Harry Fox
MSA SC 5496-51440
War of 1812 Refugee, Saint Mary's County, Maryland
Biography:
Harry Fox was an enslaved man who was owned by John Mackall, Jr. of Saint Mary's County, Maryland. Harry Fox was called little Harry, since there was an elder enslaved man also named Harry on Mackall's plantation. In 1814, while the British were at war with America, Harry Fox escaped from his master. He fled with eleven enslaved individuals who belonged to Mackall and several others that belonged to James M. Broome. Broome was married to Mackall's only daughter Margaret Mackall. The group of slaves went on board the British fleet, which was lying in the Potomac river. After the escape Harry Fox and Harry Hammet, another slave of John Mackall, returned to the neighborhood of St. Inigoes. The two men were accompanied by British soldiers and searched the homes of local residents. Hammet and Fox were authorized by Admiral Cockburn to search the house of Susan Bayne. The war lasted for two years, until the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814. By the end of the war more than 750 enslaved people escaped from Maryland.
Following the war Maryland property owners filed claims for compensation with the Department of State for the loss of their property. Harry Fox' owner John Mackall, Jr. died prior to claims being filed. Instead James M. Broome filed a claim for himself and on behalf of his father-in-law John Mackall, Jr. Harry Fox who was 21 years old when he fled, was valued at $400. However, the commission that was put in place to handle the claims, decided that Maryland slave owners would be awarded $280 per slave that fled to the British.
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