Rixom Webb (b. circa ? - d. 1846)
MSA SC 5496-051244
Black Property Owner, Caroline County, Maryland
Biography:
Rixom Webb was a free black land owner who lived in Caroline County Maryland. It is unknown where he was born and who his parents were, but it is likely Rixom Webb was from Maryland. Rixom Webb married Hester Chase February 18, 1834 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Rixom Webb and his wife Hester had the following children: Harrison, John, James, Eliza Ann, and Peter. Webb owned a sizable amount of land in his lifetime. In addition to the land he owned in Caroline County, he bought and sold land in Dorchester County and would eventually relocate to a large tract of land in Talbot County. When Rixom Webb's property was assessed in 1841 in Caroline County he owned 20 acres of Banningland. No value was listed for the property. The assessment also listed 450 acres of land worth eighteen hundred dollars. On this particular farm Webb owned horses, mules, steer, and cattle.
Rixom Webb also owned slaves which added value to his estate. He owned at least 6 slaves: Harriet, Alfred, Luke, Jerry, Asbury, and Ann. Harriet was listed in Webb's 1841 assessment to serve ten years and was worth $120.00. In 1842 Webb was assessed $530 for three slaves that he owned in Caroline County, MD. On April 24, 1844 Webb's enslaved boy Alfred fled his plantation. Webb placed a runaway ad for Alfred in the Cambridge Chronicle with a reward of $5.00. He purchased Alfred at a Sheriff's sale from the estate of Doctor Absalom Thompson of Talbot County, Maryland. Alfred initially belonged to Doctor Thompson's father Anthony Thompson who willed the Alfred to his son. In May 1844, Alfred was eventually caught and returned to Rixom Webb, who then sold him to Anthony C. Thompson, brother of Absalom Thompson, who lived in Dorchester County. Harriet Tubman hired herself out to this same Anthony C. Thompson who was the step brother of her owner Edward Brodess. Rixom Webb's status as a free black landowner also presented a unique issue for local lawmakers. When the state legislature's Committee of Education was deciding how to raise money for the Caroline County Academy, a bill was proposed specifically to exempt Webb from being taxed for that purpose. The proposal was debated and rejected shortly before his death in 1846. Therefore, Webb's significant taxable property served the ironic role of supporting schools that his children and grandchildren were most likely unable to attend.
Rixom Webb died March 14, 1846 and left nearly 500
acres to his heirs. Along with this sizable amount of land he also left
provisions for several slaves. Servant Jerry, was to be left to his
son James, and was to be freed after ten years. Several other slaves
are also given brief terms of servitude, a practice that was not uncommon
among planters in Maryland. In addition, certain protections were
also given to the slaves. Jerry, for example was allowed to choose
his new master, if his sale came up. Webb was not exempt from the
cruel realities of the slave system. He states in his will that if
Jerry is to “abscond” then he should be sold “for life to the highest bidder.”
Webb also stated in his will that his servant Luke be willed to his son-in-law
Eben Hughes for the sum of four hundred dollars. If Hughes chose not to
pay for Luke, the servant would be sold to the highest bidder.
Return to Rixom Webb's Introductory Page
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|