Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva's Black History

Record Detail

Record #42 from Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg)

State Maryland
County (Primary) Talbot
Other Counties Queen Anne, Kent
Family Name Guy
Family History Notes 1. Guy, born say 1660, was a "Negroe" who was living in Island Hundred, Talbot County, on 15 November 1687 when the court ordered that he serve James Downs for two years as punishment for begetting an illegitimate child by Downs' servant Elizabeth Vincent sometime before 15 March 1685/6. Their daughter Barbara Vincent was bound to Downs until the age of twenty-one. Downs gave Guy his freedom on 2 May 1690 [Judgment Record 1686-9, 68, 173; Chattel Records 1689-92, 320]. They may have been the ancestors of 2 i. Joseph1, born say 1702. ii. Richard1, born say 1704, living in Queen Anne's County on 26 August 1735 when the court found in his favor in a suit brought against him by James Earle. He was called Richard Guy alias Williams in March 1738 when the court ordered him to serve James Earle another 5 years for running away for a total of 104 days in 1736 and 1737 [Judgment Record 1732-5, 541; 1735-7, 47]. 2. Joseph1 Guy, born say 1702, was a "free mulatto man begot by a Negro man on a white woman" living in Saint Paul's Parish on 10 August 1733 when the Queen Anne's County court convicted him of marrying a white woman named Bridget Jones and ordered them sold for seven years. Thomas Hynson Wright was highest bidder at 18 pounds, 10 shillings. He may have been identical to Joseph Williams alias Guy who John Emory won a suit against for 9,586 pounds of tobacco in June 1735. In November 1737 he confessed to running away for a total of 141 days in 1736 and 1737 and was ordered to serve an additional 1,410 days [Judgment Record 1732-5, 503-4, 513, 526]. They may have been the parents of i. Joseph2, head of a Kent County, Maryland household of 6 "other free" in 1800 [MD:173]. ii. Richard2, head of a St. Jones Hundred, Kent County, Delaware household of 8 "other free" in 1800 [DE:47]. iii. John, head of a Murderkill Hundred, Kent County household of 2 "other free" in 1800 [DE:118] and a "F.N." head of a Kent County household of 3 in 1810 [DE:64]. iv. Samuel, head of a Little Creek Hundred, Kent County household of 4 "other free" in 1800 [DE:35]. v. George, "F. N." head of a Kent County household of 6 "other free" in 1810 [DE:19].
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[Author (if known)], Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg), [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.

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