Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Robert Dick (b. circa 1801 - d. circa 1880)
MSA SC 5496-036009
Slave and Property Holder, Medley and Rockville Districts, Montgomery County, Maryland

Biography:

Robert Dick was born around 1801 in Georgetown, D.C. to Thomas Dick and his wife Margaret Peter.1 From 1825 to 1850, Dick purchased at least 1,300 acres in Montgomery County, Maryland. His farm stood near the Seneca Mills, along the Potomac River in District 3, and included parts of the tracts "Thomas's Discovery Fortified" and "Resurvey on Part of Cider & Ginger." He also owned land in the Rockville District, on part of a tract called "Huntington."2 Dick also maintained the family property in Georgetown, where he owned a home later known as the Beall House.3

In July 1831, Dick's slave Davy ran from Dick's farm in Seneca Mills,4 probably joining a group headed towards Pennsylvania. The 1840 census listed thirty-three slaves on Dick's property in Seneca Mills,5 and thirteen on his property in the Rockville District.6 However, neither location listed any white residents, since Dick lived at his home in Georgetown.7

In 1850, Dick had twenty-three slaves working on his eastern property on the Potomac (the one from which Davy had fled).8 By this time, Dick owned another farm a short ways west, with eighteen slaves.9 Nine more slaves worked on his property in the Rockville District.10 Census records show that Dick continued living at his Georgetown home, where he was the head of the house in 1850. The household included his mother, Margaret, as well as four slaves.11 However, Dick also lived with family or friends who lived on or near his Maryland property. For instance, the 1850 census showed Robert Dick staying in the Rockville District with the family of George Peter, from whom he had purchased much of his land. In 1860, he was staying at Washington Burriss' farm south of Rockville, between his Georgetown and Maryland properties.12 He may have been spending more time at his Maryland property by then, since he did not appear among Georgetown residents in the 1860 census. However, he still had four slaves living at the house in Georgetown.13

Robert Dick served as the president of the Montgomery County Agricultural Society beginning in 1856.14 Following the Society's show in 1857, the American Farmer reported that Dick had exhibited "a sample of corn of extraordinary growth from a field planted three feet each way, two stalks to a hill, and averaging three fair sized ears to the stalk."15 Dick raised mainly corn and wheat on his farms.16

Unfortunately, Dick eventually accumulated large debts through his land purchases. In October 1869, Robert Dick sold 2191/2 acres to George Peter, using the money to pay various debts.17 In May 1870, Dick sold another 330 acres to Peter18 and moved back to his property in Georgetown.19 One African American domestic servent, seventy-year-old Ellen Hamilton, worked in his house. The census for that year recorded Dick as still owning $67,000 in real estate.20 Dick had passed away by 1880, when he disappeared from census records.
 

1.     Roger Brooke Farquhar. Old Homes and History of Montgomery County, Maryland (Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler, Inc., 1952) 334.

2.     Montgomery County District 3, Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, [MSA SC 1213-1-464].
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1825-1827, Liber Y, Folio 91, [MSA CE 148-26]. Charles Gassaway to Robert Dick, June 18, 1825.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1825-1827, Liber Y, Folio 137, [MSA CE 148-26]. George Peter to Robert Dick, Setpember 3, 1825.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1833-1834, Liber BS 6, Folio 554, [MSA CE 148-32]. Robert P. Dunlop, trustee, to Robert Dick, October 4, 1834.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1836-1838, Liber BS 8, Folio 71, [MSA CE 148-34]. Brooke Mackall to Robert Dick, October 3, 1836.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1838-1839, Liber BS 9, Folio 0538, [MSA CE 148-35]. Amos Young to Robert Dick, October 3, 1839.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1842-1843, Liber BS 11, Folio 323, [MSA CE 148-37]. Mary Maccubbin, et al, to Robert Dick, November 14, 1842.

3.     Farquhar 333-335.

4.     "100 Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 29 July 1831: 2. Maryland State Archives.

5.     U.S. Census Bureau (MD) for Robert Dick, 1840, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 9, Line 22 [MSA SM61-113, M 4722]. Slaves listed on Page 10, Line 22.
         Montgomery County District 3, Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, [MSA SC 1213-1-464].

6.     U.S. Census Bureau (MD) for Robert Dick, 1840, Montgomery County, Rockville District, Page 22, 9th line from bottom [MSA SM61-113, M 4722]. Slaves listed on Page 23.
         Montgomery County District 4, Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, [MSA SC 1213-1-464].

7.     "Notice." American and Commercial Daily Advertiser 9 September 1843. Maryland State Archives.
         Farquhar 334.

8.     U.S. Census Bureau (MD) for Robert Dick, Slaves, 1850, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 2, Line 2 [MSA SM61-168, M 1505-5].

9.     U.S. Census Bureau (MD) for Robert Dick, Slaves, 1850, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 7, Line 8 [MSA SM61-168, M 1505-5].

10.   U.S. Census Bureau (MD) for Robert Dick, Slaves, 1850, Montgomery County, Rockville District, Page 10, Line 2 [MSA SM61-168, M 1505-5].

11.   1850 U.S. Federal Census Record (DC) for R. Dick, Washington, Georgetown, Page 70, Line 14. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
         1850 U.S. Federal Census Record (DC) for R. Dick, Washington, Georgetown, Page 2, Line 36. Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

12.   U.S. Census Record (MD) for Robert Dick, 1850, Montgomery County, Rockville District, Page 16, Line 37 [MSA SM61-142, M 1499-1].
         U.S. Census Record (MD) for Robert Dick, 1860, Montgomery County, Rockville District, Page 31, Line 33 [MSA SM61-213, M 7223-1].
         MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1825-1827, Liber Y, Folio 137, [MSA CE 148-26]. George Peter to Robert Dick, Setpember 3, 1825.

13.   1860 U.S. Federal Census Record (DC) -- Slave Schedule for Robert Dick, Washington, Georgetown Ward 2, Line 27. Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

14.   Maryland Historical Society. Maryland Historical Magazine. Vol. 81 (Baltimore, MD: Maryland Historical Society, 1986) 113.
        Maryland State Agricultural Society. American Farmer. Vol. 13 (Baltimore, MD: S. Sands & Wothington, 1857) 129.

15.   Maryland State Agricultural Society 150.

16.   Maryland State Agricultural Society 128.

17.   "Willard Log House (Charles F.M. Willard House, Izaak Walton League Property)." M: 17-45. Maryland Historical Trust. Inventory of Historical Properties. www.mdihp.net.
         MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, (Land Records), 1868-1869, Liber EBP 6, Folio 477, [MSA CE 63-16]. Robert Dick to George Peter, October 6, 1869.

18.   MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, (Land Records), 1869-1870, Liber EBP 7, Folio 293, [MSA CE 63-17]. Robert Dick to George Peter, May 6, 1870.

19.   U.S. Census Bureau (MD) for Robert Dick, 1870, District of Columbia, Washington, Georgetown, Page 146, Line 10 [MSA SM61-275, M 7256].

20.   Ibid.
 

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