Guide to the Records of Beneath the Underground: the Flight to Freedom and the Communities of Antebellum Maryland
Overview of Approach and Use of the Site
mdslavery.net/ugrr.html
Origin How to Use the Site
 Newspapers
 Census
 Mapping
  Imprisonment Records

A fundamental objective of Beneath the Underground is to explore the legacy of the Underground Railroad with the primary documents available at the Maryland State Archives. The purpose of this guide is to help website visitors understand the usefulness and history of the records mined for this project, as well as, to give insight into our research methodology.     

ORIGIN
The Maryland State Archives began  organized research on individuals fighting against enslavement in the fall of 2001. The project began with volunteers working from original records. The first incident located by volunteer Jerry Hynson, was from the BALTIMORE COUNTY COURT, Criminal Docket, MSA C 314, MdHR 8451, 2-15-7-34, was one for an Aaron Saulsbury, 'Charged with aiding and abetting escape of slave...' in November of 1834.  Intrigued by this entry, the Deputy of Reference Services and Volunteer Coordinator, Chris Haley, enlisted the aid of two additional Archives volunteers, Mary McCutchan and Vernon Roberts, to broaden in the study.

The original concept of the project  was to discover unknown 'heroes' of slave flight and resistance.  In addition to acknowledged icons of the Underground Railroad movement, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, who also happen to be native born Marylanders; it was irrefutable that evidence exists in the records  of thousands of unnamed others who have remained as hidden as the underground effort which demanded their secrecy. Through prospective review of court records, laws,  newspapers, and maps, the Archives' staff set out to create case studies of individuals who deserve their due in the history of Maryland's struggle with human enslavement.  This beginning phase of the project resulted in the publication of two significant lists of laws specifically related to both free and enslaved Blacks. These lists can be found on the Beneath The Underground site under,  History of Runaway Laws. All Maryland laws can also be found within the Archives of Maryland Online webpage.

Several case studies were also researched and made accessible within the Archives Historical and Biographical Series. Among these were three of the earliest subjects: Anne Matthews, Phebe Myers and Marc Cesar.  Myers and Matthews' stories have been incorporated into the Maryland Public Television underground railroad educational website, Pathways to Freedom.

In the fall of 2001, David Taft Terry was hired as Research Associate for the Commission to Coordinate the Study, Commemoration, and Impact of Slavery's History and Legacy in Maryland. Also in 2001,  the Archives was informed of a grant opportunity through the National Park Service Network to Freedom Program by Mid-Eastern Region Coordinator, Jenny Masur. Consulting with Haley, Research and Student Outreach Director, Emily Oland Squires, and State Archivist Edward C. Papenfuse, Terry formalized a proposal that considerably expanded the scope of the Archives' Underground Railroad study.  The work evolved into an examination of Maryland, a border state, the particular geographic regions within it and the circumstances that shaped anti-slavery efforts for enslaved and free labor communities.  Primary research entailed stripping of United States Federal Census records for free and enslaved blacks and runaway ads from particular newspapers throughout Maryland between 1830 and 1860.  The resulting grant application received an award of $25, 000. This grant paid the majority of salaries of a full contingent of 7 interns for the summer of  2002 when matched with financial contributions from partner institutions Goucher College, Morgan University and Maryland Public Television.

Amended to broaden its scope further, the Archives submited an application in 2002 for a grant from the Department of Education and were awarded a sum of approximately $250,000. Re-applying the next year, the Archives secured three additional  years of support totalling just over $500,000.  In addition to Goucher, Morgan, and Maryland Public Television, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum also provided inkind contributions to underground railroad related research which continued throughout 2006. To date, nearly 60 professional and volunteer, regular and intern staff  have been involved in the production of Beneath The Underground Railroad: The Flight to Freedom.

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How to Use the Site
The Beneath the Underground Railroad website offers a variety of ways to explore the complicated world of enslavement in Maryland. Whether you are a genealogist, credentialed scholar, or history student, the site provides the flexibility of different approaches. The nearly 250 case studies which have been created for our site are derived from references identified within Archives record series' and collections such as those listed below.  Remember to access images of  records in Beneath the Underground Railroad website, Adobe Acrobat Reader softtware is required, as is the username aaco and the password aaco#.

For the Genealogist:
Individuals can type the surname of a family member into the Beneath The Underground Railroad database using the general search page, or users may limit the search to a more specific category such as only Runaway Ads or Census Population records. In searching for the name Garrett, for example, 9 references were found under Runaway Ads and 52 references were found under US Census Population. As explained in the Census Record section, different categories of information will be displayed based on the year of the census and the legibility of the source document used for this study (microfilm, original or digital records). Compare and gather information as you normally would to find a family or chronological connection. Jot this data down to cross reference with other names within both record series as well as against each other. One could find a specific Garrett within the Census records and then check if this same Garrett is found within a Runaway Ad. If successful, you will have found additional information about the life of an ancestor beyond their mere existence. For additional information on family history research techniques, please see link to History and Family History Research Guide of Reference Services webpage.

For the Scholar or Student:
Depending on the focus, a scholar could approach the Beneath The Underground Railroad website in many varied ways. If the researcher was especially interested in the prevalence of anti-slavery activity in Prince George' s County, for instance, the individual might enter Prince George County in the database search engine for various categories such as Runaway Ads and all series referring to imprisonment. Applying this search, Prince George's county listed 1,767 Runaway Ads, 76 Slave Jail citations and 4 references in Accommodations Docket. A scholar could study these returns for similar or repeated names of participants as well as a relative chronology of events. Were there more escape attempts directly before rather than after the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law? Was a specific geographic area more subject to runaway attempts than another; Bladensburg more so than Upper Marlboro, for instance? A quick use of the search engine produced the following results:    

                                                                                            Runaway Slave Ads with Bladensburg: 197
Runaway Slave Ads with Upper Marlboro: 294

Closer reviews might reveal a frequently mentioned owner, suspected destination of flight or a historical date that precipitated flight.

General Methodology
The principal goal for this project was to uncover unsung heroes of the Underground Railroad. Our interpretation of the organized Underground Railroad as a facet of the northern United States revolved around our focus on Maryland and a southern border state's struggle with legalized human bondage. Our findings are grounded in a broad array of primary records found at the Maryland State Archives. Ironically, those who we are most able to locate in the records are also the most likely to have failed in their escape attempt. Nevertheless, one person's indictment on charges of aiding a slave to escape opens the door to several layers of historical discovery and review. For instance, Charles Heise' story tells of a young man who may or may not have consciously participated as an agent against slavery.

Charles Heise (Heisey) (b. circa 1840 - d. ?) MSA SC 5496-3396
Accused of aiding slaves of  William A. Talburtt to escape

Upon finding someone charged with a crime such as Heise, Archives' staff would review our criminal record series for the defendant's indictments and discharge history, including sentence and possible pardons. Pardons are an important record series to consider especially if the indictment occurred in the mid to late 1850's or early 1860's before all specific laws related to slavery became null as of the passage of Maryland's 1864 Constitution. The researcher might then decide to explore journalistic accounts of the incident by combing through newspapers contemporary to the occurrence. For instance, if a person was cited for 'aiding a slave to  escape' in Frederick County, one might look in the Archives microfilm holdings of the Frederick Herald for additional coverage and possible runaway ads for the specific enslaved individual.

When the researcher has identified an individual of interest utilizing criminal records and newspaper accounts, he or she may then want to pursue a chronological history by accessing the Maryland State Archives census indices for a variety of years. Depending on the time of enslavement, imprisonment and freedom of the quarry, the Beneath the Underground database includes entries of over 70,000 Maryland enslaved and free blacks from primarily 1830 through 1860 to review. Additional searches could be made using Archives online census indices for 1870 and 1880. The following two examples hint at what might be attainable by careful use of this site.

Ben Snowden (b. 1809 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-24660
Fled from slavery, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 1828

Biography:

On 5 June 1828, a runaway advertisement was placed in the Maryland Gazette for two runaways named Jim Wootten and Ben Snowden. The subscriber of the advertisement was Sommerville Pinkney, administrator for the late Johnathan Pinkney. Sommerville Pinkney believed Wootten and Snowden fled from the Pinkney farm near Annapolis in the company of a mulatto man named Henry Wallace, property of Julianna Brice. Snowden was listed as "about 19 years old, five feet 8 inches high, very black, and walks a little lame," a reward was listed for twenty-five dollars per slave if taken within Maryland and fifty dollars per slave if taken outside of Maryland. Though it is unclear if the slaves were ever captured, the same advertisement ran again on the first day of January in 1829, implicating that the three men were still at large. Additionally, a search in the 1850 US Census for the Third District of Anne Arundel County returned a listing for a free black man named Benjamin Snowden at the age of 45.

After comparing the ages given for Snowden in both documents, the runaway advertisement estimated his date of birth as 1809 and the census record estimated date of birth as 1805. Nearly all slaves of the Antebellum Era have no record of their birth, so there is an argument for accepting the four year difference between the Ben Snowden's in these documents. But one should also note that the owner Pinkney is listed in the Annapolis District of Anne Arundel County in the 1830 Census. It seems unlikely the fugitive Ben Snowden of 1828 would settle in the nearby Third District in 1850 listed as freeman Benjamin Snowden, especially before emancipation. Only further research would reveal if the two Snowden's are actually the same person or whether the records are simply a historical coincidence.  

George Gale (b. ? - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-24661
Slave Owner, Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Biography:
According to the Slave Schedule of the 1850 Census, George Gale is listed as the owner of 67 slaves on his property in the first district of Anne Arundel County. In the "fugitive" column, which was designed by census takers to account for slaves that absconded from their owner, it is recorded that three males ran from Gale in 1846. Indeed an ad was recovered from the pages of the Maryland Republican on 10 October 1846. The $600 reward was offered by George Gale for the return of his three slaves, James Williams, Jacob Boston, and Lewis Coward in the Republican. It would require more research to determine the ultimate fate of Williams, Boston, and Coward, but the comparative dates of these documents perhaps suggest that these runaways were fugitives for at least four years.

Mapping Element

Once you have been able to carve out a subject's general background through the preceding sources,  you may want to familiarize yourself with the Maryland area in which the individual lived. Beneath the Underground provides an Interactive Map Guide section composed of digital reproductions of several cartographic landscapes of the entire state and individual counties. These maps allow the researcher to search by name for landowners, plantations, and individuals. If the name on the map is associated with the extant research, the researcher will be instantly linked to the site associated material whether  the source  was a  newspaper article, case study, census record or any of a number of other primary source series.

Isaac Scaggs
MSA SC 5496-15288
Slave Owner, Prince George's County, Maryland

For example, when you go to the home page of our interactive map guide shown above and enter the name Isaac Scaggs in the box below the following description,
Enter the place name or individual's name you wish to search for, you will first be taken to a listing of three references of Scaags found in the Interactive search engine. Let's say the Isaac Scaags you are looking for is in Prince George's County. The second reference fits the bill and the link associated with it will take you directly to the spot on the Martenet map where this Isaac Scaags is referenced.
 Prince George's County District 1. Simon J. Martenet, Martenet's Atlas of Maryland, 1861, Library of Congress, MSA SC 1213-1-118 If you then click on  the box surrounding Isaac Scaags you will go to the page listing all related case studies connected to this property, namely Isaac Scaags and the enslaved Blacks about whom he placed three runaway slave ads: Adam and Maria Smith, and  Dall, Lem, Bill and Ben.

Isaac Scaags

Using the Beneath the Underground Railroad Interactive Map Guide, therefore, brings all the documentary material together in a geographic framework.

A Hint to Use of this Website
Remember as you search that spelling can be an issue. Abbreviations were sometimes used by record keepers in capturing facts which can necessitate the consideration of a variety of choices when entering sought after names in the Beneath The Underground database search engine. One entry for William Y. Day is entered as Wm. Y. Day; Wm. will retrieve only Wm. so continuing to enter William or Will would not return this entry. Abbreviations for Johnson can include Jo. or Joh.. It is wise to note that misspellings may also occur simply because names are misheard or mispronounced.

Here is a listing of abbreviations for some commonly used names taken from FreeReg.com, http://freereg.rootsweb.com/.

VARIOUS NAME ABBREVIATIONS
Ames Ames (an old name no longer in use)
Avice Avice
Avis Avice
Chas. Charles
Elenor Eleanor
Elisabeth Elizabeth
Eliz. Elizabeth
Elizth Elizabeth
Eliza. Elizabeth note punctuation
Eliza: Elizabeth note punctuation
Eliza Eliza note lack of punctuation = literally Eliza
Ellenor Eleanor
Ellinor Eleanor
Fanny Fanny as written
Geo. George
Gul. William short for Latin Gulielmus
Guliel William short for Latin Gulielmus
Han. Hannah
Hanna Hannah
Hannah Hannah
Hen. Henry
Hy. Henry
Ioh. John I = J, so Ioh. = Joh.
Jac. James Latin Jacobus
Jacob Jacob as written
Jacobus James Latin Jacobus
Jas. James
Jas James
Jer. Jeremiah
Joh. John
Jo. John
Jone Joan
Jno. John
Jon. Jonathan
Jona Jonathan
Jos. Joseph
Josh. Joshua
Josh Josiah
Marg. Margaret
Mich. Michael
Micls Michael
Nich. Nicholas
Nics Nicholas
Ric. Richard
Rich. Richard
Sar. Sarah
Theo. Theodore
Tho. Thomas
Thos. Thomas
Willm. William
Wm. William
Zach. Zacharius

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Maryland State Archives Government Records
The records series the Archives has examined through the years of the two grants include the following, some exhaustively:

Slave Jail Records:
The Maryland State Archives houses the jail records from Baltimore City and County from 1827-1899. The Baltimore County docket from 1827-1832 lists persons arrested for an assortment of crimes, but for the purpose of this project, only runaway slaves were recorded. Beginning in 1831, a separate docket was created for runaways committed to the county jail. The following year, 1832, the county jail records were moved to the jurisdiction of Baltimore City. From 1832-1864, runaways were recorded in separate runaway dockets of the Baltimore City jail.  

Baltimore County Jail (County Docket), 1827-1832, MSA C2052
Baltimore County Jail (Runaway Docket), 1831-1832, MSA C2063
Baltimore City and County Jail (Runaway Docket), 1832-1836, MSA C2065-1
Baltimore City Jail (Runaway Docket), 1836-1850, MSA C2065-2
Baltimore City Jail (Runaway Docket), 1850-1864, MSA C2065-3 

Penitentiary Records:
The Maryland Penitentiary was the first state sponsored prison. Prior to its establishment in 1811, criminals were housed in county jails and workhouses. The facility was designed to house both male and female prisoners who spent much of their time participating in hard and industrial labor. For this project only the names of prisoners who were charged for crimes related to or in opposition to the system of enslavement were recorded.

Please also note:
Maryland Penitentiary (Prisoners Record), 1811-1840, MSA S275-1
Maryland Penitentiary (Prisoners Record), 1811, 1826-1869, MSA S275-2

State Pardon Records:
The office of the Secretary of State was created in 1837 to replace the Governor’s Council. The 1851 state constitution required the Secretary to keep and preserve all official acts and proceedings. Early official records include railroad charters, election returns, and state pardons. The information found in this series involves persons charged or imprisoned for crimes related to slavery. 

Secretary of State (Pardon Record), 1845-1865, MSA S1108-2
Secretary of State (Pardon Docket), 1862-1869, MSA S1110-1
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Census Records:
The United States Census is collected every ten years. The census for 1830 and 1840 only lists the head of household by name. There are numerical values recorded for each individual, which fall under specific demographic categories (ex. Free Female 10-23, Slave Male 36-54). The population schedules of the U.S. Census for 1850 and 1860 list the names of each person in a given household. The census for these years also lists personal information about the individuals including but not limited to: gender, race, value of property and occupation. The slave schedule of the U.S. Census for 1850 and 1860 lists the names of slaveholders and the number of slaves in their possession in county districts in the state. Most census takers did not record slaves in a cumulative fashion rather each slave was counted with the number (1). The gender, age, and race of the slaves were recorded, but the names of the individual slaves were not. For a full description of Census Records at the Maryland State Archives, please click here.


Please note:
Schedules Used From Census of 1830
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Allegany County, 1830, MSA SM61-81
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Anne Arundel County, 1830, MSA SM61-82
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Baltimore County, 1830, MSA SM61-84
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Cecil County, 1830, MSA SM61-87
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Charles County, 1830, MSA SM61-88
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Dorchester County, 1830, MSA SM61-89
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Frederick County, 1830, MSA SM61-90
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Washington County, 1830, MSA SM61-94

Schedules Used From Census of 1840
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Allegany County, 1840, MSA SM61-96
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Anne Arundel County, 1840, MSA SM61-97
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Baltimore County, 1840, MSA SM61-102
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Charles County, 1840, MSA SM61-108
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Frederick County, 1840, MSA SM61-110
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Prince George’s County MSA SM 61-114
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Somerset County, 1840, MSA SM61-117
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Washington County, 1840, MSA SM61-119

Population Schedules Used From Census of 1850
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Allegany County, 1850, MSA SM61-121
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Anne Arundel County, 1850, MSA SM61-122
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Baltimore County, 1850, MSA SM61-130,131
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Cecil County, 1850, MSA SM61-135
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Charles County, 1850, MSA SM61-136
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Dorchester County, 1850, MSA SM61-137
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Frederick County, 1850, MSA SM61-138,139
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Prince George’s County, 1850, MSA SM61-143
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Somerset County, 1850, MSA SM61-146
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Washington County, 1850, MSA SM61-148

Slave Schedules Used From Census of 1850
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Allegany County, 1850, MSA SM61-155
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Anne Arundel County, 1850, MSA SM61-156
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Baltimore County, 1850, MSA SM61-158
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Frederick County, 1850, MSA SM61-165
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Prince George’s County, 1850, MSA SM61-169
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Somerset County, 1850, MSA SM61-175
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD Slaves, Washington County, 1850, MSA SM61-172 

Population Schedules Used From Census of 1860
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Allegany County, 1860, MSA SM61-177
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Anne Arundel County, 1860, MSA SM61-178
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Baltimore County, 1860, MSA SM61-189 to 201
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Cecil County, 1860, MSA SM61-205
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Charles County, 1860, MSA SM61-206
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Dorchester County, 1860, MSA SM61-207
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Frederick County, 1860, MSA SM61-208
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Prince George’s County, 1860, MSA SM61-214
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Somerset County, 1860, MSA SM61-217
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Washington County, 1860, MSA SM61-219

Slave Schedules Used From Census of 1860
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Allegany County, 1860, MSA SM61-225
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Anne Arundel County, 1860, MSA SM61-226
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Baltimore County, 1860, MSA SM61-228
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Frederick County, 1860, MSA SM61-235
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Prince George’s County, 1860, MSA SM61-240          
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Somerset County, 1860, MSA SM61-243
U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) Slaves, Washington County, 1860, MSA SM61-244

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Newspapers (listed alphabetically):
Newspapers are some of the most useful tools to document flight during the Antebellum Era. Subscribers placing either runaway advertisements or committal notices utilized periodicals as a public forum to appeal for the return of their property. The newspapers stripped for this project range from the 1730’s to1864 and come from numerous counties throughout the state, as well as Washington, DC and Virginia. Each advertisement is unique and can include important information such as: the names of slaves and their owners, date of flight, state and county of flight, reward for apprehension, physical attributes of the fugitive and likely destinations.

Runaway Ads and Committal Notices
Runaway advertisements or committal notices found in periodicals give primary source support to a culture of flight in the state of Maryland.
A runaway advertisement was an ad placed by someone, usually the owner of the slave in question, requesting public assistance for the return of their property. Nearly all the ads offer a reward for the capture of the fugitive, and they often note detailed descriptions of the fugitive to help the public identify the slave. Each advertisement is unique and can include important information such as: the name of the fugitive(s) and their owner(s), date of flight, state and county of flight, physical attributes of the fugitive and likely destinations.
A committal notice is placed by the county sheriff that has apprehended a person(s) considered to be a fugitive. Committal notices were placed in papers with the hope that an owner would recognize the slave(s) described in the ad, and redeem their property from the respective county jail. Notices offer similar information about the fugitive(s) as runaway ads such as: name of slave(s), name of owner, physical description, age, etc.
The newspapers mined for this project range from the 1730’s to1864 and come from numerous counties throughout the state, as well as Washington, DC and Virginia.

Domestic Traffic Ads
For the purposes of this project, domestic traffic is defined as the interstate and intrastate trade of enslaved men, women, women and children. Similar to runaway ads and committal notices, domestic traffic ads were a means of communicating to the general public the subscriber’s desire to buy or sell a slave(s). Ads could be placed by private slave dealers and agents, gentry in need of domestic help, yeomen in need of extra field hands, or a public sale of an estate by the orphan’s court.   

Please note, for the purpose of citation, an example of MSA archival citation is: Special Collections (Newspapers), title of press, date, and MSA SC ####.

American and Commercial Daily Advertiser (1802-1853) MSA SC 3392
American and Commercial Advertiser (1854-1856, 1861-1869) MSA SC 4149, 4148
American and Daily Advertiser (1799-1802) MSA SC 2832
American Sentinel (1855-1865) MSA SC 2900
Annapolis Gazette (1854-1874) MSA SC 3322
Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser (1857-1861) MSA SC 4104
Baltimore Clipper (1839-1844) MSA SC 3252
Baltimore County Advocate (1855-1864) MSA SC 2932
Baltimore Gazette and Daily Advertiser (1825-1838) MSA SC 4318
Baltimore Patriot and Mercantile Advertiser (1817-1838) MSA SC 4098
Baltimore Sun (1837-1859) MSA SC 2852
Baltimore Telegraphe Daily Advertiser (1797-1805) MSA SC 3297
Baltimore Weekly Sun (1859-1860) MSA SC 3258
Cambridge Chronicle (1830-1854) MSA SC 2842
Cambridge Herald (1857-1863) MSA SC 3486
Cecil Democrat (1850-1861) MSA SC 3387
Cecil Democrat and Farmer’s Journal (1846-1850) MSA SC 3478
Cecil Whig (1841-1998) MSA SC 3341
Chestertown Telegraph (1825-1826) MSA SC 2904
Clearspring Sentinel (18491103-18510230) MSA SC 3328
Commercial Chronicle and Daily Marylander (1832-1833) MSA SC 4370
Cumberland Civilian (1829-1833) MSA SC 3553; (1840-1851) MSA SC 3554
Cumberland Civilian and the Pheonix Civilian (1833-1834) MSA SC 3554
Daily Baltimore Republican (1855-1861) MSA SC 2894
Daily National Intelligencer (1813-1869) MSA SC 3745
Daily Republican and Argus (1845-1846) MSA SC 3400; (1848-1850) MSA SC 3510
Democrat and Carroll County Republican (1838-1846) MSA SC 3476
Easton Gazette (1821-1928) MSA SC 2940
Easton Star (1844-1892) MSA SC 3596
Elkton Press (1823-18280719) (18290404-1832) MSA SC 3319
Elkton Press and Cecil County Advertiser (18280719-18290404) MSA SC 3319
Evening Star OCLC 20714588
Farmer’s Register and Maryland Herald (18280506-18310111) MSA SC 3721
Frederick Herald (1832-1861) MSA SC 3407
Frederick Town Herald (1802-1832) MSA SC 2829
Hagerstown Mail (1828-1831) (1835-1880) MSA SC 3609
Hagerstown Torchlight and Public Advertiser (1837-1846) MSA SC 3458
Harford Democrat (1856-1857) MSA SC 3306
Kent News (1840-1947) MSA SC 2901
Madisonian and Harford and Baltimore Advertiser (1837-1840) MSA SC 3310
Marlboro Gazette and Prince George’s Advertiser (1836-1925) MSA SC 2944
Maryland Gazette (1745-1813) MSA SC 2731
Maryland Gazette (1827-1839) MSA SC 3447
Maryland Gazette and Political Intelligencer (1813-1824) MSA SC 3403
Maryland Gazette and State Register (1824-1826) MSA SC 3428
Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser (1773-1794) MSA SC 2830
Maryland Republican (1809-1817) MSA SC 3411
Maryland Republican (1826-1863) MSA SC 3655
Maryland Republican and Political and Agricultural Museum (1817-1826) MSA SC 2946
Montgomery County Sentinel (1856-1954) MSA SC 2813
National American (1856-1866) MSA SC 3815
National Intelligencer (1810-1812) MSA SC 3745
National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser (1800-1810) MSA SC 176
Odd Fellow (18430523-18430627) (18471228-18491211) MSA SC 3614
Phoenix Civilian (1833-1840) MSA SC 3930
Pilot and Transcript (1840-1841) MSA SC 3293
Planter’s Advocate (1853-1861) MSA SC 3415
Planter’s Advocate and Southern Maryland Advertiser (1851-1853) MSA SC 2949
Port Tobacco Times (1844-1845) MSA SC 4987
Port Tobacco Times and Charles County Advertiser (1845-1898) MSA SC 3464
Republican and Argus (1847) MSA SC 3401
Republican and Daily Argus (1842-1845) MSA SC 3512
Republican and Daily Argus (1850-1852) MSA SC 2893
Republican Citizen and State Advertiser (1821-1823) MSA SC 4172
Republican Citizen (1836-1890) MSA SC 3600
Republican Star (1802-1832) MSA SC 3952
Snow Hill Borderer (1834-1835) OCLC 19017442
Snow Hill Messenger and Worcester County Advertiser (1830-1832) MSA SC 3765
Somerset Herald (1840-184106) MSA SC 4179
Somerset Iris and the Messenger of Truth (1828-1829) MSA SC 4178
Southern Aegis (1857-1862) MSA SC 3312
Washington Daily Globe (1832-1883) MSA SC 5424
Weekly Clipper (1851-1861) MSA SC 3785
Westminster Carrolltonian (1836-1844) MSA SC 3422
Worcester Banner (1838-1840) MSA SC 3794
Worcester Sentinel and Farmer’s and Mechanics’ Shield (1835-1837) MSA SC 3796
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Mapping

As much as interest has swelled regarding participants in the Underground Railroad, there has been an equal passion to identify the paths that were, perhaps, most often followed by fugitives heading north.  The centerpiece of the Archives' geographical study of the Maryland landscape is the presentation of 19th century maps by various cartographers such as Simon J. Martenet, J.C. Sidney, J. H.Colton, and J. G. Strong from the Huntingfield and Library of Congress Collections of the Maryland State Archives. An ongoing effort to link case studies to the sites where the person, place or events interacted in the history of assisted flight. The interactive program in development allows the user to click on the name of the person, place or thing on the actual map at which point they will be connected to the case study or studies  associated with that location. For example, clicking on the name of Prince George's County landowner, Isaac Skaggs, MSA SC 5496-15288, on the Prince George's County District 1 section of the Simon J. Martenet, Martenet's Atlas of Maryland, 1861, Library of Congress, MSA SC 1213-1-118, will lead the user to an intermediate page on which all related case studies and scanned documents are listed including Scaggs' own case study, those of the two individuals, Adam and Maria Smith, for whom he placed runaway slave ads, and the two runaway slave ads themselves. Comparing results from innumerable other ads may over time reveal similar destinations and names, thereby uncovering definable trails that were used by Blacks and  individuals who, like Harriet Tubman, may also have assisted multiple fugitives. At the time of this report Archives staff has completed implementation of interactive mapping for Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Washington County and initiated the program for Frederick and Baltimore County.

Plotting sites as population clusters on interactive maps enhances our ability to “read” the landscape in the way that fugitives may have understood it, and deal with more theoretical concerns such as, “How could one get out, and by what route?”.  The historiography of slave culture and community is full of references to “nearby plantations” or “communities of free blacks” and the benefit that such spatial arrangements brought to the experience of enslavement.  By directly linking narrative case studies to rare, contemporary cadastral maps, we have married the geography to the biography.  The following are examples of some of the linkages already discovered and presented on the interactive maps of http://mdslavery.net/ugrr.html which can be viewed by using aaco and aaco# as the userid and password, where necessary: 

Thomas Clagett -(http://mdslavery.net/html/mapped_images/pgd3.html?title0=Clagett%2C%20T.&occurrence0=0
Edmund B. Duval - http://mdslavery.net/html/mapped_images/pgd1.html?title0=Duval%2C%20Edmund&occurrence0=0
Edward Gorsuch - http://mdslavery.net/html/mapped_images/bcd8.html?title0=Gorsuch%2C%20Edward&occurrence0=0


Maryland County Codes and Incorporation Dates

Maryland was founded in 1634 when 140 European immigrants disembarked from two ships entitled the Ark and the Dove. Over the course of the next 230 years of slavery's existence in Maryland, 22 counties were formed, defining the boundaries of one of the 13 original colonies. In certain databases, users will find the following abbreviations used for those counties. Note that Wicomico is excluded as it was not incorporated until 1867 from Somerset and Worcester county.  The table below shows the corresponding full names of the 22 counties.

Allegany County                                        1789
 AL
Anne Arundel County                                1650 AA
Baltimore County                                      1659 BA
Baltimore City                                            1851 BC
Caroline County                                         1773 CA
Cecil County                                              1674 CE
Charles County                                          1658 CH
Carroll County                                           1837 CR
Calvert County                                          1654 CV
Dorchester County                                     1669 DO
Frederick County                                       1748 FR
Harford County                                         1773 HA
Howard County                                         1851 HO
Kent County                                              1642 KE
Montgomery County                                  1776 MO
Prince George’s County                             1695 PG
Queen Anne’s County                                1706 QA
St. Mary’s County                                     1637 SM
Somerset County                                       1666 SO
Talbot County                                            1662 TA
Washington County                                    1776 WA
Worcester County                                     1742 WO

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Conclusion

The Beneath The Underground website is an ongoing research effort to identify, utilize and make accessible all records which pertain to slavery in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries in Maryland. The ultimate focus of this study continues to be the marriage of research on the resistance to slavery and the use of primary source documents housed within the Maryland State Archives holdings. By providing primary, direct access to these materials online, we seek to encourage scholars, genealogists, and students of all levels to use these resources to develop their own interpretations and family histories.  The Beneath the Underground website has already been utilized by many organizations in fulfillment of these goals. In 2005, Archives' staff used the website to display maps, case studies and census statistics for high school students in a Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation, Inc. sponsored ROOTS CAMP lesson on African American genealogy. The nuts and bolts operation of the site, including the searchable database, was demonstrated in successive years to teachers and family historians in presentations at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture.  In 2006, a group of students from Middletown High School in Frederick County   participated in a project entitled "The Promise Of Liberty."  Dean Herrin of the Catoctin Center for Regional Studies supervised the project, which was funded through a History Channel Save Our History grant. The objective of the project was to use primary source documents to research local African American life from 1855-1870. The students used a number of resources from the Beneath the Underground website, including census data, case studies, and runaway ads in their research, and used the Frederick County Martenet map featured in the interactive mapping section to plot places of interest related to their findings. In the course of their research and with the support of our source materials, the students made a successful nomination to the National Park Service as a Network to Freedom program.  In 2007, the Archives' website was cited by NBC WBAL-TV as an essential source for further study during its documentary Africa's Maryland.  These are only a few examples representing how the Maryland State Archives' Beneath the Underground website supports research and educational outreach.  The Archives' staff hopes to continue to promote the value of African American related documentary evidence for understanding the flight from slavery in Maryland, and most importantly, to recognize the  humanity of all the individuals gripped by the drama which was slavery in Maryland.