Story of
Augustus Collins (~1830-1883)

There is much to the story of Augustus Collins who was arrested for an attempted slave insurrection, among other things, in 1861.  But his story begins much earlier and was the result of the the  clutches of slavery in Maryland.  The topic of Maryland and HoCo slavery is a deep one and entrenched in the government from the beginning of the founding of Maryland.

Maryland State Colonization Society

Augustus Collins was born in the 1830s during a time when the Maryland State Colonization Society was formed.  Although this Society was not successful in its mission, they wanted to rid Maryland of free Blacks so they wouldn't have a negative influence on those that were enslaved - such as reminding them that they lacked freedom.  Please see our discussion on the Maryland State Colonization Society to get a good framework for some of the problems that Augustus Collins faced as a slave and then a free man.  But let's pick up the story in 1861.

Tumultuous Times for the Union 

The April of 1861 was a tumultuous one for our area. Although the first shots of the Civil War were fired a long way away in Fort Sumter, South Carolina, the preparations for a civil war occurred right here along with the fear of insurrections by the enslaved not only through the south, but right here in Maryland. Within a week following the Battle of Fort Sumter the President called for troops to travel to Washington to protect the Capitol.

Troops from Pennsylvania traveling through Baltimore were met with violence from the confederate sympathizers, and Baltimore’s Mayor Brown warned President Lincoln not to send any more troops through Baltimore. A volunteer militia from Massachusetts that had to change train lines in Baltimore to reach Washington faced rocks and bullets from the mob. The altercation resulted in 4 Union soldier’s deaths and 3 dozen wounded, along with the deaths of 11 rioters. Sadly, our State song Maryland, My Maryland, was written as a poem to sympathize with the rioters and their confederate cause.

Insurrections within Maryland and Howard County became a great fear of the plantation owners and farmers who depended on the enslaved. There were still dozens of enslaved people working as farm laborers throughout the greater Guilford area, mostly focused on the farms north of Murray Hill and Berger Roads. In fact, in July 1861 there was an alleged planned insurrection led by a free Black man, Augustus Collins.

Who Was Augustus Collins - Slavery and Freedom

Augustus W. Collins was enslaved from birth, as was his family, by Thomas Worthington (son of John) who was a very wealthy landowner and farmer in the early 1800s. His mother Fanny, and sister Ellen, were freed in May 1843 upon the death of Thomas Worthington, per his will.  Mr. Worthington, who had no wife or children, left his plantation where he had lived called Worthington’s Improvement to his brother Nicholas. Worthington’s Improvement and Worthington’s Addition were lands that extended from what is now Atholton to the Kings Contrivance area and would include the area called Freetown which is the topic for another post (see attached image).

Augustus was not manumitted for his freedom until 1852 when he was about 22 years old. Those enslaved by Thomas Worthington were not to be freed until reaching 21 for men and 16 for women according to his will.  After being manumitted it is not certain where Augustus lived. In 1850 his parents and siblings lived a few housing units down from Henry Penny and Amon Lowry who were near the Guilford Quarry, but the census back then was not contiguous especially when they were done on different days. It is more likely that his family lived in the “Freetown” area as they did in 1860 which was in election District 5 on the west side of Route 29.

An Attempted Insurrection

In September of 1861, a Grand Jury determined there was enough evidence to arrest Augustus for “raising an insurrection” on July 23th a few months earlier. When they went to arrest him, he and his family resisted and they were all also accused of assault and resisting arrest.  The Baltimore Sun reported that “a family of free negroes named Collins, consisting of the mother, two daughters, and two son, who reside in the neighborhood of Savage Factory, have been committed to jail at Ellicott’s Mills, charged with plotting an insurrection of the slaves in that vicinity” (see attachments). Those arrested included Augustus, his younger brother Richard, and sisters Ellen Bell and Mary.

It was Augustus Worthington Collins that was the target of the charges. In a September hearing, Augustus requested his trial be moved outside of Howard County for fear that an “impartial trial cannon be had in court here”. The Court agreed to move his trial to Annapolis in Anne Arundel County. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County convened on January 27, 1862 on the case “charged with inciting a Negro insurrection, assault with intent to kill, and also for rioting”. Augustus requested to represent himself and was granted to serve as his own counsel. The Baltimore Sun reported that “a posse were summoned to effect his arrest, when he called to his assistance his father and several sisters who challenged the authority or courage of the officers and their posse to make the arrest. Finally, the whole party were arrested and taken to Ellicott’s Mills and lodged in jail, after which one of the sisters [Mary] was tried and convicted and sentenced to imprisonment in the Howard County jail for several months.”

Guilty and Not-Guilty

Augustus was found not guilty of two charges of the three charges: assault with intent to kill and resisting arrest. However, he was found guilty of “attempting to raise an insurrection” and was sentenced to be sold into slavery for a period of 7 years. He was fortunate not to have been found guilty of an actual insurrection whose punishment was the death penalty by hanging. Augustus was to be sold on March 18th and sent out of state to serve his 7 year sentence as an enslaved man.

Enlistment in the Navy

The good news to this story is that to meet the quotas for enlistment into the Union army and navy, many enslaved men were “recruited” to serve. The Governor of Maryland appointed a couple of Commissioners for meeting the enlistment quotas in the State – one of which was Frederick Fickey, Jr. Mr. Fickey was responsible for freeing Augustus who enlisted in the Navy in Wilmington, Delaware on November 26, 1862. Augustus served on the USS Patapsco as an Officer’s Steward in 1863 after which he returned to Howard County for about 4 years and then moved on to Washington DC and Montgomery County. In 1875 he served briefly on the USS Relief.

After his Naval service, somehow Augustus connected with Frederick Fickey Jr. and worked for him for a number of years, including a business opportunity that sent Augustus out west. Augustus never returned and was thought to have died in 1883 as a robbery victim working as a messenger for Wells Fargo.

We welcome more information on Augustus Collins. Send to guilfordhistoryhoco@gmail.com.