Joseph Spicks
MSA SC 5496-50860
War of 1812 Colonial Marine, Calvert County, Maryland
Biography:
Joseph Spicks was an enslaved man who was the property of Colonel Thomas Billingsley of Calvert County, Maryland. Joe, as he was called by Billingsley, had a wife who was enslaved by Delaware Boome. During the War of 1812, numerous slaves escaped from their owners and were eventually encouraged by the British to continue their actions. British Admiral Alexander Cochrane, issued a proclamation on April 2, 1814 offering immediate emancipation to anyone willing to take up arms with them or looking to be resetteled in a British territory. In July 1814, Joe Spicks fled to British ships lying in the Patuxent river. Joe enlisted in the Colonial Marines, the corps of black solders that fought in His Majesty's military, under the command of Captain Nourse. While armed and dressed in uniform, Joe assisted the British in burning down the county courthouse. At the end of the war Joe was carried to Trinidad where he settled on land designated for Colonial Marines and their family members.
Following the war American citizens filed claims for indemnity with the Department of State for the loss of their property. A commission was formed to handle the claims and make awards to individuals who lost enslaved people during the war. It was decided by the commission that residents from Maryland and Virginia would be compensated $280 for each enslaved person that ran off or were carried away by the British. Thomas Billingsley filed a claim for the loss of his enslaved man Joseph Spicks who was valued at $500. An agent argued that Billingsley should be compensated at the Georgia valuation of $390 because Joe Spicks was enlisted in the Colonial Marines. However, Thomas Billingsley was awarded $280 for the loss of Joe.
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