An analysis of enslaver networks in Queen Anne District reveals a complex web of relationships shaped by proximity, institutional affiliations, inheritance practices, and direct partnerships. These connections, while distinct, often overlapped to solidify enslavers’ economic, social, and political power. Understanding these enslaver networks is crucial for reconstructing the kinship networks of enslaved people. Due to the intentional fragmentation of enslaved families through sale and forced migration, documentation of their relationships is often scattered and incomplete. By analyzing enslaver connections, researchers can identify which enslavers held enslaved individuals from the same kinship groups, even if those individuals were dispersed across different properties. This approach allows for a more complete reconstruction of enslaved families and their social structures, providing a clearer picture of their community formation despite the challenges of slavery.
Typology of Enslaver Networks
- Proximity-Based Cliques: Enslaver families within the same immediate geographic area formed localized groupings. These cliques fostered interactions and cooperation on local matters. Though kinship ties might exist, these cliques were primarily maintained due to the convenience of physical closeness.
- Shared Institutional Alliances: Enslavers connected through common membership in institutions such as churches (e.g., Catholic), political bodies, and social organizations. These alliances, evidenced by shared participation in organizations, facilitated the exchange of information and advanced shared interests.
- Successional Inheritance Bonds: Intergenerational connections, shaped by the inheritance of property (including land and enslaved people), defined enduring relationships among enslaver families. These bonds, reinforced by legal and social practices, structured the transmission of wealth and power across generations.
- Direct Partnerships: Enslaver families established explicit agreements for economic, social, or strategic collaboration. These partnerships, often formalized, involved shared goals and responsibilities.
Sources
To comprehensively analyze enslaver networks in Queen Anne District, the following types of historical sources are essential:
- U.S. Federal Census Records: These census enumerations provide information on the geographic proximity of enslaver households, their family structures, and their relative wealth. Analyzing dwelling numbers and neighboring families can reveal proximity-based cliques.
- Prince George’s County Probate Records (Wills, Inventories, Accounts): Wills and estate inventories detail the inheritance of property, including land and enslaved individuals, revealing successional inheritance bonds. Accounts can shed light on financial relationships and potential partnerships.
- Prince George’s County Land Records (Deeds, Plats): Deeds and plats document land ownership and transfers, helping to establish geographic proximity and identify potential co-ownership or property transactions indicative of direct partnerships.
- Church Records (Vestry Minutes, Registers): Records from institutions like St. Barnabas Episcopal Church and Catholic churches in the area can reveal shared institutional alliances through membership in governing bodies, lists of parishioners, and records of participation in church activities.
- Social and Political Organizations: Membership lists, meeting minutes, and other records from organizations, such as Bank trustees and local government bodies can illuminate shared institutional alliances and the social and political networks of enslavers.
- Louise Joyner Hienton’s Land Tract Map (1959) & 1861 Simon Martenet Map of Prince George’s County:These maps provide the geographical context necessary to analyze proximity-based cliques and the spatial relationships between enslaver landholdings over time.
- Newspaper Records (e.g., Daily Intelligencer, Maryland Gazette, Evening Star from Newspapers.com): These historical newspapers can provide valuable information about the social, economic, and political activities of enslavers in Prince George’s County. They may contain notices of partnerships, business dealings, political affiliations, and social engagements, shedding light on Direct Partnerships and Shared Institutional Alliances. Obituaries and marriage announcements can also offer evidence of kinship ties and intermarriages, relevant to Kin-Based Clans. Legal notices and advertisements may reveal economic relationships and the movement of enslaved individuals within enslaver networks.
- Advertisements for Runaway Enslaved People (e.g., in Daily Intelligencer, Maryland Gazette from Newspapers.com): These advertisements, placed by enslavers seeking the return of self-liberated individuals, can sometimes provide indirect evidence of enslaver networks. The advertisements might mention the names of neighboring enslavers or individuals known to the runaway, suggesting potential connections or support networks within the enslaved community that reflect the enslavers’ social landscape. Additionally, the enslaver placing the advertisement can be linked to other enslavers through geographic proximity or family ties identified in other records.
- Bowie, Walter Worthington. The Bowies and their kindred : a genealogical and biographical history. Washington: Press of Gibson Bros., 1899. This genealogical and biographical history provides detailed information on numerous prominent families in Prince George’s County, including the Bowies and their related families. It can be a valuable resource for tracing kinship ties, intermarriages, and inheritance patterns among enslaver families, contributing to the analysis of Kin-Based Clans and Successional Inheritance Bonds.
- Bowie, Effie Gwynn. Across the Years in Prince George’s County [Maryland]. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1975. This work, particularly its genealogical section, offers detailed genealogies of many key county families. This resource is crucial for identifying familial connections, marriage alliances, and the transmission of property and enslaved individuals across generations, informing the analysis of Kin-Based Clans, Successional Inheritance Bonds, and Direct Partnerships formed through marriage.
- Hienton, Louise Joyner. Prince George’s Heritage: Sidelights on the Early History of Prince George’s County, MD, From 1696-1800. Maryland Historical Society: 1972. This historical work provides valuable context on the early history of Prince George’s County, including the social, economic, and political landscape during a formative period. It can offer insights into the development of enslaver networks, the establishment of institutions, and the patterns of land ownership that shaped the relationships between enslaver families in the region. This historical context can enrich the analysis of all typologies of enslaver networks.
stories of Then 