In these three meetings held at Georgetown College on May and September of 1813, and June of 1814 the members of the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen discussed and resolved to "dispose for a limited time of the greatest parts of the blacks on…
In a letter to the new Jesuit Superior General Jan Roothaan, Rev. Thomas Mulledy SJ assesses the state of Georgetown College and poses a set of challenging questions regarding the Jesuits' slaveholding in Maryland. He asks whether the Jesuits' slave…
In this letter from 1816, Bishop Neale explains the rules governing Catholic marriages between enslaved persons. Priests had to get permission from the slaves' owners and the owners had to promise not to separate husbands and wives.
This deed of gift between William Hunter and Thomas Jameson finalized the sale of goods and items from "Brittons Neck," an early Jesuit plantation on the land that became Newtown Plantation. The transaction named 15 enslaved persons who were sold…
This 1835 entry from the Maryland Province Cashbook documents the sale of four enslaved women at St. Thomas Manor. This group of women were sold by the Jesuits for $1300.00.
The Procurator of the Province, Fr. Vespre, writes to Fr. Woodley, manager of Newtown, to express his dissatisfaction with the management of that plantation. In particular, he inquires about the enslaved person bought by Woodley from Mrs. Smith and…
In 1843, Fr. Vespre instructed Fr. Carbury to pay Mrs. Jane Smith for the hire of an enslaved person owned by her. The person in question had been in the service of Rev. Havermans, a Dutch Jesuit from the Maryland Province who was transferred to New…
In response to an inquiry on the state of the White Marsh Plantation, the Procurator of the Maryland Province informs the Assessors for Prince George's Co. that the property that remains in their estate includes "four old slave servants, 1 man & 3…
In this letter from 1836, the Procurator expresses his surprise that Fr. Carbery did not record the sale of 17 enslaved persons in 1835, as this was "not a sale of mere produce but of a true & real capital."
In this letter from 1836, the Procurator of the Maryland Province writes to Fr. Carbery, manager of St. Inigoes, requesting that he inform him of "the number, age, & value of the men, women & child servants" recently sold. The letter refers…