Betty Coates
MSA SC 5496-50840
War of 1812 Refugee, Calvert County, Maryland
Biography:
Betty Stewart was an enslaved woman who was born in Maryland to Charles Stewart and his wife Sarah Stewart. Betty and her mother Sarah were owned by Elizabeth Ballard of Calvert County, Maryland. Betty’s father Charles Stewart was owned by Elizabeth Ballard’s son Levin W. Ballard. She also had four sisters Eliza, Jane, Juliet, and Rebecca. Betty married a free man, Jesse Coates alias Jesse Roberts. Betty and Jesse had one daughter Suckey Coates. In 1814, America was at war with the British. In April of that year British Admiral Alexander Cochrane issued a proclamation offering immediate emancipation to any person wishing to serve in the British Military or relocate to a British territory. Numerous slaves from Maryland fled to the British in hopes of starting a new life as free people. In June of 1814, Betty Coates escaped from Elizabeth Ballard to British vessels lying in the Patuxent river at Lower Marlboro. Betty fled with her family, but her husband Jesse did not go with them. Lead by her father Charles and uncle Adam Green, Betty carried her young daughter Suckey away from a life of enslavement toward freedom.
After the war, Maryland
slaveholders filed claims seeking compensation for the loss of their
property, including slaves, tobacco, livestock, and household items. A
commission was formed at through the Department of State that decided
Maryland slave owners would receive $280 for each slave that they lost
regardless of the their value. Betty who was 18 years old when she
escaped was worth $300. Levin W. Ballard filed a claim with the
Department of State as acting executor of his mother Elizabeth Ballard.
The commission awarded Mrs. Ballard $3.640 for the loss of her
slaves.
Return to Betty Coates' Introductory Page
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|