Lewis Charlton (b. 1814 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-008777
Released from Slavery, Frederick County, Maryland, 1842
Biography:
Lewis Charlton’s life was a testament to surviving slavery in Maryland. Born in 1814 to his master, Mr. Ignatius Davis, Charlton claimed that the harshest treatment he received was not from Davis himself, but from the hands of his wife. Charlton described Mrs. Davis as a, “cruel, hardhearted, tyrannical woman.” 1 Although his time at the Davis plantation was trying, he did not stay there very long. When his master died and his property was dispersed, Davis was sold at the age of seven. Davis’ inventories notes a boy by the name of Lewis of age nine assessed at one hundred and fifty dollars. It is plausible that this Lewis is indeed Lewis Charlton; both slaves and masters were many times unsure of exact ages or dates of birth. 2
After the first sale, Charlton found himself in the possession of four other owners of the state, noting a Mr. Forinstock, Gettinger, Davis, and Richardson. His narrative leads the reader to believe that he spent most of his youth within the borders of Fredrick County. In his recount of slave life, as told to Edward Everett Brown, Charlton talks about the loss of his toes due to severe frostbite while working during winter months. 3 Sold to a Mr. Richardson around 1831, Charlton was manumitted by the same after ten years of service, at the age of twenty-eight. Although the reason for the manumission is unexplained in Charlton’s narrative, the inventory of original owner Ignatius Davis states that Lewis was supposed to serve until the age of twenty-eight. 4
For Charlton, life as a freeman proved just as interesting,
record-wise, as his enslaved life. In his narrative, Charlton says that
he lived with a Mr. Isaac Rogers of Harford County between the ages of
twenty-nine and forty-five. The 1850 Harford County census records show
Lewis Charlton (spelled Charleston), living with his wife Mary 5;
the ages correspond with his given date of birth. Charlton and his wife
are again found in the 1860 Harford County census, along with a seven-year
old daughter, Martha and a four-year old son, Edward. 6
In 1862, Charlton moved to Westminister in Carroll County. By the end of
the Civil War, Charlton noted in his narrative that he wanted to contribute
to the free black community of Westminister in some fashion, as they had
no place of worship or schools that would admit them. Joining forces with
some other blacks in the community, Charlton and his contemporaries sought
to fill those two important voids. In 1867, the gentlemen were successful
in gaining the deed to the lands where the Union Street AME Church in Westminister
was founded; 7 Charlton claimed it was
the first black church in town. Charlton claimed that a school was also
started, likely housed in the church, and lasted for four years. Charlton
appears in the 1870 Carroll County census with his wife and then fourteen-year
old son, Edward. 8
1. Charlton, Lewis
and Edward Everett Brown, ed. Sketch
of the Life of Mr. Lewis Charlton, and Reminiscenses of Slavery. (Portland,
ME: Daily Press Print) p.3
2. FREDRICK
COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Inventories, Microfilm) Ignatius Davis, 1827,
page 793, MSA CM 479-22, CR 50,054-2.
3. Charlton, 3.
4. FREDRICK
COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Inventories, Microfilm) Ignatius Davis, 1827,
page 793, MSA CM 479, CR-22 50054-2.
5. U.S.
CENSUS BUREAU (Census Record, MD) MSA SM61, Lewis Charlton, p.17, 1850,
HA, MSA SM61-140, M1498-1.
6. U.S.
CENSUS BUREAU (Census Record, MD) MSA SM61, Lewis Charlton, p.465, 1860,
HA, MSA SM61-210, M7222-1.
7. CARROLL
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records, MD) MSA CM291, Amos Bell, vol. 34,
p. 445, 1867, CR, MSA CM291-22.
8. U.S.
CENSUS BUREAU (Census Record, MD) MSA SM61, Lewis Charlton, p.538, 1870,
CR, MSA SM61-266.
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to Lewis Charlton's Introductory Page
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