Thomas Teat (b. 1825 -
d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51289
Fled from slavery, Caroline County, 1851
Biography:
In July of 1851, Thomas Clendening filed an official complaint in the Caroline County indenture records regarding his African-American slave Thomas Teat. He claimed that "his negro man ... is in the habit of running away," to the detriment of his master's farming operations.1 Clendening felt that the court should modify this agreement. Teat's behavior was "subversive," and "corrupting in the highest degree to other negroes."2 There were three free African-Americans, all teenagers, living on Clendening's property in 1850.3 Teat must have been the only enslaved individual, a 25 year old male listed in the slave schedule for that year.4 Undoubtedly the younger employees or indentures would be influenced by the older man's behavior.
His most recent escape had been during the harvest season, which was especially irritating for Clendening. Thomas was ultimately apprehended and jailed in nearby Sandtown, Queen Anne's County.5 Considering the proximity and that this was not his first escape, it does not seem like he was intent on reaching free territory to the North. Thomas Teat may simply have wanted to move about the state as a free man, without asking his master's permission. Many slaves, particularly those who had a specific term of years to serve, probably adopted this attitude which so perturbed slaveowners.
Teat was most likely acquired by Clendening through an estate sale, though there is no record of the transaction. The indenture references a deed of manumission made in 1844 by Marcellus Keene, which would free Thomas Teat in 1857. Clendening felt that this contractual situation was what made his bondsman act with such impudence, as there was no "improper conduct or harsh treatment on the part of your petitioner." In the end, the petitioner was rewarded for his formal complaint. W.A. Ford, the Register of Wills for the county, decided to "extend the term of service of said Thomas Teat four years ... with the privelege of selling him out of state."7 Clendening has no slave schedule in 1860, and no certificate of freedom exists for Teat.8,9 His owner may well have sold the enslaved man out of state where he could no longer be a corrupting influence, or Thomas may have executed a final escape. Either way, the 1851 indenture is the last known record placing Thomas Teat in the state of Maryland.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2011.
Return
to Thomas Teat's Introductory Page
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|