Francis Lookerman (b.
1840 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-51300
Property Owner, Dorchester County
Biography:
Francis and Sophia Lookerman were both still teenagers when they became involved in an influential court case in Talbot County. Their father reached an untimely death some time in the 1850's, and did not leave a will or other document to make provisions for his property.1 This would likely have included many of the 12 slaves that he owned as of 1850.2 Such times often provided an opportunity, and a strong impetus, for enslaved individuals to flee. Intestate deaths might require that property be sold to pay for debts, and slaves were some of the most valuable and easy to dispose of. Whatever his motivation, one of the Lookerman's bondsmen named Tom Camper decided to escape in March of 1858.3
These incidences occurred at a
particularly tumultuous
time for slaveowners on the Eastern Shore. The efforts of Harriet
Tubman
and other dedicated abolitionists had spurred an unprecedented
frequency
of flight among African-Americans. Free blacks were often the target of
retribution by the planter class, who saw their growing presence as the
major opponent of slavery. Perhaps taking advantage of this climate,
Francis
Lookerman joined William
Hayward in accusing free black Daniel
Mackey of "enticing and assisting" their slaves to escape.4
The man
was found guilty, and sentenced to be sold as a slave out of the state,
according to a state law that had recently been passed. Under the
statute,
complainants could also get compensation based on the sale of the
individual.5
Of the $950 that the Talbot County Court received for Mackey, $200 went
to the Lookermans. Having claimed to be “compelled to pay as a reward …
the sum of two hundred dollars,” they were compensated that exact
amount.6
This assertion would also suggest that Tom Camper was indeed
recaptured.
Sophia Lookerman recorded possession of ten slaves, while living on
James
Valliant’s Talbot County farm in 1860.7 While
one of these individuals
may be Tom, it is unknown what happened to the man after the attempt to
flee in 1858.
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