--part1_61.a3d6b23.2788ec45_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --part1_61.a3d6b23.2788ec45_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: <listadmin-bounces@rootsweb.com> Received: from rly-xd05.mx.aol.com (rly-xd05.mail.aol.com [172.20.105.170]) by air-xd03.mail.aol.com (v77.31) with ESMTP; Sat, 06 Jan 2001 16:21:41 -0500 Received: from lists6.rootsweb.com (lists6.rootsweb.com [63.92.80.125]) by rly-xd05.mx.aol.com (v77.27) with ESMTP; Sat, 06 Jan 2001 16:21:11 -0500 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists6.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) id f06LL7a27956 for QUEEN-admin@lists6.rootsweb.com; Sat, 6 Jan 2001 13:21:07 -0800 Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 13:21:07 -0800 X-From_: tombrown@jhu.edu Sat Jan 6 13:21:07 2001 Received: from newmail.rootsweb.com (newmail.rootsweb.com [63.92.80.103]) by lists6.rootsweb.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) with ESMTP id f06LL6327938; Sat, 6 Jan 2001 13:21:07 -0800 Received: from jhuml3.jhu.edu (jhuml3.jhu.edu [128.220.2.66]) by newmail.rootsweb.com (8.11.1/8.11.1) with ESMTP id f06LL5Y20324; Sat, 6 Jan 2001 13:21:05 -0800 Received: from CONVERSION-DAEMON.jhuml3.jhu.edu by jhuml3.jhu.edu (PMDF V6.0-24 #47562) id <0G6R00501FB8DM@jhuml3.jhu.edu>; Sat, 06 Jan 2001 16:21:08 -0500 (EST) Received: from jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu [128.220.2.5]) by jhuml3.jhu.edu (PMDF V6.0-24 #47562) id <0G6R00501FB7DK@jhuml3.jhu.edu> (original mail from tombrown@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu); Sat, 06 Jan 2001 16:21:07 -0500 (EST) Received: from jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu [128.220.2.5]) by jhuml3.jhu.edu (PMDF V6.0-24 #47562) with ESMTP id <0G6R003DLFB7R1@jhuml3.jhu.edu>; Sat, 06 Jan 2001 16:21:07 -0500 (EST) Received: (from tombrown@localhost) by jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (SGI-8.9.3/8.9.3) id QAA52660; Sat, 06 Jan 2001 16:21:07 -0500 (EST) Old-Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 16:21:07 -0500 (EST) From: Thomas F Brown <tombrown@jhu.edu> To: afrigeneas@msstate.edu, baltgen-l@rootsweb.com, mdgen-l@rootsweb.com, MD-AfriGeneas@egroups.com, MD-BaltimoreCity-D@rootsweb.com, QUEEN-D@rootsweb.com, Heritage2@aol.com Message-id: <200101062121.QAA52660@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu> X-Diagnostic: Not on the accept list Subject: {not a subscriber} Re: Queen Families in Maryland X-Envelope-To: QUEEN-D X-Mailer: Unknown Queen is a common surname among the mulatto and black population of southern MD, DC, and Baltimore. There were many white slave-owning Queens, and some of the non-white Queens may have gotten their surname from their owners. However, there was also a large free Queen family in the region. Odds are good that your line was free, and there is another explanation for the free family's surname origin. Between 1796 and 1813, various members of the Queen family instituted a rash of freedom petitions in Southern Maryland and D.C. courts. They claimed that they were legally entitled to their freedom because of their descent from Mary Queen, who had supposedly been a free woman. Elderly white members of the community were deposed for these cases, but their testimony conflicted as to whether Mary had been free or not. They also disagreed as to her origins. One person recalled her as a "South American Indian", another as being "from England". Much of this testimony was hearsay of hearsay, and none too reliable. However, the deposition of Benjamin Duvall reveals the most likely version of events, because he actually knew Mary Queen. [This deposition is in Nancy Queen v. Rev. Charles Sewall, Charles County Court Proceedings, Liber IB, 1796-97.] Duvall's father, Marcen Duvall of Anne Arundel County, had bought another slave--Sarah, a "Mundingo Negro"--off of the same boat that Mary Queen came in on. Also on the boat was Golden Coast Tom, purchased by "old Mr. Murdock". Thus this ship would appear to have contained West Africans. Duvall knew Mary Queen because she came to his father's plantation to visit her shipmate Sarah, and the two women spoke the same foreign language. Duvall was about eight when Mary was bought, placing her arrival ca. 1721. According to Duvall's testimony, it looks like Mary was probably in her early teens when she arrived. Mary's owner was James Carroll, who called her "his Pappow Queen", because she claimed to be a queen in her own country. Mary's skin color was "very yellow". She "wore beads on her arms and had her head dressed with them...and twisted round her hair, which was...near a yard long. And on the top she had a knot of beads." Mary had a mulatto son named Ralph, whose father was reputed to be "Thomas Barm who kept her as a mistress". Although Mary's great-granddaughter Nancy Queen lost her freedom suit, some members of the Queen family did manage to attain their freedom. Edward Queen was freed by his owner John Ashton in 1791 in PG County. He then sued Ashton for having held him in slavery, but lost the suit. Edward died in Baltimore in 1798. Other free Queens show up in D.C., Baltimore, Prince George's County, and Anne Arundel County records beginning around this time. In D.C., Queens were among the wealthiest members of the free black community during the antebellum period. During the late 1800s, Queens in Charles and PG Counties married into the mulatto deme that was beginning to self-identify as "Wesorts". Today, some descendants of this community pass for "Piscataway Indians", although evidence for their Piscataway ancestry is circumstantial and quite dubious. The records in D.C. and Southern MD have been fairly well preserved. If your Queen line was free, with any luck you could be able to trace them back to 1800 or even earlier. If they were enslaved, it will be much more difficult. If you can get your line back to the early 1800s, I can give you citations to the court cases to see if any of those names match. Also check Paul Heinegg's website at: www.freeafricanamericans.com. He has an entry on the Queen family. Thomas tombrown@jhu.edu --part1_61.a3d6b23.2788ec45_boundary--