham Jr.'s mother, "Beddie,"5 probably passed away around 1850. Elijah and Isaac's mother was Lillie Frazier, who had passed away by 1870.6 Abraham Lancaster Jr. was a landowner like his father, purchasing at least part of his farmland from Flodorado Howard, who sold him ten acres of a tract called "Flower Hill" in 1882.7 He purchased another ten acres of land from James B. Henderson in 1885.8 In an August 1885 land record, Abraham Jr. sold one acre of "Flower Hill" to Annie E. Scoot and another to Robert Tyler.9

Along with two other former slaves, John Dorsey and Edward Maccabee,10 Abraham Lancaster Sr. was one of the early leaders of the Emory Grove United Methodist Church, which began meeting around 1865 at the Emory Grove Camp Meeting Grounds in Gaithersburg.11 He passed away intestate sometime between 1880 and 1898. Abraham Lancaster Jr. continued his father's involvement in Emory Grove by starting an Epworth League. The first Epworth League was founded in 1889 in Chicago to "promote intelligence and piety among the young people" of the Methodist Church, as well as "works of mercy and social service, and world evangelism."12 Abraham Jr. also oversaw the dedication celebrations when the church building opened in 1903,13 replacing a mid-1870s log structure.
 

1.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Ann Burns, 1850, Montgomery County, Clarksburg District, Page 2, Line 12 [MSA SM61-142, M 1499-1].

2.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Ann Burns, 1860, Montgomery County, Clarksburg District, Page 7, Line 23 [MSA SM61-213, M 7223-1].

3.      MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber JGH 7, Folio 26, 1858-1860, [MSA CE 63-8]. Nancy Burns to Abraham Lancaster, June 24, 1858. Deed of Manumission.

4.     Montgomery County District 1, Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, [MSA SC 1213-1-464]. Huntingfield Map Collection.

5.     DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS, (Death Record, Counties), 05/1938, [MSA S1179-6059], Abraham Lancaster [Jr.], May 17, 1938.

6.     DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS, (Death Record, Counties), 02/1920, Description: MO, [MSA S1179-2708]. Elijah Lancaster, February 4, 1920.
        DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS, (Death Record, Counties), 10/1933, [MSA S1179-4794]. Isaac Lancaster, October 1, 1933.

7.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber EBP 27, Folio 461, 1882-1883, [MSA CE 63-37]. Flodorado Howard to Abraham Lancaster, Sr., December 1, 1882.

8.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber EBP 34, 1885-1885, [MSA CE 63-44]. James B. Henderson, trustee, to Abraham Lancaster, May 15, 1885.

9.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber EBP 35, Folio 468, 1885-1885, [MSA CE 63-45]. Abraham Lancaster and Isadora Lancaster to Robert Tyler, August 3, 1885.

10.   Women's Society of Christian Service. A Brief History of Emory Grove. Gaithersburg, MD: Emory Grove United Methodist Church, 1970.
        Maude Taylor. "Dedication Notes for Emory Grove Park." 1974. Maryland Historical Trust. www.mdihp.net.

11.   "Epworth League." The Methodist Year-Book.Ed. Oliver S. Baketel. 85 (1918): 161-162.

12.   "Epworth League." The Methodist Year-Book.Ed. Oliver S. Baketel. 85 (1918): 161-162.

13.   Nina Honemond Clarke. History of Nineteenth-Century Black Churches in Maryland and Washington, D.C. (Silver Spring, MD: Bartelby Press: 1983) 205-206.
 

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