Thomas J Nicholson moved to Queen Anne District in Prince George’s County from Anne Arundel County in the 1850s. Living as a teenager with his father, Joseph Nicholson who was a farmer with real estate valued at $1000 in the 1850 Census; in the 1860 census, Thomas J Nicholson was a planter with both real estate and a personal estate each valued at $4000.
On the 1861 Martenet Map of Prince George’s County, he is living at the very north end of Queen Anne District along the Patuxent River and Bealmear’s Bridge. He enumerated six people in the 1860 US Census Slave Schedule.
| Gender | Age |
|---|---|
| Male | 53 |
| Female | 40 |
| Male | 21 |
| Female | 17 |
| Male | 14 |
| Male | 4 months |
In 1867, Thomas Nicholson and his wife submitted three lists to the Commission on Slave Statistics for Prince George’s County.
- Thomas submitted the name of one person under his name: Mary Helen Headley, age 14
- Sophia submitted the names of three people under her name: Louisa Hall, age 23, and two inferred children: Alfred, age 7, and Anne, age 4.
- Sophia submitted another list “acting for the heirs of Mrs. Eleanor Sanford” with three people: Anne Lee, 45, Isaac Ennis, 35 and John Hall, 17
A comparison of the two lists suggests the following.
| Gender | Age | Possible ID |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 53 | |
| Female | 40 | Anne Lee, 45 |
| Male | 21 | Isaac Ennis, 35 |
| Female | 17 | Louisa Hall, age 23 |
| Male | 14 | John Hall, age 17 |
| Male | 4 months | Alfred, age 7 |
| (born after 1860) | Anne, age 4 | |
| (not listed) | Mary Helen Headley, 14 |
The 53 year old male does not appear in the Prince George’s County Slave Statistics. This suggests that he either died or emancipated himself during the Civil War. Prince George’s County nearness to the District of Columbia, Nicholson’s proximity to the Patuxent River and the fact that over 30,000 enslaved individuals in Maryland self-emancipated themselves during the Civil war suggests the possibility that the male may have escaped. Barbara Jeanne Fields in Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground reminds us that those that escaped were more likely to be young as the flight to freedom endured slave patrols, exposure and physical punishment which was more difficult for the old and the very young. Diana Ramey Berry in The Price for Their Pound of Flesh that the enslaved people who lived beyond the age of 40 were considered elderly. (The average life expectancy of the enslaved was 25 while in the average life expectancy of the white population was thirty-nine). As a 53 year old, the male had exceeded the expectancy for an enslaved man.
Anne Lee, age 45, appears to be one of the women enumerated by Nicholson in the 1850 US Census Slave Schedule. In the 1870 US Census, she is enumerated immediately after the Nicholson family with Sophia, age 14.
Mary Helen Headley, 14, is possibly Mary Hadley, 23 living in the District of Columbia in the 1870 US Federal Census. She and Dennis Williams are working as black servants in the household of O. A. Dailey and Oliver Ambrose, dentists in Ward 4.
Thomas and Ellen Sanford
In 1818, Thomas Sandford and Eleanor Clarke were married in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
In 1840, Thomas Sanford is enumerated in the Prince George’s County in the US Federal Census. His neighbors include names of people living in and around Collington as evidenced by the 1861 Martenet Map of Prince George’s County.
In 1840, Thomas Sanford is enumerated with 8 enslaved people. By 1850, he is not longer listed in the household of Eleanor Sanford. She and Sophia are living in the household by themselves, neighbors with Richard Isaac of Joseph and Joshua T Clark, still in the neighborhood of north Colllington. She is enumerated in the 1850 US Census Slave Schedule with six enslaved people.
| 1850 Gender | 1850 Age | 1860 Gender | 1860 Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 43 | Male | 53 |
| Female | 30 | Female | 40 |
| Male | 11 | Male | 21 |
| Female | 8 | Female | 17 |
| Male | 3 | Male | 14 |
| Male | 4 months | ||
| Male | 9 |
The continuity of ages and genders between the two slave schedules is remarkable considering the life expectancy of enslaved people and the documented likelihood that smaller households would often need to sell their enslaved as economic hardships hit.
stories of Then 