| Location | Baltimore, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Document Type | Statement/Correspondence |
| Names Mentioned | S. S. Hughes (Vienna, MD), Harriet Anne Maria Banks |
| Date | November 14, 1864 |
| Document Title | Statement of a Maryland Freedwoman |
| Document Description | Statement of Harriet Anne Maria Banks, 14 Nov. 1864, filed with M-1932 1864, Letters Received, ser. 12, RG 94 [K-4]. Given at the headquarters of the Middle Department and 8th Army Corps. Harriet Anne Maria Banks, a woman who was enslaved by Dr. S. S. Hughes of Vienna, described Hughes' reaction to the abolishment of slavery in Maryland just 2 weeks before her testimony on November 1st 1864. She describes his refusal to accept that slavery had ended in Maryland, as well as the inability of many of Vienna's recently freed people to join the army or truly attain their freedom due the attitudes of former slaveowners like Hughes. (From The Wartime Genesis of Free Labor, 518-519.) |
| Transcription | Balt {Md.} Novr 14" /64. Statement Harriet Anne Maria Banks (negress) My name is Harriet Anne Maria Banks & was the Slave of Dr. S. S. Hughes of Vienna Maryland I left Dr. Hughes & came to Baltimore. he treated me badly & this was my principal object in leaving they informed me that Abraham Lincoln Could not free me that he had no right to do so. there are Many coloured persons living in the Vicinity who desire to go into the Service of the United States but are prevented from doing so by their masters who disclaim the right of their being taken from the, I wish the privilege granted me of their being taken from them I wish the privilege granted me of returning to my former home & getting possession of bed & clothing left there by me Her Harriet Anne X Maria Banks. mark |
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[Author (if known)], Documents from the Freedmen and Southern Society Project, [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.
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