Maryland Slave Laws-1806

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General Assembly
November 4, 1805 - January 28, 1806

Session Laws, 1805 NOVEMBER. L A W S OF MARY LA N D.

CHAP. LXVI.

Passed 15th of
January, 1806.

An ACT, entitled, An additional supplement to an act, entitled,
An act relating to negroes, and to repeal the ads of assembly
therein mentioned.

WHEREAS great mischiefs have arisen from slaves coming into possession of the certificates
of free negroes, by running away and passing as free, under the faith of such certificates:
And whereas it has been found from experience, that the manner of granting certificates of freedom
is not sufficient to prevent the evils felt by slaves coming into possession of such certificates; for
remedy whereof,

II. BE it ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That from and after the first day of June
next, it shall not be lawful for any person or persons, except the clerks of the county courts in the
several counties in this state, or register of wills, where any negro or negroes have been freed by
last will and testament, to grant certificates of freedom to any free negro or negroes; and the said
clerks and registers are hereby enjoined, when called upon by any negro entitled to freedom, residing
in or belonging to, their respective counties, for a certificate thereof, to grant the same under the
seal of their respective offices, and to set forth therein the height, age, complexion, the time when
such, negro became free, the place where he or she, as the case may be, was raised, and such mark
or marks as may appear to such clerk or register to be notable in such negro, so applying for his or
her certificate of freedom as aforesaid; and the said clerk or register shall keep a registry of each
and every certificate granted by them,. or either of them, to any negro or negroes to whom such cer-
tificate have been granted.

III. AND BE IT ENACTED, That if any person -or persons, other than the clerks or registers as
aforesaid of the several counties in this state, shall give or grant any certificate of freedom to any
negro or negroes, he, she or they, shall, upon an indictment, and being found guilty thereof, either
by confession or verdict of a jury, forfeit and pay not exceeding live hundred dollars for each and
every offence, to be applied to the use of the county where such person shall reside; and if any

clerk or register in any county in this state shall grant a certificate of freedom to any negro or ne-
groes not entitled to freedom, knowing such negro or negroes not to be entitled to freedom, or to
any free negro or free negroes, except such as belong to, or were manumitted or freed according to
the laws of, this state,. in his or their respective counties, shall, upon an indictment. and conviction
thereof, forfeit and pay not exceeding five hundred dollars for each and every offence, to be applied
as aforesaid.

IV. AND BE IT ENACTED, That it shall not be lawful for any clerk or register of any county in
this state to grant a certificate of freedom to any negro manumitted or freed as aforesaid who has
once obtained a certificate of his or her freedom of such clerk or register, unices such negro apply-
ing for the same shall make oath, or prove by some credible and disinterested witness, that he or she,
as the case may be, has lost the former certificate of his or her freedom, granted as aforesaid; and
it shall be the duty of the said clerk or register to describe the grantee of such second certificate, in.
the same manner as is prescribed in the first section of this act.

V. AND BE IT ENACTED, That when any negro or negroes, who has or have been manumitted
or freed as aforesaid, shall apply to the clerk or register of the county where he, she or they was or
were manumitted or freed as aforesaid, for a certificate thereof, it shall be the duty of such clerk or
register to cause such applicant or applicants to prove, by such testimony as shall be satisfactory to

such clerk or register, that he or she, as the case may be, is the identical person who was manu-
mitted or freed as aforesaid.

VI. AND BE IT ENACTED, That where any negro or negroes, born free, shall wish to travel out
of, or leave, the county in which he, she or they, were born, such negro or negroes shall apply to
the clerk of the county where he, she or they, shall reside, to grant him, her or them, a certificate
of their freedom, and the said clerk shall, upon sufficient evidence of such negro or negroes so ap-
dying being born free, grant to such negro or negroes a certificate thereof, setting forth the manner
in which such negro or negroes became entitled to his, her or their freedom, and shall describe such
negro or negroes in such certificate, in the same manner as is prescribed in the first section of this
act; and the said clerk shall keep a registry thereof, and shall not grant any other certificate to any
such negro or negroes, unless upon such testimony of his, her or their having lost the former certi-
ficate of his, her or their freedom, as is required from negroes who have been manumitted or freed
as before mentioned.

VII. AND BE IT ENACTED, That for each and every certificate of freedom granted under this act,
the clerk or register, as the case may be, shall receive fifty cents, as a compensation for his trouble.