Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Tom Camper (b. ? - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51298
Fled from slavery, Dorchester County, 1858

Biography:

    Tom Camper was a slave in Dorchester County, who fled from the Lookerman family in March of 1858. He may have been supported in his efforts by Daniel Mackey, a free black laborer in Talbot County, who was ultimately convicted of “enticing and assisting.”1 There is little to establish what connection, if any, the two men had in the preceding years.

    George Lookerman, a farmer, held a fairly substantial plantation that included 12 African-American slaves in 1850.2,3 He was a widower with two young daughters, Francis and Sophia. The Lookerman patriarch must have died sometime before 1858, since it was the teenage girls who were connected with Mackey’s court case. Their father left no will, nor was there an inventory or administration account to establish provisions for his property.4,5,6 This absence could have been a contributing factor in Tom Camper’s decision to flee. When owners died, particularly intestate, slaves were acutely aware that they might soon be sold to absolve debts or to support surviving relatives. That may also explain why, at the time of his flight, Tom was in the possession of James Valliant rather than the young Lookermans.7

    In November 1858, Mackey was sentenced to be sold as a slave out of the state, under a state law that had been passed only six months earlier. In addition the proceeds from his sale were to go to pay for damages of the aggrieved parties.8 Francis and Sophia, along with two other petitioners, successfully lobbied the Talbot County court for their share of the $950 sale.9 Having claimed to be “compelled to pay as a reward … the sum of two hundred dollars,” the Lookermans received that exact amount in compensation.10 This assertion would also suggest that Tom Camper was indeed recaptured. Sophia Lookerman recorded possession of ten slaves, while living on James Valliant’s Talbot County farm in 1860.11 While one of these individuals may be Tom, it is unknown what happened to the man after the attempt to flee in 1858. 

Footnotes -   

1. Talbot County Circuit Court (Court Record), 1857-1873, The State of Maryland vs. Daniel Mackey, fn, pp. 42-53.

2. Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census, Slave Schedule, Maryland, Dorchester County, p. 28.

3. Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census, Maryland, Dorchester County, District 1, p. 200.

4. DORCHESTER COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Wills, Index), 1852-1955.

5. DORCHESTER COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Inventories, Index), 1852-1949.

6. DORCHESTER COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Administration Accounts, Index), 1852-1949.

7. (Court Record), p. 52.

8. Maryland Session Laws, 1858, Volume 624, Chapter 324.

9. TALBOT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Petitions) 1803-1882, Petition of Francis and Sophia Loockerman, 17 February 1859.  (page 2)

10. TALBOT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Petitions) 1803-1882, Petition of William Hayward, 17 February 1859, "Costs of Trial: State of MD vs. Daniel Mackey."

11. Ancestry.com, 1860 United States Federal Census, Slave Schedule Talbot County, St. Michael’s, p. 11.

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