The administrators of the estate of Thomas Gist request the court's permission to sell some of the slaves belonging to the estate. Fearing some of the slaves "would run away" before they settled the estate, the administrators placed them "in the custody of warden of Baltimore County Jail." With the slaves in custody, the petitioners searched their quarters and made "discoveries" that cause them to "verily believe that the said negroes could not be released from confinement, and kept upon or about the property of said deceased, without exposing the same to the danger of being plundered and pilfered by them." They also point out that they now know with certainty that some of the slaves "had made arrangements immediately previous to their confinement, to run away." The administrators conclude releasing the slaves from prison will result in "great loss to the said Estate." They therefore request that the court pass an order for the sale of the slaves.
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
