Peggy Coursey
MSA SC 5496-51073
War of 1812 Refugee, St. Mary's County, Maryland, 1814
Biography:
Peggy Coursey was one of the forty-eight refugees to escape from Sotterley Plantation during the War of 1812. At age 14, Peggy escaped from Sotterley on July 25, 1814 by boarding the H.M.S. Severn, captained by John Nourse, while the vessel was in the Patuxent River. Peggy was among 44 other refugees from Sotterley to escape aboard the Severn including her father Stephen Coursey, mother Susannah Coursey, sister Ester Coursey, and brothers Mathew and James Coursey.1 The next day, Captain Nourse reported on the incident in a letter to Admiral Cockburn as he commented "Last night 39 men, women, and children came off Colonel Plater's".2 The ship musters for the Severn indicate that the Courseys only spent two days on the frigate before being discharged to the H.M.S. Aetna on July 24, 1814.3 Peggy and her family then spent three days on the Aetna before being discharged to the H.M.S. Albion on July 27.4 They spent a few weeks on the Albion until they were finally discharged to the H.M.S. Jasseur on August 12.5
The Jasseur was likely the vessel that transported the Courseys from the Chesapeake to their new home in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ship logs for the Jasseur indicate that on Saturday August 13 the ship received 290 Black men, women, and children to take to Halifax. A few weeks later on Friday September 2, the ship logs report laying anchor at Halifax Harbor, and discharging the refugees on shore.6 A Nova Scotian newspaper reported that on September 1, 1814 the H.M. Brig Jasseur had arrived in Halifax after a 10 day voyage from the Chesapeake, and that it had brought a few hundred Black refugees, some of whom had died during the journey.7 Within the confines of the British Empire, the Coursey family could safely maintain their freedom in their new home over a thousand miles away from Sotterley.
The Coursey family retained their freedom after the war in Nova Scotia and are listed in the official census taken of the new Black refugees in Halifax. Problematically, the Halifax list only identifies Stephen and Susannah Coursey as having one child.8 However, Peggy Coursey and her three siblings seem to have survived the journey to freedom with their parents. On November 2, 1815, the Coursey family settled on land in the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbor conveyed to them by Henry H. Cogswell. They were joined on the land by the Seale and Munroe families who had also escaped from Sotterley. A census taken of the refugees settled on Cogswell's land verifies that Stephen Coursey had under his care a wife (Susannah Coursey) and four children (Peggy and her siblings Ester, James, and Mathew). Unfortunately, the refugee families likely struggled during their first months on Cogswell's land. A letter from Cogswell to the governor of Nova Scotia indicates that as of December 24, 1815 the families still had not received any munitions of clothing. Despite being poorly clothed during the harsh Nova Scotian winter, Peggy and her family survived. An 1816 census indicates that Stephen Coursey had the same number of people under his care as in 1815.9
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. Stanley Quick Research Collection, MSA SC5969, 4-1170.
3. "Severn Ship Musters" UKNA: ADM 37/5430.
4. "Aetna Ship Musters" UKNA: ADM 37/4878.
5. "Albion Ship Musters" UKNA: ADM 37/5005.
6. Stanley Quick Research Collection, MSA SC5969, 1-1-0300.
7. NSARM Acadian Recorder 3 September 1814 p.3 (microfilm no. 5193)
8. National Archives and Records Administration NSARM (Washington DC) RG 76 Entry 185 GB 1814 no. 51 G.B. 6 (microfilm copy only available at NSARM, microfilm no. 13577)
9. Commissioner of Public Records NSARM RG 1 vol. 420 no. 93 (microfilm no. 15464)
researched and written by Charles Weisenberger
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