Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

John McGuire (b. 1816 - d. )
MSA SC 5496-51295
Property Owner, Caroline County

Biography:

    John McGuire was a farmer, who was born and raised in Caroline County. He and his wife Elizabeth were married in 1834, and had four children: John, James, Susan, and Elizabeth A.1 In 1850, McGuire possessed six African-American slaves, with ages ranging from 3 to 28.2 There is no evidence that any of McGuire's slaves ever attempted to flee or use other legal avenues to escape servitude. However, four of his bondsmen were affected by flight, when father and husband Perry Trusty made his way from the Eastern Shore to Ontario, Canada in 1857.3

    Trusty was owned by James Pippin in nearby Queen Anne's County, but could no longer tolerate his existence after seeing a fellow servant murdered by their master's teenage son.4,5 In Philadelphia, he passed through the headquarters of William Still, who assisted countless slaves to reach safety further north. During their brief encounter, Trusty admitted his sadness at having had to leave his wife Hannah and sons William, Perry, and Thomas. Here he specifically identifies McGuire as their owner but provides few other details.6 By 1860, John McGuire's has no slaves or free blacks recorded as living on his property. There are no legal transactions recorded in Caroline County land records or accounts of sale that could account for the Trusty's absence.7,8 While Perry ultimately settled in Canada, his household never includes his wife or any of his children. It's quite possible that McGuire sold members of the already fractured family without making any official notice, as many slaveholders did. They may have also been freed or fled of their own volition, though no record of either possibility exists.9 John McGuire would continue to farm in Caroline County, maintaining several thousand dollars worth of real estate, until his death some time in the 1880's.    

 Footnotes - 

1. CAROLINE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Marriage Licenses, Index), 1774-1865.

2. Ancestry.com, 1850, United States Federal Census, Slave Schedule, Caroline County, Maryland,  p. 3.

3. William Still. Underground Rail Road: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, etc. Philadelphia, PA: Porter & Coales, Publishers, 1872, p. 144.

4. Ibid

5. QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Minutes, Rough) 1856-1857, State of Maryland vs. John Pippin.

6. Still, p. 144.

7. CAROLINE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records, Grantor Index, Original) 1851-1885.

8. CAROLINE COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Accounts of Sale), 1852-1868.

9. CAROLINE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Certificates of Freedom) 1852-1864.

Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2011.

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