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

Record Detail

Record #55 from Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg)

State Maryland
County (Primary) Talbot
Other Counties Sussex, Cecil, Dorchester
Family Name Coursey/Kersey
Family History Notes 1. Mary Kersey, born say 1720, the servant of Nicholas Glen, was fined by the Talbot County court in August 1742 for having an illegitimate child. She was called "Mary Kerse Mulatto" in Glen's account that he recorded in court in November 1744 in a case he brought against her for running away for eighty days and bearing two children in his house. In June 1745 she received corporal punishment for having another illegitimate child [Judgment Record 1742-3, 289-90, 301; 1744-5, 109; 1745-6, 134]. She was the mother of i. Nero, born in February 1741/2. ii. ?James1 Carse, head of a Talbot County household of 13 "other free" in 1790. iii. Jane, born about March 1745, three months old when she was bound to Nicholas Glen/ Glynn until the age of eighteen. Other members of the Coursey/ Kersey family were i. George Kersey, head of a Talbot County household of 3 "other free" and a slave in 1790, perhaps identical to George Course who was head of a Frederick County household of 4 "other free" in 1800 [MD:937]. ii. John, a "negro" taxable who was living at Jasper Petticoat's in Upper Newfoundland and Seneca Hundred, Montgomery County in 1783 [MSA S1161-8-5, p.25]. iii. Ralph Corse, head of a Murderkill Hundred, Kent County, Delaware household of 6 "other free" in 1800 [DE:114] and 4 in 1810 [DE:56]. iv. William Coursey, born before 1776, head of a Broadkiln Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware household of 9 "free colored" in 1820 [DE:314]. v. John Coursey, born before 1776, head of a Lewis and Rehoboth Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware household of 8 "free colored" in 1820 [DE:306]. vi. Elizabeth Kearse, born about 1767, obtained a certificate of freedom in Dorchester County on 17 September 1810: of a blackish colour ... born free, raised in Talbot County, aged about 43 years [Certificates of Freedom for Negroes 1806-64, 14]. vii. Caesar Corse, "Negro" head of a Kent County household of 8 "other free" in 1790. viii. William Coursey, head of a West Sassafras, Cecil County household of 1 "other free" in 1790. ix. Edmund, head of a Baltimore City household of 6 "other free" in 1800 [MD:169]. x. James2, born about 1792, obtained a certificate of freedom in Dorchester County on 4 May 1815: yellow complexion .. born free, raised in Dorchester County, aged about 23 years [Certificates of Freedom for Negroes 1806-64, 25].
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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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