Gerard Munroe
MSA SC 5496-50993
The War of 1812 Refugee, St. Mary's County, Maryland, 1814
Biography:
Gerard Munroe lived on Sotterley Plantation in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, as a slave of John R. Plater. At age 14, Gerard escaped Sotterley in July of 1814 by boarding the British frigate Severn, captained by Joseph Nourse, in the Patuxent River. Gerard was among 49 slaves that escaped from Sotterley during the War of 1812 and one of 44 slaves that escaped via the Severn frigate. Gerard was joined on the Severn by six other slaves from Sotterley that shared his surname including Lewis Munroe (30 years old), Grace Munroe, Ester Munroe, Richard Munroe, Lewis Munroe (3 years old), and Kitty Munroe.1
After the war, Gerard retained his freedom in Nova Scotia, and his name appears in a return of Black refugees from the Chesapeake who arrived in Halifax in 1815. In the return, Gerard is listed along with Mary Young and Henry Young under the category of children aged 13 or younger not living with their families.2 The older Lewis Munroe also retained his freedom in Nova Scotia, and he received land in the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbor from Henry H. Cogswell in November, 1815. A census taken of the men who received land from Cogswell indicates that the older Lewis Munroe had one woman and five children under his care.3 Although initially seperated from his family, Gerard Munroe may have possibly been one of the five children attributed to the older Lewis Munroe along with Ester Munroe, Richard Munroe, Kitty Munroe, and the younger Lewis Munroe. John Plater's reparations claim does not specify the exact relations between the Munroes, but they seem to have been a family unit. In that case, Gerard may have taken refuge in the older Lewis Munroe's home.
The Munroes were joined in the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbor by the Coursey and Seale families who had also escaped from Sotterley. The refugee families likely encountered tremendous setbacks during their first year of freedom, such as spending their first Canadian Winter without any spare clothing. A letter from Cogswell to Governor John Sherbrooke indicates that as late as December 24, 1815, the families had not yet received any munitions clothing.4
2. Commissioner of Public Records NSARM RG 1 vol. 305 no. 7 (microfilm no. 15387)
3. Commissioner of Public Records NSARM RG 1 vol. 420 no. 93 (microfilm no. 15464)
4. Ibid.
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