William Scott (b. circa 1814 - d. circa 1835)
MSA SC 5496-51370
Maryland State Colonization Society Emigrant to Liberia from Talbot
County, 1835
Biography:
William Scott was manumitted on December 31, 1834 by the will of Dr. Nicholas Hammond (d. 1831) of Saint Aubin, Talbot County. Hammond's will freed all of his slaves, except those "beyond the lawful age for manumission." Since these older slaves had to remain under the ownership of his wife and children, Hammond directed his family "that all such be humanely treated and comfortably supported, particularly in their old age: and I especially desire that every reasonable provision be made for the comfort and happiness of my Father's faithful servant Cyrus during the remainder of his life." Hammond freed his younger male slaves with the "absolute and express condition" that they "as soon as practicable, thereafter, emigrate to the American colony on the Coast of Africa." Those who chose not to emigrate would remain slaves. Prior to his manumission, William had probably been hired out to James Chamberlaine as William was in Chamberlaine's possession at the time of Hammond's death.1
William chose emigration over lifelong enslavement. He departed for Liberia with his freeborn wife, Caroline Chambers Scott, and a woman named Anna Maria Scott, who was probably a sister or other relative. They sailed from Baltimore on the schooner Harmony on June 28, 1835, arriving at Cape Palmas, Liberia on August 23, 1835.2 William died of unknown causes shortly after their arrival.3
3. Hall, Richard L. On Afric’s Shore: A History of Maryland in Liberia,
1834-1857. (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2003), 451.
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