Slaves of Aden Darby and his Heirs, Maryland

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Montgomery, Maryland, United States

This page's purpose is to record the enslaved people owned by Aden Darby (abt.1772-abt.1864) and his descendants, and attempt to connect them to their families.

Aden was the son of George Milton Darby (1726-1788) & Ann (Hutchcraft) Darby (1735-1818).

According to ^[1], Aden married Sarah Ray, daughter of Nicholas and (Unknown) Ray, who was born March 18, 1773 in Anne Arundel Co. MD.

His known children born near Laytonsville, Montgomery County, MD were:

• Martha Darby, born January 6, 1796. Married first Jonathan Duly, April 12, 1815, second Robert Isherwood. No children.
• John Washington Darby, born Jan 30, 1798.
• Rebecca Ray Darby, born February 17, 1800, unmarried. Died at home of S.F. Darby, the old Aden Darby home.
• Charles Alexander Darby, born September 5, 1802, died November 23, 1849.
• Julianna Darby, born February 19, 1805, married Isaac Dawes, Jr., September 20, 1827. Frank Wilson, of Coumbus, Ohio is a grandson.
• Nicholas Ray Darby, born January 3, 1808. Married Ellen Burns. Had a son, Z. Taylor Darby, who married a daughter of Darius Darby, of Grafton, W. Va., and lived in Baltimore, MD.
• Ruth E. Darby, born May 31, 1810, unmarried. Died at home of William Hannah Darby.
• William George Darby, born January 17, 1813.
• James Aden Darby, born April 15, 1817, unmarried. Died at home of William Hannah Darby.

Contents 1 Slaves 1.1 Documents 2 Research Notes 3 Sources

Slaves

Martha (Darby) Isherwood^[2]

• Johnson Brooks (abt.1847-)^[2]
• Samuel Brooks (abt.1851-)^[2]
• "Richard Ross is about twenty six or twenty seven years of age; black; stout; healthy, and able bodied man; farm hand; take care of horses and drive a carriage, cart: or wagon: & good house servant."^[2]
• "Caddy Foreman, twenty four or five years old; has been much afflicted with inflamatory​ rheumatism by which her hands, and legs are distorted: when she is well she can cook very well, but can neither wash nor iron—black:" ^[2]

Rebecca Ray Darby, Ruth E. Darby & James Aden Darby^{[3] [4]}

• Harriet Chambers, female, age 55 ^[3][4]
• Thomas Chambers, male, age 33^{[3] [4]}
• Francis A. Chambers, male, age 31^{[3] [4]}
• Laura M. Chambers, female, age 20^{[3] [4]}
• Robert Chambers, male, age 19^{[3] [4]}
• Jeanette Chambers, female, age 14^{[3] [4]}
• Singleton Chambers, male, age 10^[3]
• Marshall Chambers, male, age 8^[3]
• Maria Chambers, female, age 3^[3]
• Rachel Chambers "is about twenty six or seven years old: black: above the medium height: her general health has always been good; she is a good cook, can wash and iron well: is a good nurse in sickness watchful and prudent: a first rate chambermaid and house servant, with intelligence and practical experience which fit her for, and she is a good housekeeper: a dairy woman, and can take charge of & superintend the planting and management of a kitchen garden and knows how to raise and the management of poultry."^[4]

The heirs of William G. Darby (per WIlliam A. Darby, executor)^[3]

• Samuel Fauquier (Farquhar?Frazier?), male, age 63^[3]
• Sarah E. Chambers, female, age 28^[3]
• James E. Chambers, male, age 3^[3]

William A. Darby

• Albert Turner, male, age 16

Documents

Bill of Sale - Aden Darby to Martha Isherwood, 1851^[2]

Know all men by these Presents that I Aden Darby of Montgomery County and State of Maryland for the Consideration of one Dollar Current Money to me in hand paid by Martha Isherwood of Washington County D. of Columbia the Receipt Whereof I do hereby Acknowledge have Granted Bargained and sold and Delivered unto the said Martha Isherwood my two negro slaves namely Johnson Brooks 4 years old and Samuel Brooks about 8 months old Which said Slaves I will Warrant and Defend to the said Martha Isherwood her Executors Administrators and Assigns Against me my Executors Administrators or Assigns and Agents and every other person or persons Whomsoever I Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this, 27th day of August 1851—

Aden Darby seal

Witness

Annie E. Dawes;

Bill of Sale - Aden Darby to Rebecca Ray Darby, Ruth E. Darby & James Aden Darby, 1852 ^[4]

Know all men by these presents that I Aden Darby of the County of Montgomery in the State of Maryland, for and in Consideration of the Natural love and affection which I have and bear to my daughters Rebecca R. Darby and Ruth R. Darby, and to my son James A. Darby, and for the further Consideration of the sum of fifty dollars current money to me in hand paid by the said Rebecca R. Darby and Ruth E. Darby before the execution and delivery hereof, have given bargained and sold, and I do hereby give bargain and sell to the said Rebecca R. Darby, & Ruth E. Darby, the following named negroes—slaves for life—to wit. Harriet aged about forty years, Thomas aged about twenty one years—Frank aged about nineteen years, Rachel aged about eighteen years, Robert, Laura, Janet and Maryella—To have and to hold the said negroes and their increase to the said Rebecca R. Darby and Ruth E. Darby and the survivor of them, and the executors administrators and assigns of such survivor, for and during the life of my son James E. Darby in trust, that the use hire and profit of the said negroes and their increase shall be applied to the support and maintenance of my said daughters and son equally and alike and from and after the death of my said son, should both my said daughters be then living, said negroes and their increase to be equally divided between them, but should either of them be then dead the survivor to have the whole.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal sixth day of May AD. 1852.

Research Notes

Tasks:

• Create and/or link profiles for Aden Darby's children etc. listed above. (done)
• Create and/or link profiles of enslaved people named in the documents below.(done)
• Locate 1850/1860 census records for enslaved people in these households & for all Darby heirs: Aden Darby 1860^[5]
• Further information on Martha Isherwood connection needs to be investigated and documented:

1. Petition of Martha Isherwood, 1 July 1862

• Further information on Rebecca, Ruth and James connection needs to be investigated and documented:

1. Petition of Rebecca R. Darby, Ruth E. Darby, and James A. Darby, 1 July 1862
2. Montgomery County Slave Statistics, 1867-1868, page 3
3. Rebecca R Darby in the Washington, D.C., U.S., Slave Emancipation Records, 1851-1863

• Further information on "heirs of William G. Darby" connection needs investigation and documentation:

1. Montgomery County Slave Statistics, 1867-1868, page 3

• Who were the heirs of William G. Darby?
• Research probable connection of WIlliam A. Darby, mentioned as next entry in Slave Statistics. He is named as the executor for William G. Darby in this record. Find the will...
• Who is S.F. Darby, listed as owning home of Aden Darby where R. R. Darby died?
• Maryella is mentioned in the bill of sale from Aden to Rebecca, Ruth and James in 1852.^[4] Further research needed - I am not certain she is subsequently listed in the slave statistics in 1867.^[3]
• Improve biographies on profiles using sources collected - link to profiles of others listed on same records.

Sources

1. ↑ Darby, Rufus Clarke. Template:Genealogy of the Darby family : George Darby, 1726-1788 of Montgomery Co., Md.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Civil War Washington: Susan C. Lawrence, Elizabeth Lorang, Kenneth M. Price, and Kenneth J. Winkle. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. <https://civilwardc.org/texts/petitions/cww.00823.html> A microfilm reproduction of the original document held at the National Archives and Records Administration, Microcopy 520, Reel 6. The original document is held in the Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, 1775–1978, National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 217.6.5. Within the National Archives' Archival Description Catalog, see ARC Identifier 4644616 / MLR Number A1 347 <http://arcweb.archives.gov>
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14} Montgomery County Slave Statistics, 1867-1868, Volume 812, Page 3, Maryland Archives, available online: <https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000812/html/am812--3.html><ref></ref>
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9} Civil War Washington: Susan C. Lawrence, Elizabeth Lorang, Kenneth M. Price, and Kenneth J. Winkle. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. <https://civilwardc.org/texts/petitions/cww.00824.html> A microfilm reproduction of the original document held at the National Archives and Records Administration, Microcopy 520, Reel 6. The original document is held in the Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, 1775–1978, National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 217.6.5. Within the National Archives' Archival Description Catalog, see ARC Identifier 4644616 / MLR Number A1 347 <http://arcweb.archives.gov>
5. ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WKLL-CG6Z : 16 October 2019), Aden Darly, 1860.