Existing comment:
"Ran away from the Subscriber..."
The desire for freedom created a constant flow of runaway slaves. The pages of the Maryland Gazette are filled with advertising for runaway slaves, such as Governor Ogle's "Negro Joe... his cook" who went off on a boat for Philadelphia in 1744.
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During the War of 1812, many slaves, given promises of freedom for fighting with the British, ran off to never be recovered. Others were carried off by British troops. The Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, prohibited British officers from transporting runaway slaves. Those with claims were encouraged to come forward without delay. Henrietta Ogle, in the company of Louis Neth of Annapolis, boarded a vessel in the Chesapeake Bay to lodge just such a claim. Seven years later, after her death, Benjamin Ogle II credited to her estate the receipt of $3,402 "for Negroes under the Treaty of Ghent."
On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed those held in bondage in states "in rebellion against the United States." Maryland was not in rebellion, so its saves remained in bondage. In September of 1864, Maryland voters (white men) went to the polls to accept or reject a new State constitution. It contained a Declaration of Rights:
"Hereafter, in this State, there shall be neither slavery not involuntary servitude, except in punishment of a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, and all persons held in service or labor, as slaves, are hereby declared free."
Slavery in Maryland came to an end, and with that end came the conclusion of a long chapter in Maryland history and the beginning of a new way of life for black and white alike. |