Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Charles Stewart
MSA SC 5496-50842
War of 1812 Refugee, Calvert County, Maryland

Biography:

Charles Stewart was an enslaved man who was owned by Levin W. Ballard of Lower Marlboro in Calvert County. Stewart, who was valued at $500, worked as a rough cooper and carpenter. He was married to an enslaved woman, Sarah Green. Sarah was owned by Levin Ballard's mother Elizabeth Wheeler Ballard. Charles and Sarah Stewart had five daughters Betty, Eliza, Juliet, Jane, and Rebecca. The young girls, like their mother, were owned by Elizabeth Ballard. In June 1814, Charles Stewart escaped to British forces who were in Calvert County. Charles returned to the home of Elizabeth Ballard accompanied by British officers who helped the 11 other slaves escape. At one point Stewart entered the room of Elizabeth Ballard while she and her daughter were in bed. Mrs. Ballard asked Stewart to leave, but he did not listen to her. The British officer who accompanied Charles Stewart to the home drew his pistol and ordered Charles to leave the room, which he complied. However, Charles Stewart did not leave without his young daughter Eliza, who was 10 years of age at the time, from the house. Charles Stewart and his family boarded H.M.S. Loire which carried the family in Nova Scotia. Stewart, his wife Sarah, and at least one of their children arrived safely in Nova Scotia according to the Halifax list which recorded a list of refugees that arrived in Halifax following the War of 1812. The Stewart family settled in the town of Hammonds Plain in Nova Scotia.  

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 through the Department of State to handle the claims. The commission decided that Maryland and Virginia slave owners would be awarded $280 for each slave that ran off or were carried away by the British. Charles Stewart who was 38 years old when he fled, was a valuable rough cooper and carpenter and was worth more than the money that was paid out by the commission. Levin W. Ballard filed a claim with the Department of State as acting executor of his mother Elizabeth Ballard. The commission awarded Elizabeth Ballard $3,640 for the loss of her thirteen slaves. 

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