Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Harry (b. circa 1743 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51609
Slave Pardoned for Crime in Talbot County, Maryland

Biography:

    Negro Harry was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland around 1743. 1  As a slave, Harry performed duties as a "labourer" and was owned by David Robinson, a property owner in Talbot County. 2  On the first Tuesday in November 1755, a group of "twelve jurors good and lawfull Men of the County" assembled at the Talbot County Court House to hear the evidence presented against Harry. 3  The crime occurred on October 25, 1755 when Harry committed a burglary "in the Night Time between the Hours of Seven and Eleven." 4  The place burglarized was the "Mason House of Oliver Lee of the same County (Talbot) Planter." 5  Harry also confessed to stealing a "Hand Gun of the Value of forty Shillings Current Money." 6  

    During the November Court session of 1755, James Dickinson, the "Gent (Gentlemen) high Sheriff of the County,"  placed Negro Harry under his custody while the court decided his fate. 7  The court recorded that Harry "saith that he Cannot deny but that he is guilty of the Burglary" in the indictment. 8  With Harry's confession, the court ordered him to be "carried to the Goal (jail) from whence he Came and be Carried from thence to the Gallows and then be hung by the Neck till he be Dead." 9  Despite Harry being around 12 years old, the colonial court system showed no mercy in convicting him of the crime.  Harry nearly became a victim of colonial "justice," but the justices of Talbot County would become a factor in recommending a pardon for him.

    Eight justices of Talbot County wrote a letter to Governor Horatio Sharpe recommending a pardon be granted to Negro Harry.  The justices explained that Harry was "legally convicted before us of Burglary and received a Sentence of Death according to law." 10 However, after being apprehended for the crime, Harry "made a very candid Confession of the Fact, and several other Crimes, which he declared were committed at the instigation of one Sarah Kemp (his former slave owner)." 11  After deciding that "the boy is very Young, and this account is agreeable to the Character of that Woman (Sarah Kemp)," the justices pleaded to Governor Sharpe to grant a pardon to Harry. 12  

    After hearing the case and the recommendation for a pardon, Governor Sharpe and a Council held at the City of Annapolis were "pleased to Order a Pardon" for Negro Harry. 13  Negro Harry was pardoned for a number of reasons: his youth, the instigation of the crimes by Sarah Kemp, and his confession.  On December 29, 1755, Negro Harry was officially pardoned for his crimes. 14  

Endnotes:

1. TALBOT COUNTY COURT (Criminal Record) 1755-1761. Negro Harry. Folio 9-10. MdHR Number 9080. MSA C1857-4.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

10. MARYLAND STATE PAPERS (Black Books) 1706-1775. Book 9. Folio 33. Negro Harry. MdHR Number 4634. MSA S987-16.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. ARCHIVES OF MARYLAND ONLINE. Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753-1761. Vol. 31, pg. 90.

14. Ibid.
Researched and Written by Tanner Sparks, 2012. 

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