Notes to Chapter V

BLACKS BEFORE THE LAW IN COLONIAL MARYLAND
Ross Kimmel

1Free black men who fathered mulatto bastards were subject to penalties of servitude. Free blacks were also excluded from militia muster. See above, Chapter.

2Somerset County Judicial Record, 1687-1689, p. 58 (MdSA). Sarah Driggers may well have been related by blood or marriage to two blacks who resided earlier on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The first was a free black servant named Imannuel Driggs who sold some young black slaves to a white man in mid-century. The other was a slave named Thomas Driggers (perhaps one of the slaves sold by Driggs) who ran afoul of the law in 1668. His masters complained to the Northampton County, Virginia, Court that he "hath neglected [their] service," and three black and a white woman complained that Driggers "hath very Greatly abused them." For his offenses, the court ordered Driggers lashed twenty times. Shortly thereafter, John Franciscoe, one of the free blacks Driggers had abused, petitioned the same court to award him, for some unclear reason, possession of Driggers' child. Driggers' masters were agreeable to that proposal, and the court so ordered it with the stipulation that the child should go free at age twenty-one. Perhaps Sarah was that child. See Jennings C. Wise, Ye Kingdome of Accawmacke: Or the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century (Richmond, 1911), p. 287: and Northampton County Order Book #9 (1664-1674), folios 52-53, Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia, (microfilm available via interlibrary loan). Warren M. Billings, in his "'Virginia's Deploured Condition,'" 1670-1676: "The Coming of Bacon's Rebellion" (Ph.D. Dissertation, Northern Illinois University, 1968), pp. 139-140, n. 6, identified the Driggers cases and several others involving both free blacks and slaves. Early in the eighteenth century, the names of Deverex, William, and Sarah Dregers (also Drigas and Drigours) turn up in Somerset County Court and Testamentary Records. Sarah was the widow of Henry Bishop when she married Deverex, and she survived Deverex. Deverex once was called to court for profaning the Sabbath. The testamentary records of Deverex and William show planters of modest means. There are no definite indications in the record that they are even black, much less related to the earlier Driggers. See Somerset County Deeds, 0-9 (AB), pp. 368-69 (June Court, 1707); Somerset County Judicial Record, 1707-11, p. 16 (August Court, 1707); Somerset Judicial Record, 1730-33, fol. 44 (November Couort, 1730); Somerset Judicial Record, 1707-1711, p. 96 (March Court, 1707/8); Maryland Provincial Testamentary Proceedings, 26, p. 16, 21; Inventories, 8, fol. 65; Testamentary Proceedings, 21, p. 16, 101; Inventories and Accounts, 30, p. 88 (MdSA).

3By the middle of the seventeenth century, large numbers of Eastern Shore Virginians had migrated northward into territory disputed by Virginia and Maryland. The Virginians refused to patent their land claims in St. Mary's City and did so in Jamestown. Charles Calvert, Third Lord Baltimore, settled the matter in his own favor by establishing Somerset County on land he considered to be Maryland's southermost legitimate claim. His actions were supported by royal authorities thus making the Virginians Marylanders. See Clayton Torrence, Old Somerset on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (1935; rpt. Baltimore, 1966), pp. 9-11, 16-17.

4The Johnsons' family history in Virginia was culled from the following sources: T. R. Davis, "Negro Servitude in the United States," The Journal of Negro History, VIII (1923), pp. 259, 278; John H. Russell, "Colored Freemen as Slave Owners in Virginia," The Journal of Negro History, I (1916), pp. 234-237; Torrence, Old Somerset, pp. 75-76.

5[Maryland Provincial] Patents, 8, pp. 495-496 (MdSA).

6Somerset County Land Deeds, 0-1, pp. 32-33, 20-21 (MdSA).

7Archives Maryland, ed. William Hand Browne et at. (in progress; Baltimore, 1883 to date), LIV, p. 759 (hereafter cited Archives Md.).

8Patents, 20, pp. 224-225 (MdSA).

9Archives Md., LIV, p. 760 (MdSA).

10Ibid. pp. 159-161 (MdSA).

11Somerset County Judicial Record, 1671-1675, p. 457 (MdSA). There was at least one white John Johnson residing in Somerset County at the same time.

12Archives Md., LIV, p. 675 (1667); Somerset County Judicial Record, 1670-1675, p. 205 (1671); 1671-1675, pp. 41, 260, 267-268 (1673), 429, 457 (1674-1675) (MdSA).

13There is no record of a black or a slave testifying in legal cases before this time other than on his own behalf or, in the Warrow case (Chapter ), against Indians. In at least one instance, and perhaps two others, it appears that unfree blacks and mulattoes were not permittted to testify against whites in criminal cases even though there was no statute to prohibit it. See Charles County Court Proceedings, Y #1 (1699/1700-1701/02), p. 178 (1700/01)(MdSA); Archives Md., LIII, 626 (1664/65); Provincial Court Judgments, DS #C (1692-1693), p. 46 (1692) (MdSA).

14Somerset County Judicial Record, 1670-1671, pp. 10, 15 (MdSA).

15Somerset County Judicial Record, 1675-1677, pp. 47, 78 (MdSA).

16Accomack County Deeds and Wills, 1663-1666, p. 92, Virginia State Library (available on microfilm via interlibrary loan).

17Archives Md., LIV, pp. 707, 712.

18Somerset County Judicial Record, pp. 336-337 (MdSA).

19[Maryland Provincial] Rent Roll, vol. I #1, p. 34 (MdSA).

20Somerset County Judicial Record, 1701-1702, pp. 105-106 (March Court, 1702) (MdSA).

21Cecil County Court Judgments, E, pp. 88-89 (August Court, 1710) (MdSA).

22Kent County Court Proceedings, J.S. #Z, pp. 11-12 (November Court, 1722) (MdSA).

23Ibid., p. 182 (March Court, 1722/3) (MdSA).

24The militia law of 1678, the year the early Johnsons drop from sight, would have kept them out of the militia (see above, Chapter ). The name John Johnson appears frequently in Somerset County jury lists, but there were at least two white men of this name residing in the county at the time.

25As we have seen, slave women were considered taxable laborers from the middle of the seventeenth century. Free women were not so considered. See above, Chapter II.

26Charles County Circuit Court Records, vol. 22, A #2, p. 80 (June Court, 1702) (MdSA).

27See above, Chapter .

28Prince George's County Court Record, L #4, p. 420 (March Court, 1724); p. 457 (June Court, 1725); N #5, p. 624 (November Court, 1727) (MdSA).

29Prince George's County Court Record, R #8, pp. 142-143 (June Court, 1731); p. 631 (June Court, 1723); S #9, p. 66 (August Court, 1732) (MdSA). There is no other reference to Humull Godfrey though there are references to a Hughman (or Human) Godfrey in Prince George's County at the time who appears to have been white.

30Charles County Circuit Court Record, 1741-1743, pp. 220-221 (June Court, 1741); pp. 249-250 (August Court, 1741) (MdSA).

31Prince George's County Inventories, box 14, folder 11. [Maryland Provincial] Accounts, 20, folio 247 (MdSA). Henry Adams Quando does not appear in other indexed records of the period.

32Prince George's County Bonds, box 19, folder 37 (MdSA).

33See above, Chapter .

34Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, G., pp. 699-700 (March Court, 1704/5); T.B. #1, pp. 80-81 (August Court, 1705); p. 123 (November Court, 1705) (MdSA). For the law of 1699, see above, Chapter .

35Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, T.B. #2, p. 8 (November Court, 1708) (MdSA).

36Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, R.C. p. 213 (June Court, 1718); p. 33 (March Court, 1718/9) (MdSA).

37Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, 1723, pp. 22-23, 47 (MdSA).

38Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, I.B. #6, p. 285 (November Court, 1746), p. 353 (March Court, 1747) (MdSA).

39An act of 1715 specified that "all Male Persons Residents in this Province and all Female Slaves therein, of the Age of Sixteen Years, or above, shall be accounted Taxables." Clergymen, the poor, and unfit slaves were excepted. See Archives Md. XXX, pp. 274-277.

40Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, I.B. #1, p. 304 (August Court, 1735); p. 374 (November Court, 1735) (MdSA).

41Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, I.B. #2, pp. 120, 128, 184 (March Court, 1736); pp. 223, 249-250 (November Court, 1737) (MdSA).

42Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, I.B. #1 (2), p. 251 (August Court, 1741) (MdSA).

43Prince George's County Court Record, O.O. #23, p. 456 (July Court, 1757), p. 563 (November Court, 1757). Charles County Circuit Court Records, P #3, p. 530 (August Court, 1767) (MdSA).

44C. Ashley Ellefson, "Free Jupiter and the Rest of the World: The Problems of a Free Negro in Colonial Maryland," Maryland Historical Magazine, LXVI (1971), pp. 1-13.

45See above, Chapter .

46Prince George's County Court Record, O #6, pp. 65-66, 209-210 (June Court, 1728) (MdSA).

47Provincial Court Judgments, R.B. #2, pp. 135-137 (MdSA). The court records for Calvert County no longer exists.

48Carrol T. Bonds, ed., Proceedings of the Maryland Court of Appeals 1695-1729 (Washington, 1933), p. 621.

49Black Book II, pt. 2 (Proprietary Papers, 1703-1769), folio 115 (MdSA).

50Provincial Court Records, P #7, pp. 489-495 (August Court, 1730) (MdSA).

51Provincial Court Records, V #10, pp/ 323-324 (March Court, 1735), 452-454 (June Court, 1735), 655 (August Court, 1735) (MdSA).

52Ibid., p. 672 (November Court, 1735).

53Provincial Court Records, W #11, pp. 83-84 (June Court, 1736); X #12, pp. 367-371 (June Court, 1739); p. 475 (August Court, 1739) (MdSA).

54Chancery Court Record, vol. 7, I.R. #4, pp. 62, 80 (MdSA). The other plaintifs were John Orchard, William Cumming, and Jon Davis.

55Provincial Court Records, C.C. #15, pp. 119-120 (August Court, 1743) (MdSA).

56Provincial Court Records, F.F. #17, pp. 578-579 (March Court, 1746); G.G. #18, pp. 371-372 (November Court, 1747) (MdSA).

57Archives Md., XXVI, pp. 249-251.

58The militia law of 1678 had excluded all "Negroes and slaves" whatsoever. Technically, it did not exclude free mulattoes. See above, Chapter .

59Provincial Court Judgments, W.T. #4, p. 190 (October Court, 1702) (MdSA).

60Provincial Court Judgments, T.L. #3, p. 47 (September Court, 1703) (MdSA).

61Talbot County Court Judgments, R.F. #12, pp. 6-7 (November Court, 1717), p. 251 (March Court, 1718/19) (MdSA).

62Anne Arundel County Court Judgments, I.B. #1 (2), p. 776 (March Court, 1765) (MdSA).

63Somerset County Judicial Record, 1765-1766, folios 2-3 (August Court, 1765) (MdSA).

64Baltimore County Court Minutes, 1772, 1775-1781, p. 26 (1772) (MdSA). A few pages later appears the notation that James Lewis, a two year old mulatto, was bound out to Stephen Fell. See Ibid., p. 37.

65Provincial Court Record, Z #13, p. 76 (August Court, 1740) (MdSA).

66Kent County Court Proceedings, J.S. #23, pp. 202-204 (March Court, 1758) (MdSA).


This web site is presented for reference purposes under the doctrine of fair use. When this material is used, in whole or in part, proper citation and credit must be attributed to the Maryland State Archives. PLEASE NOTE: The site may contain material from other sources which may be under copyright. Rights assessment, and full originating source citation, is the responsibility of the user.

Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
© Copyright November 14, 2000 Maryland State Archives