William D. Travers (b. circa 1804 - d. April 1857)
MSA SC 5496-51328
Slave Owner, Dorchester County, Maryland
Biography:
William D. Travers was a wealthy farmer and slave owner in Dorchester County, Maryland. The disposal of his property at his death demonstrates the precipitous position of the enslaved.
William married Eliza T. Edmondson (April 27, 1808-May 15, 1882) on October 3, 1825.1, 2 The couple had at least one child, Eliza Jane Travers (February 14, 1829-September 21, 1902).3 Although the reasons are unclear, William strongly objected when his daughter, Eliza J., married her cousin, Levi D. Travers, on December 3, 1849. William's disapproval may be the reason that the young couple married in Baltimore County rather than in their native Dorchester.4 According to Aaron Cornish, William's former slave, William was so angered by the marriage that he refused to let Levi near his house. William also swore that his nephew would not inherit any of his estate, in spite of having no other blood heirs except for his wife and daughter.5
By 1850, William's owned real estate valued at $10,000.6 An 1852 Dorchester County assessment documented his considerable wealth, including 1,000 acres of real estate and fifteen slaves. His human property comprised Jeremiah (6 years old), William (8 years old), John (10 years old), Aron (28 years old), Levin (34 years old), Ceaser (35 years old), Bill (38 years old), Dick (49 years old), Stephen (59 years old), Sarah (6 years old), Rachel (10 years old), Mary (13 years old), Rose (27 years old), Polly (40 years old), and Sophia (40 years old).7
Despite his large fortune, when William died in April 1857, no will could be found. The inventory of William D. Travers' vast wealth totaled eight pages, including lists of human property, farm implements, livestock furniture, food stores, and household goods worth over $12,000.8 The widow, Eliza Travers, received her one-third dower including nine slaves: Jeremiah, Bill, Levin, William, Polly, Hester, George, Rebecca, and John. Serving as administrator, Levi received the remainder of the estate including ten slaves, Aaron Cornish (28 years), Ceaser (35 years), Dick (49 years), Sarah (6 years), Rachel (10 years), Mary (13 years), Rose (27 years), Sam (12 years), Mary (12 years), Sarah (2 years).9
Levi's role as administrator was not without controversy. Aaron Cornish firmly believed that his master had made a will which freed all of his slaves at his death. Cornish suggested that Levi had destroyed the will in order to gain control of his uncle's estate. Cornish also hinted that William D. Travers' widow planned to contest the division of property.10 Although Levi may have indeed illegitimately acquired control of his father-in-law's property, it was also common for slave holders to falsely promise their slaves their freedom at the testators' death. Such a promise helped insure slaves' loyalty and compliance. While Levi's position as administrator may have been contestable, as a married man, he was likely acting as the trustee of his wife's inheritance rather than the legal owner of the properites. Decades later, Eliza J.'s will directed the disposition of properties with the same names as land that Levi was assessed for during the 1850s and 1860s.11 This suggests that Levi's wife retained legal ownership of a portion of her father's estate.
Aaron Cornish held little affection for his former master, William, who had sold Aaron's brother and others down South. Though William Travers was held in high esteem in his community, his slaves knew him "as a man of violent temper, severe on his slaves, drinking hard, etc."12 Disappointed by the missing will and faced with lifelong servitude, Aaron may have run away shortly after William's death. On the May 9, 1857 inventory of William's estate, Aaron is listed as a runaway.13 It is not clear whether Aaron ran away that spring or if the notation was added after Aaron fled in a better documented escape in October 1857. Nevertheless, Aaron did run away on October 24, 1857 with his wife and six of his children in a mass escape that totalled twenty-eight slaves from neighboring plantations in Dorchester. After a harrowing journey to the North, Aaron arrived safely in Philadelphia where he told his story to William Still, the Underground Railroad conductor.14, 15
Her dower's inheritance of slaves and other property from William's estate insured that Eliza would be well-off for the rest of her life. In 1870, her real estate was valued at $10,000 and personal wealth at $2,500. In 1860, she listed her occupation as farming and continued to do so until at least 1870.16, 17 Ten years later, the elderly Eliza lived with a few servants next door to her daughter, Eliza J. and her family.18 Eliza died in 1882 at the age of seventy-four.19
2. DORCHESTER COUNTY COURT (Marriage Licenses) 1780-1841, for William D. Traverse and Eliza T. Edmondson, 1825, CM447.
3. Marshall, p. 85.
4. BALTIMORE COUNTY COURT (Marriage Licenses) 1777-1851, for Levi D. Traverse and Eliza J. Travers, 1849, CM174, Reel WK 1397-1398-3.
6. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for William Travers, 1850. Dorchester County, Division No. 3, Page 357 verso, Line 38.
7. DORCHESTER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (Assessment Record) 1852, Election District 4, p. 117-117a. 01/04/05/016
9. DORCHESTER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (Assessment Record) 1852, Election District 4, p. 117-117a. 01/04/05/016
11. DORCHESTER COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Wills), 1688-1976, CM460, Eliza J. Travers, 1902, JWF 2, folios 355-360.
12. Still, p. 100.
15. Larson, Kate Clifford. Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. (New York: Ballantine Book, 2005), p. 145-148.
16. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Eliza Travers, 1870. Dorchester County, Fourth District, Page 2, Line 8.
17. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Eliza Travers, 1860. Dorchester County, Fourth District, Page 149, Line 38.
18. U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Eliza Travers, 1880. Dorchester County, Parson's Creek District, Page 19, Line 11.
19. Marshall, p. 85.
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