Edward Simpson (b. circa 1829 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51383
Maryland State Colonization Society Emigrant to Liberia from Charles County, 1835

Biography:

As a five-year old child, Edward Simpson was manumitted with his mother, Mary Ann, and sister, Letty Ann, by Henry B. Goodwin of Charles County on January 3, 1835.^{1, 2} Ambrose Simpson, Edward's father, was manumitted around the same time by George D. Parnham, also of Charles County.³

On June 28, 1835, the Simpsons sailed together from Baltimore on the schooner Harmony, arriving at Cape Palmas, Liberia on August 23, 1835.^{4, 5}  They were also accompanied by Cecilia Ann Hanson, a thirteen-year old girl manunitted by Goodwin, who remained in their household in Liberia.^{5, 6} Edward's father, Ambrose, worked as a rough carpenter and sawyer as well as served in the colonial government as an elected councilor in 1846 and 1848. ^{7, 8, 9, 10} By 1848, Edward and Letty Ann had at least four more siblings: Margaret (b. circa 1838), Josiah (b. circa 1841), and George (b. circa 1846), and Samuel H. (b. circa 1848).^{11, 12} Ambrose also had an illegitmate child with Hannah Ireland, but they did not appear to live with Ambrose and Mary Ann.¹³ As of the 1852 Liberian census, Edward was still living in his parents' household in Cape Palmas without a recorded occupation.¹⁴

2. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization) Society, 1817-1902. Manumission Lists, Film No. M 13248-1, 1832-1834, Lines 995-997.

3. Ibid.

4. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society), Manumission Lists, 1832-1839, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13248-1, Emigrants, Line 269-272.

5. Hall, Richard L. On Afric’s Shore: A History of Maryland in Liberia, 1834-1857. (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2003), 451.

6. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society), 1817-1902. Manumission and copies. Film No. M 13249-1. Extracts of manumissions, 1835.

7 SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society), Subscribers Reports Census, 1817-1902, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13247-1, 1837 Census.

8. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society0, Subscribers Reports Census, 1817-1902, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13247-1, 1838 Census.

9. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society), Subscribers Reports Census, 1817-1902, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13247-1, 1839 Census.

10. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society), Subscribers Reports Census, 1817-1902, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13247-1, 1840 Census.

11. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society), Subscribers Reports Census, 1817-1902, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13247-1, 1848 Census.

12. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society),  Subscribers Reports Census, 1817-1902, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13247-1, 1849 Census.

13. Hall, 451.

14. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society),  Subscribers Reports Census, 1817-1902, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13247-1, 1852 Census, Lines 411-416.
 

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