George Wilmer (b. 1810 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51323                                                                                                                      
Accomplice to slave flight, Kent County

Biography:

    George Wilmer was a slave in Kent County, Maryland until he was manumitted in 1858 by Eben Welch. He was also purported to be an active agent in the Underground Railroad, during and after his servitude. Wilmer was one of eighteen African-American slaves residing on the Welch farm, near the Sassafras River in the northeastern portion of the county. [1] His master must have allowed relative freedom for Wilmer even as a slave, since he was able to direct fleeing slaves through Delaware on numerous occasions.

 In an 1855 correspondence, Thomas Garrett told fellow abolitionist William Still that Wilmer was “a true man, and forwarder of slaves … some twenty-five within four months.” [2] He was also recorded as having visited the Philadelphia office on September 5, 1856, assisting William Cornish in fleeing from Dorchester County. [3] Neither Welch nor the larger white community ever seemed to suspect Wilmer of such infractions, as he was not accused in the courts or punished with extended servitude.

 The slave, then in his late 40’s, was freed by will in 1858, also receiving a 3 acre plot of land from the apparently benevolent Welch. [4] Wilmer and his wife Margaret chose instead to move to Wilmington Delaware. [5] The city was a hub of abolitionist activity, and the Wilmer’s lived two doors down from fellow free black Severn Johnson, who assisted in the efforts of prominent abolitionist Thoams Garrett. [6][7] It is quite possible that they continued to support fugitive slaves from the Eastern Shore, taking advantage of their improved position as freemen.

Footnotes -

[1] Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census, Slave Schedule, Kent County, District 3, p. 1.

[2] William Still, The Underground Railroad. (Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company Inc., 1970), p. 638.

[3]Kate Larson, Bound for the Promised Land. Ballantine Books: New York (2004), pp. 342, notes 88-89.

[4] KENT COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Wills) 1854-1872, Book JF 1, pp. 121 - 123.

[5] Ancestry.com 1860 United States Federal Census, Wilmington, Delaware, Ward 4, p. 162.

[6] Larson.

[7] Still, pp. 639-40.

Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2012.

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