Willis V. Brannock (b. circa 1820 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51325
Slave Owner, Dorchester County, Maryland
Biography:
Willis V. Brannock was a farmer and slave holder in Cambridge, Dorchester County, Maryland. He married Martha A. Vickers (b. circa 1838) on October 15, 1855.1 The couple had six sons: Winfield Brannock (b. circa 1858), Francis Brannock (b. circa 1859), Jefferson Brannock (b. circa 1863), Baley Brannock (b. circa 1867), Thomas E. Brannock (b. circa 1871), and Daniel (b. circa 1873).2 The 1870 census also recorded a two-year old girl, Martha, most likely a daughter who died before the next census.3
According to the Dorchester County tax assessment, Brannock owned six slaves in 1852. They were William (age 3), George (age 15), Solomon (age 18), Williamina (age 8), Martha (age 11), and Anne, (age 28). By 1859, his slaveholdings also included one-year old Jane, possibly a child born to one of his female slaves.4
At least one slave of Brannock's slaves, Solomon Light, fled in a mass escape of twenty-eight slaves on October 24, 1857 from neighboring plantations in Dorchester County. Solomon initially began his journey to freedom with Silas Long, who was owned by Sheriff Robert Bell, before the two joined a larger group of fugitives. Brannock and fellow slave holders Samuel Pattison and Reuben E. Phillips placed an advertisement (with his name spelled as V. Branwick) which offered a $3,100 reward for the runaways.7 Pattison learned that the group was headed to Wilmington, Delaware and followed in pursuit of the fugitives. However, the runaways had been warned that their captors were in pursuit and therefore stayed clear of Wilmington. Although the group split up to avoid detection, they faced many other obstacles. Poorly provisioned and clothed, the group battled severe rainstorms.On October 31, part of the group was attacked by several Irishmen with clubs. One of the fugitives insured their escape by shooting one of the Irishmen in the head.
According to William Still, an Underground Railroad conductor in Philadelphia, the party arrived safely to the Philadelphia area.8 However, a fourteen year old boy was separated from the rest during the journey, and it is unclear if he rejoined the group.9 Solomon recounted his story of servitude and escape to Still. Solomon's brother had been sold the previous year because Brannock "could not whip him."4 After a recent altercation with two of Brannock's sons, Solomon decided to run away. Although Brannock did not appear to have any sons old enough to be in a fight with Solomon, the 1860 census shows that two farm hands, Thomas Brannock (age 26, in 1860) and William Smith (age 22, in 1860), lived with Willis Brannock and his family.5 These farm hands may be the individuals who fought with Solomon. Angered by the injuries to the two white men, Brannock determined to sell Solomon the next day, prompting Solomon's flight. Solomon also described Brannock as "an unaccountable mean man," who "would not allow enough to eat, or clothing sufficient" but "spent it [money] pretty freely for liquor."6
The fugitives' flight is significant both for the large number of slaves who ran away and for the fact that family groups with small children escaped together. They likely received information from Harriet Tubman, a native of the area, to aid their escape. Following this and a rash of other slave escapes, Dorchester County whites feared that northern abolitionists and free blacks were conspiring to destroy the institution of slavery in their region. As a result, community leaders passed resolutions resticting the personal liberties of free and enslaved blacks. Nevertheless, slaves in Dorchester County continued to run away to freedom.10
Despite the loss of his slaves, Brannock was a man of means in 1860, with real estate valued at $2,500 and personal wealth valued at $1,500. The 1860 slave schedules listed Brannock as the owner of two slaves, a male, aged sixteen, and a girl, aged two. He also likely received additional labor from a free black servant, Mary Camper, and two white farm hands, James Brannock and William Smith, who lived with his family.11, 12 In 1864, Brannock's property included a 78-acre tract of land called, Chance, and assorted livestock.13 A few years later in 1870, his real estate value increased to $5,000 while his personal estate was worth $600.14 However by 1880, the family had fallen on hard times. On that year's census, Brannock was recorded as being unemployed for the past ten months, although his occupation is not specified. His adult sons had also been unemployed for several months of the past year and his wife, Martha, was suffering from heart disease.15
1. DORCHESTER COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Marriage Licenses) CM449, 1851-1880, Book 4.
2. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Willis Branick, 1880, Dorchester County, Cambridge, Page 16, Lines 46-50. Page 17, Lines 1-3.
3. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Willis Brannoch, 1870, Dorchester County, District 7, Page 13, Lines 7-14.
4. DORCHESTER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (Assessment Record) for Willis V. Brannock 1852-1910 C687, Election District 7, p. 12. 01/04/05/019
5. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Willis Branick, 1860, Dorchester County, District 7, Page 373, Line 18-19.
7. $3,100 Reward, Baltimore Sun, October 28, 1857.
8. Still, p.99.
9. Larson, Kate Clifford. Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. (New York: Ballantine Book, 2005), p. 145-148.
10. Ibid.
11. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Willis Branick, 1860, Dorchester County, District 7, Page 373, Line 12-21.
12. U.S. Census Bureau (Slave Schedule, MD) for WIllis Brannick, 1860, Dorchester County, District 7, Page 46, Lines 6-7.
13. DORCHESTER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (Assessment Record) for Willis V. Brannock 1852-1910, C687, Cambridge, Election District 7, p.18. 01/04/05/028
14. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Willis Brannoch, 1870, Dorchester County, District 7, Page 13, Line 7.
15. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Willis Branick, 1880,
Dorchester County, Cambridge, Page 16, Lines 46-50. Page 17, Lines 1-3.
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