Mary Young
MSA SC 5496-50980
War of 1812 Refugee, St. Mary's County, Maryland, 1814
Biography:
Mary Young, also known as Molly, lived on Sotterley Plantation in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, as one of Colonel John R. Plater’s slaves. At age 35, Mary escaped from Sotterley between July 22 and July 25, 1814 by boarding the Frigate Severn in the Patuxent River. Mary was one of 49 slaves to escape from Sotterley during the War of 1812 and one of 44 slaves to escape from Sotterley via the Severn Frigate. Eight other slaves that escaped from Sotterley shared her surname including Catherine S. Young, Crowley Young, Daniel Young, Henry Young, John Young, Mary Ann Young, and Prince Young, who all escaped aboard the Severn, and Peregrine Young, who escaped aboard the Loire.
Although John R. Plater claimed Mary as his property, she may have initially been the property of his brother Col. George Plater IV., who died in 1802. After his death, Col. George Plater IV's estate, including Sotterley Plantation, passed on to his son George Plater V. At the time, however, George Plater V was only 5 years old and incapable of managing his father's estate. Consequently, John R. Plater, George Plater V's uncle and guardian, took over responsibility for the estate.2 An 1807 inventory of the late Col. George Plater's estate includes a 30 year old female slave named Mary, potentially the same 35 year old Mary Young who would later escape Sotterely in 1814.3
Mary retained her freedom after the war in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The name "Molly Young" appears on a list of Black refugee women from the Chesapeake who were settled in Halifax and not living with their families. The younger Mary Ann Young and Henry Young also appear on the list as children refugees not living with their families.4 The list suggests that either the respective Youngs were not related to one another or that they had become seperated during the process of relocating from Maryland to Canada.
1. Claim of John Rousby Plater, St. Mary's County, Case #310, Case Files Ca. 1814-28, 3.5 ft., entry 190, Record Group 76, National Archives, College Park.
2. Chronicles of St. Mary's Vol. 51 No. 10, pg. 90
3. St. Mary's County Register of Wills (Inventories) 1807-1810 MSA CE443-4
4. Commissioner of Public Records NSARM RG 1 vol. 305 no. 7 (microfilm no. 15387)
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