William Hayward (b. 1816 - d. 1890)
MSA SC 5496-38378
Property Owner, Talbot County, Maryland
Biography:
In March 1858, a free black man named Daniel Mackey allegedly enticed two slaves to escape from their Eastern Shore owners. William Hayward was one of several parties to bring official grievances to the courts in 1859, based on Mackey's aid to "negro man Murray."1 He was found guilty of enticing Hayward's bondsman, as well as another slave named Tom Camper, the property of Sophia and Francis Lookerman.2 Among the many oppressive laws targeting free African-Americans in Maryland, one passed in 1858 allowed for county courts to sell blacks outside of Maryland if they were convicted of various non-capital offenses.3 The Talbot court wasted no time putting the law into practice, with numerous individuals listed in the docket as being sold for crimes ranging from theft to murder. Mackey was certainly one of the first free blacks to be thus punished under the new statue, as it had only been approved six months before his trial. Soon after his conviction, Daniel Mackey was sold to local trader William H. Nabb for $950, presumably to be forced into slavery further south.4
Hayward, the Lookerman sisters, and John W. Dawson
all filed petitions with the circuit court for damages resulting from Mackey's
crimes.5,6,7 Hayward claimed to have paid $250 for William Bostick, a county
constable, to recover his fleeing slave. While he did not specify if Murray
was returned, the three slaves that he listed in 1850 seem to be the same
three recorded in 1860.8,9 After his petition in February 1859, William Hayward
was reimbursed the amount of $178.50, which came directly from Mackey's
sale. The newly passed law also made a provision requiring that the proceeds
of the sale would go toward, "the damages that any party may have suffered
by the offense."10 Therefore, it is obvious why the effort was made by Hayward,
as well as the other two petitioners, who were compensated with similar
sums. Daniel Mackey's case was indicative of the continuous effort to neutralize
the impact of free blacks on the Eastern Shore, who were perceived as the
primary threat to slaveholding there. Owners of fugitive slaves became
even more intent on securing convictions when there was possible compensation
involved. Hayward was undoubtedly satisfied with the outcome, having retrieved
his property and witnessing the profitable expulsion of a free African-American
from the state.
Footnotes -
1. TALBOT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Petitions) 1803-1882 (page 1), Petition of William Hayward, 17 February 1859 (page 2).
2. Talbot County Circuit Court (Court Record), 1857-1873, The State of Maryland vs. Daniel Mackey, fn, pp. 42-53.
3.
4. Court Record.
5. (Petitions), Hayward.
6. TALBOT
7. TALBOT
8. Ancestry.com,
9. Ancestry.com,
10. Session Laws.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2011.
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