Daniel Gross
MSA SC 5496-51065
War of 1812 Refugee, Calvert County, Maryland
Biography:
Daniel Gross was an enslaved man who belonged to John Wood of Calvert County, Maryland.1 Daniel was the husband of Betty "Bet" Gross who was also enslaved at the home of John Wood. Daniel and Bet had three young children Sampson, London, and Gabe. In the summer of 1814, three armed men from the British fleet came to the home of John Wood where Daniel and his family were being hidden. The British soldiers demanded that Wood's slaves be turned over and swore that "if they were not delivered to them immediately they would blow the house to hell in a moment." Daniel and his family were carried away and taken aboard a barge which carried the family to the British fleet lying in the Patuxent River. At the time of the escape Daniel was about 23 years of age.
Following the war, slave owners from Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Louisiana submitted claims to the Department of State to recieve compensation for the loss of their property. Maryland claims were for enslaved people, destroyed property, tobacco, livestock, and household items. John Wood filed a claim in 1828 to be compensated for the loss of his slaves. Maryland slave owners were paid $280 per slave that they lost to the British during the War of 1812. John Wood received $1400 for the loss of his five slaves. Daniel Gross and his family settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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