Tag Archives: Charity Clarke

Thomas Clarke (b. ca 1783) & Charity (b. ca 1790)

This post is one in a series in an attempt to identify members of the Clarke family groups among the people enslaved by Robert D Sewall at “Poplar Hill” in Prince George’s County

Thomas Clarke, age 70, is listed in the 1853 Robert D Sewall inventory with Charity, age 63. [JH 2:699]. Having lived at least two decades past forty, they have surpassed the usual lifespan of an enslaved person. They were listed without an appraised value. Berry, in the The Price for their Pound, discusses the life cycle of the enslaved and in the chapter on the elderly (any enslaved person over 40), she writes “As the enslaved aged, their monetary values decreased and they became worthless on the market. Despite low external values, their soul values [internal values placed on themselves and by their kin] excelled. They carried great wisdom and stability for the community and were respected by the younger enslaved family and friends.” (130-131)

Thomas Clarke and Charity lived at “Poplar Hill” surrounded by their nieces and nephews and their children. The Sewalls and Dangerfields likely no longer had them working in the fields or the house, and so they were more likely providing child care for the small children under 10 while their parents worked under the watchful eye of the overseers and managers.

Thomas Clarke and Charity are also listed in the 1821 Robert Sewall Inventory, though they are not listed together. [TT 4:352] Thomas is listed with other adult males (Tom, Sampson, Capt John and Capt George — “Capt” signifying carpenters). Charity is listed with other female headed family groups with three children: Bob, age 7, Nelly, age 2, and Henrietta, infant. Immediately following her family group was that of Easter and her two children.

The “Early Records of White Marsh Church” includes baptismal records from White Marsh. “White Marsh was the center of Catholic life in Prince George’s County.” (Maryland State Archives). It was a Jesuit plantation that used enslaved labor for the profit of the Catholic Church. The Sewalls were a Catholic family with a private chapel included in the dwelling plantation.

In 1828, among the baptismal records of White Marsh was an April 9th baptism for “Mary, daughter of Thos. & Charity, servts [ensalved people] of Robert Sewall. The sponsor was Esther of same.”

This suggests the possibility that Charity and Easter/Esther are sisters and that they sponsored each others children.

The 1828 baptismal record also helps to the clarify the 1853 Inventory. Thomas and Charity Clarke are listed on page 1 of the inventory and the page breaks after their names. Without a value, they are not included in the subtotals on the first page or the second page, making it ambiguous if they are considered part of the family group that continues on page two.

NameAgeValue
Lucy + boy27 & 6825
Mary23650
Lewis29950

Lucy [1826], Mary [1830], Lewis [1824] would have been born after the 1821 inventory and close to Charity’s child-bearing year range (1805-1825 +/- a few years).

The baptismal record however, shows an earlier birth year for Mary — 1828– which places her birth in closer proximity to Charity’s child-bearing year range.

Sources

Berry, Daina R. The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation. United States: Random House Inc, 2018. Print.

Early Records of the White Marsh Church, Prince George’s County, Maryland. Bowie, MD: Prince Georges County Genealogical Society, 2005. Print.

Charity Clarke (ca. 1816-unk)

Group 1: Polly & her Children

This post is one in a series in an attempt to identify members of the Clarke family groups among the people enslaved by Robert D Sewall at “Poplar Hill” in Prince George’s County.

Charity in 1821

Charity is listed in the 1821 inventory alongside Abraham Clarke, who was manumitted in Robert D Sewall’s will and who lived in DC after his manumission.

Charity in 1853

She is listed immediately after Abraham’s family in the 1853 inventory with two children: Daniel, age 14,  and Mary Mag, age 8

Excerpt from 1853 Inventory of Robert D Sewall | familysearch.org

The 1870 Census returns a record for Charity Jackson, age 50, living in the neighborhood of TB, in the Piscataway District.  Piscataway is the district immediately south of Surratts, where Poplar Hill is located.

Husband Daniel

She was living with her inferred husband: Daniel Jackson, age 40, and their two children: Alfred and Caroline.  The Prince George’s Marriage Licenses show they formalized their marriage in 1872.  Both were listed with the last name Jackson, suggesting they had been married informally for decades prior.

1870 US Federal Census, MD, PG, Piscataway, Image 4 | ancestry.com

A Daniel Jackson, age 40, is listed in the Prince George’s County “Slave Statistics”; Mrs. Jane P Williams submitted his name as a person she enslaved as of 1864.  She and her husband owned real estate valued at $10,000 in 1860 and personal property (including value of enslaved people) was recorded as $25,000.  In 1870, she was a widow with real estate valued at $8000 and personal property of $600.

Prince George’s County Commissioner of Slave Statistics 1867-1869 CE404 | Maryland State Archives

1870 Residence

The approximate location of Charity and Daniel’s residence after the Civil War can be inferred from the use of Martenet’s Map of Prince George’s County which shows landowners [1863] and the dwelling numbers of the landowners in the 1870 census. Williams can be identified on the road parallel to the district boundary, while W. A Gibbons is close to the TB Post Office, and Marshall and Gwynn are to the west.

Charity and Daniel are listed at dwelling number 25, suggesting that they are on the roads near Gibbons and the TB post office.

If Charity lived on “Poplar Hill” during her captivity by Sewall and if Daniel lived on the Williams’ tract of land (and possibily the residence he inhabited after emancipation by the state), this suggests that they were forced to live apart during their marriage.

If either of them had been granted a pass to visit the other, the walk would have been about 8 miles from one estate to the other, and would have taken about 3 hours.

Family in the 1853 Inventory Family in the 1870 US Census
Charity, 38Charity Jackson, 50
Daniel Jackson, 40
Daniel, 14
Mary Mag, 8
Alfred Jackson, 7
Caroline Jackson, infant

Died prior to 1880

Daniel Jackson (Sr) is recorded in the 1880 census with a wife, Clarisa, and his children Alfred and Carolina. Listed with the family is Elizabeth Duckett who is labeled as “mother”. The age difference between Daniel and Clarisa is small, Daniel is 54 and Clarisa is 53. This suggests that Charity died prior to 1880 and Daniel remarried.

Son, Daniel Jackson, Jr

Charity’s son, Daniel Jackson,  is listed in the 1853 inventory with her and not in the 1870 census.  His estimated birth year, based on the 1853 inventory is 1839, which in 1870, would make him 32.  As an adult, it is likely he is in his own household.

In the 1870 census, a Daniel T Jackson is living next to Abraham Clarke in the City.  He is the correct age to be Charity’s son, Daniel.  This suggests Daniel left Poplar Hill in pursuit of freedom during the Civil War, like many enslaved people who used the proximity to DC as a means for emancipation after 1862.   

1870 US Federal Census, DC, Ward 2, Image 315 | ancestry.com

Daniel married Annie Lowe in 1867 and settled into a home near his uncle.  The 1880 census indicated Annie had consumption, and she must have died by 1882, as the Evening Star lists an Equity Case (Lowe vs. Jackson), in which Daniel T Jackson was appointed guardian ad litem. 

1880 US Federal Census, DC, ED 23, Image 9 | ancestry.com

A Daniel Jackson, widower, died in 1886.  His estimated birth year was 1836 and he was buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, suggesting like many of the residents of Poplar Hill, he was Catholic.