34

662 HISTORICAL ANNOTATION

36.27 Murray] James Murray Lloyd (1803-47) was the middle son of Edward
Lloyd V and Sally Murray Scott. When he married, his father built a mansion for him
called Presqu'ile, which quickly became a Talbot County showplace. In 1840 he was
one of the region's wealthiest farmers, owning 113 slaves. 1840 U.S. Census,
Maryland, Talbot County, 60; Stella Pickett Hardy, Colonial Families of the Southern
States of America (New York, 1911 ), 387; Tilghman, Talbot County, 1:207, 222;
Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 47, 49-50, 69-70.
38.9-10 a young woman. . .most cruelly abused] Henny Bailey (1816-?), a
cousin of Frederick Douglass, was one of seven children born to Milly Bailey, a slave
on one of Aaron Anthony's farms. Henny was apparently ill fitted for work; Anthony
estimated her value at fifty dollars in 1826, less than half the value he placed on her
younger cousin Frederick. When Anthony died in 1826, his son-in-law, Thomas Auld,
inherited Bailey and four other slaves. Sometime before 1840, Auld granted Bailey
her freedom. The last record of Henny's existence is an entry in the 1840 U.S. Census.
which identifies her as a free black living in St. Michaels district. Aaron Anthony,
Inventory of Negroes, Distribution of Negroes, folder 71, Aaron Anthony Ledger B,
1812-26, folders 96, 159, both in Dodge Collection, MdAA; Aaron Anthony Slave
Distribution, 22 October 1827, Talbot County Distributions, V.JP#D, 58-59, MdTCH;
Preston, Young Frederick Douglass, 91, 174, 225.
38.11 Plummer] This individual is probably either James Plummer or Philemon
Plummer. Both men were longtime residents of Talbot County and, at various times
during Douglass's youth, worked for Aaron Anthony as overseers on his Tuckahoe
farms. Philemon Plummer is listed in Anthony's accounting records for 1819. Aaron
Anthony Day Books, folders 97, 30, Dodge Collection, MdAA; Preston, Young
Frederick Douglass, 71, 222.
39.7-9 For some cause. . .than the overseer] Slaves' preference for masters above
overseers resulted from the power structure of master-overseer-slave relationships. To
slaves, the virtually powerless, the overseer was a palpable symbol of their enslavement.
The overseer controlled their lives, calling them to work, keeping them motivated
in the fields, and punishing their transgressions. In contrast, masters, who often
distanced themselves from day-to-day labor, provided what comforts slaves had and
sometimes offered mercy when a slave appealed an overseer's decision. In this way,
masters deflected dissatisfaction away from themselves and onto overseers. John
Spencer Bassett, The Southern Plantation Overseer, as Revealed in His Letters (1925;
New York, 1968), 3-5; Miller and Smith, Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery,
555-56.
39.18 Esther] Hester Bailey, the sister of Douglass's mother.
39.21-22 "Ned" Roberts] Ned Roberts (1810-?l) was a slave owned by Edward
Lloyd V. It was 1825 when Aaron Anthony discovered that his slave Hester Bailey
was continuing to see Ned Roberts. Return Book, 1 January 1824, Land Papers--
Maintenance of Property, Land Volume 39, reel 10, Lloyd Family Papers, MdHi.
39.23-24 Some slave-holders. . .two such persons] In writing of "two such persons,"