Cornelius Fuller (b.
1827 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-8648
Fled from Slavery, Kent County, Maryland 1859
Biography:
Cornelius Fuller successfully escaped from the Diden Estate in Kent County, Maryland. He fled the state alongside his wife, Harriet, who had been owned by Judge Ezekiel F. Chambers in Chestertown. The couple were forced to leave behind their 13 year old daughter, Kitty, presumably also owned by the judge.1 She may be the 16 year old "Kittey" recorded within Chambers' slave statistics, just after the abolition of all Maryland slaves in 1864.2
The Fullers are known to have reached Philadelphia, where abolitionist William Still briefly recorded their experience. Though Harriet spoke a good deal about the qualities of her former master, there is no specific information about the onwer from which Cornelius escaped.3 No slaveholding "Diden," or similarly named family appears in the immediate area. Still likely made arrangements for the couple to make their way further north, through New York to Canada. Cornelius and Harriet settled in St. Catharine's, an Ontario community which was quickly absorbing a large number of fugitive slaves, many from Maryland's Eastern Shore. They are recorded in the 1861 Census of Canada, the 34 year old husband being listed as a laborer.4 However, there is no documentation of Cornelius Fuller or his wife after that point.
3. Still.
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