John Smith (b. circa 1834 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51374
Maryland State Colonization Society Emigrant to Liberia from Caroline
County, 1835
Biography:
John Henry Smith, the grandson of Luke and Ann Walker, was a freeborn resident of Caroline County.1 John had not yet been born at the time that the 1832 Free Negro Census was conducted in Caroline County. On the census, Luke's household included a twenty-five year old man named Lewis Smith, who may have been Luke's son-in-law and John's father.2 It is unclear who John's mother was. Three years later, when the Walkers emigrated to Liberia, John Smith, a toddler of fourteen months, travelled with them. For some reason, Lewis Smith did not accompany the Walkers. On December 24, 1835, John Smith and his family sailed from Baltimore on the brig Fortune, arriving at Cape Palmas, Liberia on February 4, 1836.3
Adjusting to the climate and diseases of the new land was often difficult,
if not fatal, for colonists. Children of John's age were especially vulnerable.4
However, by the time that the colony's first census was conducted in 1837,
John and the rest of the Walkers had successfully survived a year in the
new settlement.5 Nevertheless, the family did not remain in
Liberia for long. Luke became disillusioned by the frequent material shortages
and lack of opportunities in the new colony. In June 1837, the Walkers
and John returned to the United States on the Niobe.6
The outcome of John's life in the United States is unknown. By 1850, Ann
Walker and several of her children were living in New York City in the
home of Lewis Walker, who was probably a relative. John, however, was not
a member of this household.7
3. Hall, Richard L. On Afric’s Shore: A History of Maryland in Liberia, 1834-1857. (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2003), 156.
4. Ibid, 60.
6. Hall, 453.
7. U.S. CENSUS BUREAU (Census Record, MD) for Ann Walker, 1850, New York County, 1st District, 8th Ward New York City, Page 235a, Lines 37-42. Page 235b, Line 1.
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