Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Josemin (b. circa 1823 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-050587
Fled from Slavery, Cracklin District, Montgomery County, Maryland, 1845

Biography:

Josemin, nicknamed Jo, fled his enslavement on Saturday, August 9, 1845 with another slave named Jess. Both Josemin and Jess were slaves of Elisha Riggs, whose farm stood near the Triadelphia factory in Montgomery County.1 On August 15, 1845, Riggs advertised in the Baltimore Sun for the two runaway slaves.2 The advertisement described Josemin as "6 feet high, and very black, with large white eyes and large feet, and about 22 years of age." Riggs offered $100 for each slave, plus an extra $100 each if captured outside Maryland. Although the ad ran for four weeks, Jo and Jess were still fugitives from the state five years later.3
 

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

2.     "Ran Away." Baltimore Sun 15 August 1849: 2. Baltimore Sun Historical Archive. Enoch Pratt Free Library.

3.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD), for Elisha Riggs, Slaves, 1850, Montgomery County, Cracklin District, Page 10, Line 3 [MSA SM61-168, M 1505-5].
   

Researched and written by Rachel Frazier, 2010.

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