Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

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Sam (b. circa 1812 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-9370
Fled from slavery, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 1830

Biography:

Sam and his brother, Bill, ran away from their master, Nicholas D. Warfield, on November 20, 1830.  At the time of their disappearance, Bill was twenty-three and Sam was between seventeen and eighteen years old. Bill and Sam were accompanied by Ned , who had previously absconded from his master, Mr. Elie G. Warfield, but was later captured near Westminster, Maryland, on the Pennsylvania boarder.  Most likely, Ned helped Bill and Sam escape. In the runaway advertisement, Warfield wrote that Ned "acts as a spokesman and pilot for the other two."1  Warfield, who lived near the Polar Springs in Anne Arundel County, suspected that the group remained close.  He wrote, "It is probable they may remain some time in the neighborhood or about Baltimore." Bill and Sam's father, also named Bill, was a free Black man who lived in Baltimore.  He worked for Mr. James Carroll after having been freed by Mr. Samuel C. Owings.  The Frederick Town Herald carried the runaway ad for nearly three months.

1. "$40 Reward," Frederick Town Herald, 27 November 1830.
2. Ibid.

Return to Sam's Introductory Page


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