Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

George Swine (b. circa 1807 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-050613
Part of large slave flight from Poolesville area, Montgomery County, Maryland, 1831

Biography:

In September 1831, George Swine fled his enslavement along with five other slaves: Collin Brooks, Joe Carroll, Tobias Martin, Clem Proctor, and George's brother Sandy Swine. They escaped from the farm of William Vinson near Poolesville. Vinson's son, William B. Vinson, placed advertisements in the Daily National Intelligencer for the slaves' capture.1 He described George Swine as "about 24 years old, 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, complexion a shade lighter than black."2 Vinson added that all six wore clothing typical "this season for plantation hands." Vinson's farm stood in the Medleys District of Montgomery County. The six slaves escaped the month following the Nat Turner rebellion in Virginia.3

The escape may have failed, since William Vinson bequeathed the slaves "Sandy, George, Clem, Henry, and Rachel" to his son, Dr. William B. Vinson, in 1840.4
 

1.     "150 Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 14 September 1831: 3.
        "300 Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 14 September 1831: 3.

2.     "300 Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 14 September 1831: 3.

3.     Albert Bushnell Hart. Slavery and Abolition: 1831 to 1841 (New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1906) 218.

4.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY, REGISTER OF WILLS, (Wills, Original), 1833-1839, [MSA C1142-13]. William Vinson, February 10, 1836. Probated June 23, 1840.
 

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