Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Jack (b. ? - d. 1756)
MSA SC 5496-51595
Slave in Kent County, Maryland

Biography:

    Negro Jack was born a slave in Kent County, Maryland.  As a slave, Jack was owned by Joseph Nicholson, a property owner in the county. 1  Jack was "indicted, tryed, & convicted" for "breaking the store house of William Murray in the night and thereout feloniously taking a piece of corded dimothy."  2  The assizes court convicted Jack of theft, and breaking and entering around April of 1756.  According to Mr. Hanos of the assizes court, Negro Jack "has for many years been well known to me to be a very wicked and bold slave that he hath more than once been convicted before me and other magistrates of felonies and other misdemeanors that he was _ _ from under the case of an overseer whom he had violently assualted and thereabout to murder." 3  From this excerpt, it appears that Negro Jack was previously convicted of assualting his overseer, but was not executed for that crime.  

    For his crime against William Murray, Jack was issued an execution warrant from the advice of the board. 4  According to the Maryland Gazette on May 27, 1756, Negro Jack "was executed in Kent Coutny, who behaved penitently" on May 14. 5  Theft and breaking and entering in the 18th century almost always resulted in a hanging.  Many people were executed in colonial Maryland for various crimes that ranged from murder to passing counterfeit money. 6  From 1726-1775, 268 people were hanged for their crimes. 7 Of those 268 people, 146 were Negro or mulatto slaves. 8 Negro Jack was one of those 146 slaves as he was hanged on Friday, May 14, 1756. 9  

Endnotes:

1. GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL (Commission Record) 1726-1786. Negro Jack. May 6, 1756. Folio 152. MdHR Number 4010-1. MSA S1080-1.

2. MARYLAND STATE PAPERS (Black Books) 1704-1772. 4, Nos. 84-183. Folio 174. Negro Jack. MdHR Number 4626. MSA S987-8.

3. MARYLAND STATE PAPERS (Black Books) 1704-1772. 4, Nos. 84-183. Folio 174. Negro Jack.

4. ARCHIVES OF MARYLAND ONLINE, Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753-1761, Vol. 31, pg. 119.

5. Maryland Gazette. 1756 May 27.

6. Ellefson, C. Ashley. Seven Hangmen of Colonial Maryland. Cortland, New York, 2009, 19.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL (Commission Record) 1726-1786. Negro Jack.
Researched and Written by Tanner Sparks, 2012.

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