Censuses & Lists • 13,069 Records • Uploaded July 6, 2021
The 1832 census of free Blacks was taken by the sheriffs in Maryland and overseen by a 3-person board of managers who were members of the Maryland State Colonization Society. According to the 1831 “An Act relating to the People of Color in this state,” the Society’s duty “shall be to remove from the state of Maryland the people of color now free, and such as shall hereafter become so, to the colony of Liberia, in Africa, or such other place or places….”
These records were abstracted from two transcribed sources: Free African Americans of Maryland 1832 by Jerry M. Hynson (includes Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, and Queen Anne’s counties) and Free Blacks in Harford, Somerset and Talbot Counties, Maryland 1832 by Mary K. Myer.
There were differences as to how each county recorded their results. In the counties of Dorchester (Sheriff Reuben Tall 8/21/1832) and Queen Anne’s (Sheriff Thomas Ashcomb) people are grouped as males and females separately which obscures family groupings. Caroline (Sheriff Robert T. Kune) and Kent Counties appear to be grouped as families or households.
Due to complications with the microfilm copies of these records (held at the Maryland State Colonization Society), there are likely errors in some names and ages. Some entries with asterisks indicate a possible willingness to relocate, although this was not explicitly stated. There are several duplications of the same people in the book (especially noticed in Dorchester, Caroline, and Queen Anne’s). Whether this was an error in the original book, microfilm, transcript or book printing cannot be determined. There also seems to be a printing error in the Hynson book; Some pages under the header “Kent County” appear to actually belong to Frederick County (this was corrected in the data entered into Enduring Connections).
The list below shows the data fields included in this source. If a field is marked as Indexed, it is searchable.