The Green Family

Jack Green was born enslaved about 1789. He grew to be tall for his day: five feet and nine or ten inches high, with a “straight and quick” walk. He was talented, too: as a rough carpenter and as a skilled fiddle player. When he was about 20, he married an enslaved woman named Hannah. The two had at least two children, including a daughter, Sarah, who was born about 1811. The family lived as the enslaved property of Richard Gardiner in the Broad Neck area of Anne Arundel County.

When Sarah was about 15, in 1826, Hannah was manumitted. She moved to Baltimore and found residence near Strawberry Alley. Two of her children lived there as well. Back in Broad Neck, Jack Green might have grown tired of the lengthy separation from his wife and children. So, on June 29th of 1833 he fled for Baltimore, as his owner correctly speculated in a runaway ad. Green managed to elude Gardiner’s grasp for a full eight months, but was then captured, imprisoned in the city jail, and on March 11, 1834, released back to Richard Gardiner.

 Whatever its outcome, running away was a legacy of resistance. When Richard Gardiner sold Jack and Hannah’s daughter, Sarah, to an interstate slave trader, Joseph Donovan, in 1844, Sarah might have remembered her father’s attempt to reunite the family. Perhaps his flight was an inspiration, or maybe it was a cautionary tale. Either way, Sarah Green decided to run, too. She fled on September 11, 1844, in a red calico dress with her hair tied up in a plaid cotton handkerchief.

Sarah Green was discovered, imprisoned, and returned to Joseph Donovan. She was aboard the Catharine when it left for New Orleans on January 8, 1845.

  • Gabriel Dorsey received of a tip of 6 1/4¢ by on August 22, 1822, for weeding in the “garden of recreation” of Washington Seminary.

  • Gabriel Dorsey received of a tip of 6 1/4¢ by on August 22, 1822, for weeding in the “garden of recreation” of Washington Seminary.

  • Gabriel Dorsey received of a tip of 6 1/4¢ by on August 22, 1822, for weeding in the “garden of recreation” of Washington Seminary.

  • Shortly before Washington Seminary ended its operations, on October 13, 1827, the Jesuits of Georgetown College hired Gabriel Dorsey out, paying $1 per month to his owner Margaret Fenwick. On that date, they also ended their agreement to hire out Hillary, a woman also owned by Fenwick who had worked for the College since May 1, 1825.

  • Gabe “obtained leave to buy himself free.” Under the arrangement recorded on March 31, 1828, Gabe would pay $8 monthly until he had saved $400, when he would be freed. Such agreements helped enslavers establish obedience and loyalty.

  • Gabriel Dorsey received of a tip of 6 1/4¢ by on August 22, 1822, for weeding in the “garden of recreation” of Washington Seminary.

  • The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Records of the Field Offices For the State of Louisiana, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1863-1872; NARA Series Number: M1905; NARA Reel Number: Roll 111, Miscellaneous Records, 1865-1868; NARA Record Group Number: 105; NARA Record Group Name: Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1861-1880; Collection Title: United States Freedmen's Bureau Miscellaneous Records 1865-1872

  • The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Records of the Field Offices For the State of Louisiana, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1863-1872; NARA Series Number: M1905; NARA Reel Number: Roll 111, Miscellaneous Records, 1865-1868; NARA Record Group Number: 105; NARA Record Group Name: Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1861-1880; Collection Title: United States Freedmen's Bureau Miscellaneous Records 1865-1872