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

Record Detail

Record #88 from Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg)

State Maryland
County (Primary) Talbot
Other Counties Accomack, Somerset, Worcester
Family Name Smith
Family History Notes 1. Mary Smith, born say 1747, was the spinster servant of Robert Goldsborough of Talbot County in August 1761 when the court sold her daughter Sarah to her master for 33 shillings and ordered her sold for seven years after the completion of her service for having a child by a "Negro." The court sold her for seven years to Adam Gray in November 1766 for 2,350 pounds of tobacco for having an illegitimate child by a "Negro." She was the servant of Jonathan Nichols in March 1767 when she was convicted of the same offense [Criminal Record 1761-7, 493, 505, 536]. She may have been identical to Poll Smith who was head of a Talbot County household of 1 "other free" and 4 slaves in 1790. She was the mother of i. Sarah, born about 1761. ii. ?Moses, head of a Talbot County household of 7 "other free" in 1790 and 10 in 1800 [MD:518]. iii. ?Lucy, head of a Talbot County household of 5 "other free" in 1790. iv. ?Ben, head of a Talbot County household of 6 "other free" in 1800 [MD:532]. Other Smith family were i. Anthony, a runaway "Mullatto" servant taken up in Accomack County, Virginia, who confessed that he was the servant of Joseph Vansweringham of St. Mary's County [Orders 1719-24, 6]. ii. James, taxable on "Mulatto" Mary Smith in Pocomoke Hundred of Somerset County from 1756 to 1759 [List of Tithables, 1757], perhaps related to Linah Smith, head of a Worcester County household of 6 "other free" in 1810 [MD:657].
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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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