| Location | Cambridge, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Names Mentioned | – |
| Date | February 22, 1867 |
| Document Title | Register of Wills in Dorchester County, Maryland, to the Headquarters of the Maryland Freemenâs Bureau Assistant Commissioner; Enclosing a Table |
| Document Description | E. W. LeCompte to Lieut. E. C. Knower, 22 Feb. 1867, enclosing "List of negro apprentices in Dorchester County Maryland," 22 Feb. 1867, L-7 1867, Letters Received, ser. 1962, MD & DE Asst. Comr., RG 105 [A-9620]. E. W. LeCompte provides a list of and overview of the legal apprenticeships of black children and young adults In Dorchester County as of February 1867, totaling 274 people, predominately male. He suggests that few of those listed are actually in custody of the Masters on their apprenticeship documentation, and mentions death, enlistment, immigration to another state, or work outside of the apprenticeship as reasons for the low estimation of those actively apprenticed. (From The Wartime Genesis of Free Labor, 547-548.) |
| Transcription | Register's Officeâ Cambridge Md. Feby. 22nd. 1867â Sir, Yours of 18th. inst., requesting the number of negro apprentices in this County &c., was duly receivedâ Annexed you will find a statement giving the desired information, with the sex and the number bound in each yearâ The whole number legally apprenticed is, you will observe, 274 âbut I will suggest that a very small part of them are in the service and custody of their Mastersâ certainly not over one third âSome of them are dead, some of the older ones entered the Army, some have left the state, and very many of them have left their Masters and either live with their parents or hire out to suit themselves, and very few of the Masters will make any effort or go to any expence to recover the service of any such apprenticeâ Nearly one half (111) of the whole number were bound in the year 1864, just after the adoption of the new Constitution, now I know that a very small percentage of them ever went to their Masters, or were claimed after such binding, as most of the Masters were well aware that there was but little profit in attempting to hold them when they did not want to remainâ Respectfully &câ E. W. LeCompte {Enclosure} {Cambridge, Md.} Feby. 22nd, 1867â List of negro apprentices in Dorchester County Maryland, to dateâ Male Female 1852 3 1 1853 5 1854 6 1855 10 2 1856 4 1857 18 12 1858 26 3 1859 11 4 1860 14 4 1861 8 2 1862 1 1863 1 1864 73 38 1865 6 5 1866 15 2 1867 0 0 201 â73 201 Total 274 |
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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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