Josias B. Ford (b. circa ? - d. 1824)
MSA SC 5496-050713
War of 1812 Claimant, Charles County, Maryland
Biography:
Josias B. Ford was a landowner who lived in Charles County, Maryland. Josias Beall Ford was born in Prince George's County to Alison Ford and his wife Hephzibah Beall Ford. Ford had the following siblings, John Beall Ford, George Noble Ford, Allanson Hephzibah Ford, Elizabeth Fendall Fry, Charles Allanson Ford, and Benjamin Ford. Ford married Sabina Truman Fendall the daughter of Benjamin and Mary Truman Fendall. Josias B. Ford was the brother in law of Benjamin T. Fendall who was the brother of Sabina Fendall.
At the end of the 18th century, Josias Ford and his siblings became embattled in suit against their half siblings over the estate of their deceased brother Col. Benjamin Ford. In 1799, Ford and his siblings Elizabeth, George, and Allanson brought a suit against their brother Charles Ford for withholding property from the estate of their deceased brother Col. Benjamin Ford. Charles and Benjamin Ford were the half siblings of Josias Ford and his whole blooded siblings. Josias Ford and his siblings believed that they were entitled to sums of money from the estate of their deceased half brother Col. Ford. Charles Ford kept the money along with the real and personal property of Benjamin Ford for himself. John Davidson, who was in the military with Col. Ford, gave a deposition stating that is was the wish of Col. Ford to have his property given to his brother Charles Ford. Davidson settled the deceased accounts and found that a large sum of money was due his estate. When he received the money he purchased part of a tract of land called Hampton Court in Anne Arundel County. After the purchase Davidson conveyed the land over to Charles Ford, but the deed was never recorded. Charles Ford died at sea and the suit fell against John Davidson and the heirs of Charles Ford. The Chancellor, William Kilty, settled the suit and decreed that Josias B. Ford, Elizabeth Fendall Fry Marshall and her husband, George Noble Ford, deceased, Allanson H. Ford, and the heirs of Charles A. Ford, deceased, all received 1/5 of the money that was taken in at the sale of the land called Hampton Court.
During the War of 1812, many Marylanders suffered destruction of the their property and the loss of slaves and other valuable property, including tobacco and livestock. Two of Josias B. Ford's male slaves, Peter Bell and Fidelio, escaped from his property in Charles County, MD. Peter Bell sadly contracted smallpox and died. Following the war, claims were submitted by slave owners from Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Louisiana to the U.S. Department of State to receive reparations for the loss of property. Josias Ford was one of many Marylanders to file a claim. His name was entered upon the Definitive List of Slaves which listed the owners, property, and the property value.
Josias B. Ford died in 1824 in Prince George's County.
His brother in law Benjamin T. Fendall was named the executor of the estate.
Josias Ford distributed his slaves to various family members in his will.
The will also states that Ford's slave Emanuel was to receive an annual
sum of $10 from the reparation money he was due from the War of 1812. In
addition, Ford's sister in law Mary Truman Fendall, was to receive $125
from the reparations.
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