Stealing Freedom along the Mason-Dixon Line: Thomas McCreary, the Notorious Slave Catcher / Kidnapper from Maryland
Who was Thomas McCreary?
• In the eyes of Pennsylvanians, including two governors, and some Marylanders, and Delawareans, McCreary was a villainous kidnapper. To his supporters, including two Maryland governors, McCreary was a heroic slave catcher.
• He exploited the ambiguity resulting from the argument over the difference between slave catching and kidnapping, and was unconcerned about the distinction, just as long as he made a profit and stayed out of jail.
• McCreary lived in Elkton, the county seat of Cecil County, located at the Mason-Dixon Line in the northeast corner of Maryland. Elkton was midway between Philadelphia, a refuge and way station for freedom seekers breaking free of slavery, and Baltimore, a thriving slave market. The location was ideal for a slave catcher … or a kidnapper.
How does this book differ from other books that examine the slave catching and kidnapping issue?
• The other books tend to either broadly survey the issue, or focus on a specific event or topic related to the issue.
• This book is the first to use a slave catcher and his community as the framework to develop the larger story.
• The book also closely examines the alliance between slave catchers and proslavery politicians.
How does this book add insight into the slave catching / kidnapping issue and the operation of the Reverse Underground Railroad?
• This close up view offers an increased understanding of why this issue was a contributing cause of the Civil War.
• The story expands outward into the region and encompasses multiple perspectives and individual stories. The Philadelphia-Wilmington-Baltimore corridor contained a toxic mix of opposing views and special interests, actions and reactions.
• Fifteen African Americans, including an infant, had their freedom threatened by McCreary or by slaveholders from McCreary’s home county. Some were born free, some had been legally freed, some had seized the freedom they had been denied. All their stories are told. So are reactions of other African Americans in Pennsylvania and Delaware who felt threatened by McCreary and others like him.
• Communities found themselves affected by the aggressions of McCreary and other slave catchers, and their reactions are important to the story.
• Significant to the story is McCreary political connections. As his reputation for slave catching grew, his value to Maryland politicians increased, and the state went to great lengths to protect him.
• McCreary became especially important to Maryland after he abducted two young sisters in Pennsylvania. Whereas McCreary and his community provide the framework of the book, the story of the Parker sisters and their community provide the heart of the story.
• The debate over the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the aftermath of the Christiana Resistance, and subsequent treason trial that ended in December, 1851, and McCreary's kidnapping of the Parker sisters that same month intertwined in several ways. Historians have noted one connection in the mysterious death of the main witness against McCreary, but other significant connections previously overlooked are presented in this book.
• In the eyes of Pennsylvanians, including two governors, and some Marylanders, and Delawareans, McCreary was a villainous kidnapper. To his supporters, including two Maryland governors, McCreary was a heroic slave catcher.
• He exploited the ambiguity resulting from the argument over the difference between slave catching and kidnapping, and was unconcerned about the distinction, just as long as he made a profit and stayed out of jail.
• McCreary lived in Elkton, the county seat of Cecil County, located at the Mason-Dixon Line in the northeast corner of Maryland. Elkton was midway between Philadelphia, a refuge and way station for freedom seekers breaking free of slavery, and Baltimore, a thriving slave market. The location was ideal for a slave catcher … or a kidnapper.
How does this book differ from other books that examine the slave catching and kidnapping issue?
• The other books tend to either broadly survey the issue, or focus on a specific event or topic related to the issue.
• This book is the first to use a slave catcher and his community as the framework to develop the larger story.
• The book also closely examines the alliance between slave catchers and proslavery politicians.
How does this book add insight into the slave catching / kidnapping issue and the operation of the Reverse Underground Railroad?
• This close up view offers an increased understanding of why this issue was a contributing cause of the Civil War.
• The story expands outward into the region and encompasses multiple perspectives and individual stories. The Philadelphia-Wilmington-Baltimore corridor contained a toxic mix of opposing views and special interests, actions and reactions.
• Fifteen African Americans, including an infant, had their freedom threatened by McCreary or by slaveholders from McCreary’s home county. Some were born free, some had been legally freed, some had seized the freedom they had been denied. All their stories are told. So are reactions of other African Americans in Pennsylvania and Delaware who felt threatened by McCreary and others like him.
• Communities found themselves affected by the aggressions of McCreary and other slave catchers, and their reactions are important to the story.
• Significant to the story is McCreary political connections. As his reputation for slave catching grew, his value to Maryland politicians increased, and the state went to great lengths to protect him.
• McCreary became especially important to Maryland after he abducted two young sisters in Pennsylvania. Whereas McCreary and his community provide the framework of the book, the story of the Parker sisters and their community provide the heart of the story.
• The debate over the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the aftermath of the Christiana Resistance, and subsequent treason trial that ended in December, 1851, and McCreary's kidnapping of the Parker sisters that same month intertwined in several ways. Historians have noted one connection in the mysterious death of the main witness against McCreary, but other significant connections previously overlooked are presented in this book.
Chapter Content
Chapter one – The Maelstrom
In 1848, an Elkton gang abducts a girl in Downingtown and rescuers find her in Baltimore. Newspapers in two neighboring counties express sharply opposing views about slave catching and kidnapping. Past efforts to resolve the long-standing interstate controversy are summarized, and Thomas McCreary and his home county are introduced. Two abductions involving McCreary occur in secession in 1849. The first is an obvious kidnapping in Philadelphia. The second one falls into the murky area between arrest and kidnapping. This abduction and subsequent events in Baltimore and in Chester County stir interstate denunciations. In Chester County white and black citizens hold an indignation meeting to express outrage, and black residents in the area heighten awareness for self-defense. Before that furor dies down, a Philadelphia court indicts McCreary for the kidnapping there. Politicians shield McCreary from extradition. In a third abduction, McCreary exploits a Maryland law regarding out of state blacks to “legally” kidnap a free black youth. This incident and the governor’s prior refusal to extradite McCreary attract abolitionist attention in Philadelphia and Wilmington. The chapter events shift to Delaware. The editor of a Delaware antislavery newspaper criticizes Maryland law and McCreary. Cecil County editors push back. Panicked passengers leaping from a train steaming towards Elkton from Delaware spurs further debate. Later, a Cecil County grand jury indicts the Delaware editor, accusing him of printing and distributing copies of the “Letter to the American Slaves from Those Who Have Fled from American Slavery.” Lastly, a kidnapping attempt in Delaware, foiled by the victim’s brother, highlights yet another way kidnappers operated.
Chapter one – The Maelstrom
In 1848, an Elkton gang abducts a girl in Downingtown and rescuers find her in Baltimore. Newspapers in two neighboring counties express sharply opposing views about slave catching and kidnapping. Past efforts to resolve the long-standing interstate controversy are summarized, and Thomas McCreary and his home county are introduced. Two abductions involving McCreary occur in secession in 1849. The first is an obvious kidnapping in Philadelphia. The second one falls into the murky area between arrest and kidnapping. This abduction and subsequent events in Baltimore and in Chester County stir interstate denunciations. In Chester County white and black citizens hold an indignation meeting to express outrage, and black residents in the area heighten awareness for self-defense. Before that furor dies down, a Philadelphia court indicts McCreary for the kidnapping there. Politicians shield McCreary from extradition. In a third abduction, McCreary exploits a Maryland law regarding out of state blacks to “legally” kidnap a free black youth. This incident and the governor’s prior refusal to extradite McCreary attract abolitionist attention in Philadelphia and Wilmington. The chapter events shift to Delaware. The editor of a Delaware antislavery newspaper criticizes Maryland law and McCreary. Cecil County editors push back. Panicked passengers leaping from a train steaming towards Elkton from Delaware spurs further debate. Later, a Cecil County grand jury indicts the Delaware editor, accusing him of printing and distributing copies of the “Letter to the American Slaves from Those Who Have Fled from American Slavery.” Lastly, a kidnapping attempt in Delaware, foiled by the victim’s brother, highlights yet another way kidnappers operated.
Chapter 2 – A Failed Compromise
Philadelphia slave hunter George Alberti arrests a fugitive mother and returns her to James Mitchell in Cecil County. She carries her freeborn infant Joel in her arms. Pennsylvania sentences Alberti to prison for kidnapping the infant. Maryland protests the imprisonment. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 increases federal involvement and sets new rules. The first two trials held in Philadelphia under the new law rule on accused fugitives from McCreary's home county. The first, the trial of Henry Garnett, attracts a crowd of African Americans and the judge fears a violence reaction similar to one in Detroit. In the city’s second trial, Alberti, out on bail, arrests Adam Gibson and alleges Gibson is a fugitive named Emery Rice. The main witness accusing Gibson was Alberti’s accomplice in the infant kidnapping. The outcome embarrasses the Act’s supporters. In 1851, a double kidnapping originating in Delaware is exposed when a victim fights back at McCreary’s home. The commotion brings to light a scheme used by Delaware kidnappers. After giving background on William Parker, leader of a self-defense league, the resistance at Christiana, and the death of slaveholder Edward Gorsuch, the chapter presents the acrimonious exchanges between Maryland and Pennsylvania attorneys at the treason trial. These events are relevant to the broader topic and to McCreary. During the trial, an attorney refers to McCreary. The Cecil Whig reports on an attempt in Pennsylvania a few days later to arrest McCreary.
Philadelphia slave hunter George Alberti arrests a fugitive mother and returns her to James Mitchell in Cecil County. She carries her freeborn infant Joel in her arms. Pennsylvania sentences Alberti to prison for kidnapping the infant. Maryland protests the imprisonment. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 increases federal involvement and sets new rules. The first two trials held in Philadelphia under the new law rule on accused fugitives from McCreary's home county. The first, the trial of Henry Garnett, attracts a crowd of African Americans and the judge fears a violence reaction similar to one in Detroit. In the city’s second trial, Alberti, out on bail, arrests Adam Gibson and alleges Gibson is a fugitive named Emery Rice. The main witness accusing Gibson was Alberti’s accomplice in the infant kidnapping. The outcome embarrasses the Act’s supporters. In 1851, a double kidnapping originating in Delaware is exposed when a victim fights back at McCreary’s home. The commotion brings to light a scheme used by Delaware kidnappers. After giving background on William Parker, leader of a self-defense league, the resistance at Christiana, and the death of slaveholder Edward Gorsuch, the chapter presents the acrimonious exchanges between Maryland and Pennsylvania attorneys at the treason trial. These events are relevant to the broader topic and to McCreary. During the trial, an attorney refers to McCreary. The Cecil Whig reports on an attempt in Pennsylvania a few days later to arrest McCreary.
Summaries for chapters 3-6 continue on the Kidnapping of Elizabeth and Rachel Parker page. The story of Thomas McCreary, the story of Rachel Parker, and the aftermath of the Christiana treason trial intertwine.