Margaret Morgan

Margaret Morgan (between 1800 and 1805–after 1837) was an African-American woman who was born to former slaves. They were considered free by their slaveholder, but they had not received an official deed of manumission. They lived on their former slaveholder's property, where they then had a daughter, Margaret. After she was married and had children, her family was taken from her home in the middle of the night around late March 1837 at the request of the former slaveholder's widow, Margaret Ashmore. Morgan became the subject of legal cases at the county, state and national level from 1837 to 1842. Prigg v. Pennsylvania was tried before the United States Supreme Court and the four men who apprehended Morgan and her children were found to be not guilty.

The result of the decision meant that it would be easier for slaveholders to capture former slaves in free states and it would be difficult for Pennsylvania to prosecute the 1826 personal liberty law that would protect its citizens from being enslaved. It also led the way for the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made it even easier for slave catchers to take black people from free states.

From a legal perspective, the core of the issue was whether or not states could legislate for the freedom and protection of its citizens. Because the arguments of the case were whether the case was a federal vs. state issue, the case did not consider that Margaret Morgan and her children were human beings that deserved protection under the law. It is unclear what became of Morgan and her children.

Personal life Mill Green Historic District, where Margaret Morgan grew up and started her married life. Margaret ("Peg" but he had not granted them a deed of manumission. They may not have met the conditions set by the state of Maryland for manumission. He freed six or more enslaved people through manumission before he died in 1823. There were only two slaves on the 1824 estate inventory, both of whom were boys. The inventory was signed off as a "true and perfect inventory of all goods and chattel" by Margaret Ashmore and Edward Prigg, who was a justice of the peace. They are believed to have lived in one of Wallace's houses. The Republican (originally from the Pennsylvania Telegraph and York Daily Record state that there were six children. and yet there were no attempts to collect Margaret and her children and there were no runaway advertisements for her in the newspapers over many years.

Societal and legislative conditions

Pennsylvania was the first state to pass An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in 1780, There were attempts to free her and the children, but she may have been taken out of the area before the petition could be adjudicated.

The fate of Margaret Morgan and her children is unclear. There are records that show that Morgan and her children were sold to a slaveholder from the south. Judge Stevenson Archer is not noted to have sanctioned the sale. There are records, as well, that show that Morgan and her children lived in Cecil County, Maryland until about 1870. Those sold to the south were believed to have returned to Maryland at some point. After that, they went south or west of Maryland or were sold to another slaveholder. She may have had a son who escaped from his slaveholder in Maryland. On June 8, 1857, a newspaper ad stated that 21-year-old Edward Morgan was a runaway and that $500 would be paid for his return. The Maryland State Archives, however, states that there were no known transactions for the sale of the family. There was no evidence that the Ashmores lived in Harford County after 1830.