Archives of
Maryland
(Biographical Series)
Robert Hardcastle (b. 1768 -
d. 1852)
MSA SC
5496-51378
Slaveholder, Caroline County
Biography:
Robert Hardcastle owned slaves since at least 1800, when he is recorded as having 9 African-American bondsmen in his household.1 In fact, members of the Hardcastle family were some of the major supporters of the institution in Caroline County, where it was nearly non-existent by mid century. His father Thomas had been a prominent public servant and property holder, accumulating over 1500 acres of land.2 He also enslaved between 20 and 25 African-Americans in the late 18th century. Robert's younger brother William M. Hardcastle owned many slaves in the county as well. Both men went against the prevailing trend with their increasing labor forces. By 1810, Robert's enslaved population had grown to 14.3
In 1822, Baltimore County sheriff Sheppard C. Leakin posted a committal notice for an alleged runaway named Anna Bride. The 25 year old "bright mulatto woman" claimed she was free and had been "raised in the family of Mr. Robert Hardcastle, of Caroline County, Eastern Shore."4 She was committed to the local jail, but there is no further information about the young woman's fate. While no manumission or certificate of freedom exists for Anna in this county, many free blacks moved about the state without documentation.5 There were several free blacks who lived among the Caroline County Hardcastles through the early 19th century, but these went unnamed in the census until 1850. Robert did manumit another woman several years after Anna was imprisoned in Baltimore. In 1828, the 43 year old "negro woman Blanch" paid Hardcastle ten dollars for her freedom.6
Soon after freeing this older servant, Hardcastle would allegedly lose two of his bondsmen to flight, an increasingly common mode of resistance among Eastern Shore slaves. On August 1, 1833, Gloucester County Court in New Jersey opened hearings for Robert Hardcastle vs. Negro Slaves, Samuel and Louisa. Though he was unable to attend, his son Aaron represented the family in court. The Hardcastles claimed that 22 year old Samuel and 18 year old Louisa had run away in the spring of 1832. Aaron testified that he had been raised with Samuel "from his infancy," and "that the person in Court now claimed is certainly the Slave of his father."7 According to the 1830 Census, Robert Hardcastle owned 5 slaves, only one male who was over 55 and therefore would not correspond with Samuel.8 However, his tax assessment from the same year listed 13 slaves, including three in the 14 to 45 age range for males, and two females between 14 and 36.9
The Hardcastles and their attorney John Wisener, of Philadelphia, had legally obtained the necessary warrants as stipulated in New Jersey's 1826 act "An Act concerning Slaves."10 This supplemental law had actually been passed with significant pressure from representatives of Maryland's state government, including Kent County judge Ezekiel Forman Chambers.11 Maryland slaveholders had previously had great difficulty retrieving fugitive slaves from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where the institution was gradually abolished through the early 1800's. This continued to be an issue of contention between the states, as evidenced in the cases of Nathan Mead and Edward Prigg later in the decade. Robert Hardcastle was on the few slaveholders who effectively used the proper legal channels and was therefore successful.
He was also fortunate that the only witness called on behalf of the defendents was John Wood, a local who had recently employed the two young African-Americans. His testimony was damning to their hopes for freedom. Wood said only that both Samuel and Louisa had worked for him since April, 1832, the latter living with him as well. He knew nothing else of their background and had not seen either individual before that time. These contentions, along with the claims of Robert and Aaron Hardcastle, were apparently sufficient for Judge John K. Cowperthwait to make a ruling. He ordered that Samuel and Louisa be removed to Maryland, "from whence they have fled."12 Recaptured fugitives were often sold soon after they were returned. While there is no documentation of such a sale for either of these individuals, Hardcastle may have committed the deed in private. There is no further record of the lives of Samuel and Louisa.
In fact, Robert Hardcastle appeared to own no slaves at all as of 1840.13 In his 70's by that time, he may have unofficially passed the chattel on to younger
relations. By 1850 his son Robert Emmitt enslaved 7 African-Americans,
in the same district as his uncle, William M. Hardcastle.14
Four of these individuals: Sullivan, Charles, Theodore, and Alexander,
had been deeded by the elder Robert in 1849, along with all his
livestock, household items, and farming implements.15 In his 1852 will
Robert Hardcastle officially ceded ownership of over 600 acres of land
in Caroline County, known as "Money's Worth," to his son.16 He died later that year.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2012.
Return to Robert Hardcastle's Introductory Page
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