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Archiver > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS > 2000-05 > 0957397987


From: Chip White <>
Subject: Re: [LDR] General Question About Slavery on the Shore
Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 19:53:07 -0400
References: <20000503151721.80046.qmail@hotmail.com>


Out side of the English shipping Scottish prisoners as slaves in Oxford & Charles
County, I haven't seen slave (Africans) ships listed nor sales of any kind in any ref.
books in Md. or Va.. It was my understanding that the heavy trade was in Barbados, and
not the shore from the beginning of the 1700`s. Only the large plantations would put so
called orders in for so many workers (according to the needs), than they would be
shipped from the islands.
In our family records regarding slaves both on the Shore and Charles Co Md., they
were always named by the oldest couples than their children. Have no idea with my
families on the Shore if they used our Surnames or not. In Southern Md. they did..I met
a Dr. from Howard Univ. three years ago that had my grandmothers last name and mentioned
it to him. After talking for less than a minute it turns out his family was owned by my
GGG Smoot and they kept the family name.
As far as purchasing slaves, I haven't seen how they were bought except pass down
either in inheritance or as a gift to a family member that needed help one way or
another. In one family I have a Will dating back to 1856. The older slave couple were
to be freed upon is death, and the two younger slaves (no ages given) were to be handed
down to his daughter. In Charles Co., my GGG Smoot gave freedom paper early (no date and
info passed down) though all but two of forty stayed and share cropped. During the war
hard times hit and crops weren't all that great. Union forces did buy, but unfairly what
little they had, so he couldn't afford to keep them. He was the first Surgeon in that
Co., so he had something to fall back on.
Now that I think about it, we should have on the Count web sites a Slave list....if
there isn't one already. List the first names along with the owners surname. There
wasn't a lot of wills, and most slave names were only listed/recorded via family
letters, notes, etc., etc.,...
Chip White
Robyn West wrote:

> Hello,
>
> This is such a tremendously educated list, I thought I'd pose this question
> that's been floating in my mind. I have been researchign my African-American
> WATERS family in Somerset county for some time. I've traced back to an
> ancestor, Joshua Waters, who was the first one freed in 1819, by Ms.
> Susan(nah) Waters. He was born ca. 1776.
>
> I have consulted the most well-known books on this topic, especially the one
> Eastern Shore: A Trip Back in Time & Place(or something like that), which
> has some great chapters on Slavery & African American life on the Shore in
> general, but my question is does anyone know which PORT would slaveowners on
> the Shore most likely have purchased their slaves from? I know the major
> ports in the US were Annapolis, New Orleans, Richmond, etc. but in terms of
> the Shore, which was most prominent? Also, were there any prominent slave
> sellers in the area? I know in my research in TN, there are mainly two or
> three names, or companies, that figured prominently in "nasty business" of
> buying & selling human cargo.
>
> Yout thoughts, guesses, advice, or pointers to other people or resources
> would be greatly appreciated. Obviously, I'm attempting to find where my
> ancestor was most likely purchased from & then try to find records to
> reflect that, which may not even exist, but I'll give it a shot.
>
> Thanks, Robyn
>
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