Runaway Ad for Charles and Patrick Mahoney, 1798

Dublin Core

Title

Runaway Ad for Charles and Patrick Mahoney, 1798

Subject

Slaves; Fugitive slaves; Advertisements; Jesuits--History--19th century

Description

On January 8, 1798, Rev. John Ashton, the manager of White Marsh plantation, posted a runaway slave advertisement for Charles and Patrick Mahoney in the Maryland Gazette

In 1791, Charles Mahoney, along with his siblings Patrcik and David, filed petitions for their freedom in the General Court of the Western Shore in Annapolis Maryland. They based their petitions for freedom on the claim that they were descended from a free woman named Ann Joice. 

For an overview of the 12 years of litigation of Mahoney v. Ashton and documents related to the case visit the O Say Can You See: Early Washington, D.C., Law & Family website.

Ashton had been a Jesuit priest (the Society was formally suppressed at this time) and was one of the founders of Georgetown. 

There are several advertisements for people who had escaped from Ashton at White Marsh in the Maryland State Archives' Legacies of Slavery in Maryland database.

Creator

Maryland State Archives

Publisher

Georgetown Slavery Archive

Date

1798-01-08

Contributor

Elsa Barraza Mendoza

Format

PDF

Language

English

Type

Runaway slave advertisement

Identifier

GSA421

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

Sixteen Dollars Reward.

Ran away from the subscriber, living in Prince George’s county, two mulatto fellows called CHARLES and PATRICK MAHONEY; they have been away about three weeks; they pretend they are set free by the verdict of a jury in the last general court, but were ordered by the court to return home till a point of law should be settled relating to their case; this they refuse to do. As they are well known in and about Annapolis and the forest of Prince George’s, where I suspect they must be, I do hereby forewarn all persons from harbouring or employing them,  and will give any person EIGHT DOLLARS reward for securing either of them in gaol.

January 8, 1798                                              3w                                                                                 
JOHN ASHTON.

Original Format

Newspaper Advertisement

Files

Citation

Maryland State Archives , “Runaway Ad for Charles and Patrick Mahoney, 1798,” Georgetown Slavery Archive, accessed January 22, 2025, https://slaveryarchive.georgetown.edu/items/show/448.