Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva's Black History

Source Information

Apprenticeships from the Somerset County Register of Wills (Indentures), 1864-1867

Apprentices and Indentures • 796 Records • Uploaded October 7, 2021

The apprenticeship applications submitted to the Register of Wills documents the attempts of former slaveowners to maintain possession of the children of their recently freed slaves immediately after 1864 Maryland Constitution outlawed slavery in the state. Data show the trade the children were to learn, who they would serve, and the ages they would reach at the end of their service. Also noted are items the individuals were to receive once their apprenticeship was completed. This record was transcribed from the original Somerset County Register of Wills Indentures 1864-1867 Liber JJD 6 and is now available online as the Maryland State Archives as a multipage PDF on this page: http://guide.msa.maryland.gov/pages/item.aspx?ID=C1771-10

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Fields Included

The list below shows the data fields included in this source. If a field is marked as Indexed, it is searchable.

  • County Indexed
  • PDF page
  • Page # in Liber JJD No. 6
  • Justice of the Peace Indexed
  • Child (Apprentice) Indexed
  • Child of Indexed
  • Raised by Indexed
  • Awarded Indexed
  • White person to whom apprenticed (master) Indexed
  • Date of Apprenticeship Paper
  • Age
  • Date of Attaining Said Age
  • Age to Serve Until
  • Trade to Learn Indexed
  • Receive at the end of the Apprenticeship Indexed
  • Date of Final Papers
  • Transcriber Notes Indexed
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