William Collison (b.
? - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51757
Property Owner, Dorchester County, Maryland
Biography:
William Collison was a property owner from Dorchester County. Because many records were destroyed in the May 9, 1852 Dorchester County courthouse fire, it is difficult to learn much about his lfie.1
Some time before 1838 Collison married Mary Layton and assumed joint ownership of properties inherited from her father, James. These included a parcel of land called Black Walnut Landing, a second, small, unnamed parcel on Nanticoke Indian lands, and a 21 year old slave named Israel Coleman. The deed to Black Walnut Landing was sold to William T. Parks for $75 in 1838.2 The Nanticoke parcel and the slave required litigation, however; the parcel was too small to be shared amongst its inheritors. Collison and his wife Mary, Francis Hayward and his wife Margaret, Thomas Layton, and infant James Layton filed a complaint with the Chancery Court in order to sell the land. After paying $45.95 in legal costs, the parties evenly divided the $69.05 profit.3
Because of an ownership dispute with Israel's original owner, Thomas Layton, Collison was instructed by the Chancery Court to return Israel to him.4 Collison apparently retained ownership of Israel. On February 15, 1848 Collison filed a delayed manumission of a 12 year old "Negro Girl named Cate" and the 32 year old "Negro Man named Israel"; Cate's bondage was slated to end December 30, 1865 although the document stipulated that any "increase" (children) born before that date would remain enslaved until the age of 35 for males and 30 for females.5 Israel's emancipation was slated for December 30, 1855. Another delayed manumission on January 29, 1849 superseded Israel's previous one and declared that he would be free on January 1, 1852.6 As the executor of Sarah C. Layton's estate in 1840, Collison sold the four year term-manumitted slave Eliza to Noah J. Foxwell for $40. Although Eliza was freed, or perhaps given a shorter term manumission by Sarah C. Layton's will, there was "insufficiency of assets to pay the legacies bequeathed by the will"; the Orphans Court extended Eliza's term of slavery to December 31, 1846, allowing Collison to sell her.7
Collison maintained a large household near
The year of Collison's death is unknown.
Sources:
2. DORCHESTER COUNTY COURT (Land Records) 1836-1839, ER 16, CR 42863-2, p. 546-7 [MSA CE46-66]
8. Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census, 1840, Dorchester County, Vienna District, Maryland, p. 21
Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census, 1840, Dorchester County, Vienna District, Maryland, p. 22
Return to William Collison's Introductory Page
Researched and written by Alex Champion, 2013
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|