James or Charles (b. circa 1795 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51916
Fled from Slavery, Dorchester County, Maryland, 1825
Biography:
A slave called James, and by some called Charles was born around 1795 in Dorchester County, Maryland.1 His slave owner, Henry C. Hicks, owned property near Vienna.2 On April 9, 1825, Hicks placed a runaway advertisement in the Cambridge Chronicle & Eastern Shore Advertiser as an attempt to spread the word that his slave had ran away. James was said to have runaway on April 5, 1825 from Hicks. Hicks described James as "a likely negro man."3 Hicks continued with a personal decription of James with the hope of reclaiming him. Hicks described James as "height 5 feet 6 and a half inches, light black, with a small scar on the nose between the eyes, walks very proper, his foot eleven inches and a half long when bare, smiling and diffident countenance when interrogated."4 The description was fairly detailed especially by describing the small scar on the nose between the eyes, which could be helpful for slave catchers when locating James.
If James was taken out of the state, Hicks offered a fifty dollar reward for the apprehension and return of his slave.5 Hicks offered a thirty dollar reward for the apprehension and return of James if he was taken in the state. The runaway ad ran in the Cambridge Chronicle & Eastern Shore Advertiser "tf," which meant "til found."
1. "Fifty Dollars Reward." Cambridge Chronicle & Eastern Shore Advertiser. April 9, 1825.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
Researched and Written by Tanner Sparks, 2014.
Return to James's Introductory Page
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