James Pippin (b. 1792 -
d. 1880)
MSA SC 5496-51305
Property owner, Queen Anne's County
Biography:
James Pippin was a lifelong Queen Anne's County resident, who lost at least three slaves to flight over the years. Both of these incidences occurred during 1857, when Eastern Shore slave holders endured an unprecedented exodus of their human chattel. At the time, Pippin, his wife Permelia and their nine children were residing on a farm near Bridgetown, along the border with Caroline County.1 As of 1850, he owned 8 African-American slaves, who ranged from ages 10 to 31.2 Two of these were likely Perry Trusty, and his sister Ann Maria Green.
Neither had positive impressions of their owner, Trusty having witnessed a particularly gruesome episode at the Pippin residence. Shortly after Perry fled Queen Anne's County in the spring of 1857, he reached the offices of Underground Railroad agent William Still, who recorded his experience in slavery.3 The fugitive claimed that a "very trifling" provocation had caused the teenaged John Pippin to fatally stab one of the family's slaves. The master's son ultimately came forward and confessed, but only on the basis that he had committed the crime "in self-defense."4 County court records actually confirm that a trial took place in which John was indicted for the "willful and felonius murder of negro Zeb, slave of James Pippin."5 However, the young man was found not guilty, his self-defense argument apparently strong enough to convince the all-white jury. Perry Trusty never quite recovered from the injustice of seeing a black life taken without consequence, and he cited the murder as a primary motivation for his flight the next year.6
For her part, Ann Green was quite critical of James Pippin's treatment, though she made no mention of the outrage committed by his son. Her account was also recorded by Still. Green would claim that "He[Pippin] tried to work me to death, and treated me as mean as he could, without killing me."7 He had also threatened to sell Ann and her son to Georgia, a tactic that became more frequent after her brother and another man fled earlier in the year. Both brother and sister were able to reach freedom and establish lives in St. Catharine's, Ontario. It is unclear whether Pippin made an effort to retrieve his property, but he did not purchase any runaway advertisements in the local newspapers. He also apparently made little attempt to replenish his stock of slaves in the ensuing years, as he only registered four in the 1860 Census.8 There is no evidence of his having manumitted or sold those that remained, though such transactions were not always publicly recorded.9 Pippin maintained the operation of his farm until at least 1870, though prior Census records claimed that he was neither able to read nor write. The Baltimore Sun published a brief notice upon James Pippin's death in 1880, claiming that he was the oldest resident of Queen Anne's County and "was quite an active man," despite having gone blind several years before.10
Footnotes -
1. Ancestry.com, 1850, United States Federal Census, Queen Anne's County, District 2, p. 12.
4. Ibid.
5. QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Criminal Docket) November Term, 1855, Case #35.
6. Still, p. 144.
9. QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Manumissions, Index) 1787-1864.
10. "Death Notice," Baltimore Sun, 20 October 1880.
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