Daniel Mackey(b. ? - d.
?)
MSA SC 5496-51297
Accomplice to slave flight, Talbot County, 1858
Biography:
Daniel Mackey was involved in a high-profile case of slave flight, which ended up costing him his own freedom. A free African-American in Talbot County, Mackey likely lived a meager existence and certainly owned no real estate as of 1850.1 Economic troubles probably led him to burglarize the store of John W. Dawson, along with a local slave named Moses Young. Mackey was found guilty of this crime, but his bad fortune did not stop there.2
While still confined for the robbery, Daniel Mackey was charged with enticing two slaves to flee their owners, and pled not guilty.3 The alleged crime occurred in March 1858, involving two slaves, Tom Camper and Murray. It is unclear what evidence was presented by the prosecution, or the aggrieved owners, William Hayward and sisters Francis and Sophia Loockerman. It is curious that one of the state’s witnesses was none other than Moses Young, who had been found not guilty in the earlier robbery trial.4 Mackey was found guilty in November, 1858. His lawyer, JCW Powell, filed for a new trial based on the amusing but simple contention that, “1st because the verdict is against the law, 2nd because the verdict is against the evidence, 3rd because the verdict is against the law and the evidence.”5
Powell had legitimate cause to question the general validity of the trial. Only 6 months earlier, the state legislature had passed a law that severely restricted the already limited legal rights of free African-Americans. Most importantly, an individual guilty of aiding and abetting a known slave could be sold out of state, with the proceeds going to the owners.6 Therefore, slaveholders and the courts had even more incentive to push for convictions of freemen in such cases. The covert movement of enslaved blacks out of the Eastern Shore had reached an unprecedented level in the 1850’s, causing whites to more fervently target the vulnerable free black population that they so loathed.
Mackey was indeed sold on
December 21, fetching $950
from local trader William H. Nabb, who likely went on to complete a
more
lucrative transaction further south.7 Dawson,
Hayward, and the Loockermans
all petitioned the Talbot County court the next February, ultimately
receiving
a rough split of the profits.8,9,10 The record
has little to
say about the fate of the absconding Murray and Tom Camper, though both
owners claimed to have paid slave catchers to retrieve their bondsmen.11
If Daniel Mackey was truly an accomplice to flight, he chose the worst
time to help his fellow African-Americans. The recent legal changes and
accompanying social conditions made the life of a freeman all the more
dangerous, particularly for those who were economically unstable.
Without
knowing his ultimate destination, it is difficult to document Mackey’s
life after 1858.
Footnotes -
1.
2.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6.
7. Circuit Court (Court Record)
8. TALBOT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Petitions) 1803-1882 (page 1), Petition of William Hayward, 17 February 1859 (page 2).
9. TALBOT
10. TALBOT
11. Ibid.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2011.
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