Perry Trusty (b. 1824 -
d. 1887)
MSA SC 5496-8100
Fled from slavery, Queen Anne's County, 1857
Biography:
Perry Trusty was one of the many Eastern Shore African-Americans that was able to escape slavery and establish a life in Canada. However, he experienced quite a traumatic existence before he decided to flee. Perry was still a baby when his mother, Henrietta, was brutally stabbed to death by their seventeen year old master, John Seward.1 More than 20 white Queen Anne's citizens petitioned the governor for clemency on Seward's behalf. They cited the slave woman's "insolence," and maintained that he committed the crime only "in order to protect himself."2 These arguments were apparently sufficient as the court issued a "nolle prosequi" regarding the murder, absolving the young white man of any wrongdoing.3 Such incidents were not uncommon, as the white populace was easily convinced that blacks' laziness and disrespect warranted violent outbursts from whites.
Perry Trusty fled Maryland via the well-established underground network, along with fellow slave James Massey, meeting up with William Still in Philadelphia. Though too young to remember the incident, he nonetheless recounted the atrocity committed upon his mother, as well as a second murder that was his primary motive for absconding.4 Through some unrecorded transactions, Trusty had been acquired by James Pippin, who lived between Caroline and Queen Anne's counties. In 1855, the master's son John, whom Still referred to as "John Piper," stabbed a fellow black servant for what Perry would describe as a "very trifling" provocation.5 Pippin was taken to court for the offense but was found not guilty, again, on the basis that his violent act was done in self-defense.6 Trusty was irrevocably disturbed by this prevailing climate of injustice, realizing that African-Americans could not expect to have their rights defended.
He felt an undeniable urge to escape bondage, despite the despair of leaving behind his wife, Hannah, and young children Perry, William, and Thomas. In a letter forwarded through Still, Perry tells his family, "I should have let you know but I was afraid."7 For potential runaways, it was a risk to tell even the closest relations, who could be implicated and even prosecuted for aiding the escape. The 1857 letter published in Still's account may be the last communication between Trusty and his family, if indeed it did reach Maryland. It does not appear that Hannah or his children were ever able to reunite with him in Canada. However, Perry was followed soon after by his sister Ann Maria Green and her family, who had also been enslaved in Queen Anne's County. Trusty is listed in the 1871 Census as living in St. Catharine's, Ontario, with 65 year old Henrietta and 10 year old Lydia, both with his same last name.8 The document does not specify what relationship they have with Perry. The fate of his remaining family members in Maryland is also unknown. Perry Trusty died on Christmas day in 1887, having lived in Canada for just over 30 years.9
Footnotes -
2. Petition to Governor, Clemency for John Seward, Poplar Grove Collection, Series 13, p. 224.
3. QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Minutes, Rough) 1856-1857, State of Maryland vs. John Pippin.
4. Still, p. 144.
5. Ibid.
6. QUEEN
ANNE'S
7. Still.
8. Ancestry.com,
1871 Census of
9.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2012.
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