The Merryman family owned land and enslaved people in Baltimore County, Maryland in the 17th-19th centuries. The Crane family of Richmond, Virginia were also enslavers and related to the Merryman family through the marriage of Henry Crane (who served as a Confederate soldier) and Clara Merryman.

Charles Merryman, Sr., the first family member living in Baltimore County, acquired half of a 210-acre land grant called Merryman’s Lott from Charles Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in 1688; the other half of Merryman’s Lott went to Nicholas Haile (Smith, “Updated Land Timeline for Lilliendale and Homewood”). The land on which Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus is located was originally part of the Hailes’ portion of Merryman’s Lott (Marye, 344), though it is unclear where the exact boundaries were between the Hailes’ land and the Merrymans’ land.

One of Charles Merryman Sr’s sons, John Merryman, inherited a portion of Merryman’s Lott and lived on this plantation according to his 1746 will. John Merryman willed his portion of Merryman’s Lott to his son Joseph Merryman, and he willed his son Moses Merryman another tract of land called Merryman’s Delight, which may have been part of the initial Merryman’s Lott owned by Charles Merryman (“Copy of John Merryman Sr.’s January 3, 1746 will”). Merryman’s Delight was located “on the South side of the great Falls of Gunpowder River near the mouth of the Westerne Runn” (“Land indenture – John Merryman Sr. to Moses Merryman for Merryman’s Delight”). This land is around the part of Baltimore County north of Hampton plantation, which eventually became Loch Raven Reservoir; Moses Merryman’s plantation at this site (which he passed to his descendants) was called “Alberton” (MacPherson, 6).

Moses Merryman married Sarah Glenn; after Moses died, Sarah married George Harryman, becoming Sarah Merryman Harryman (MacPherson, 6). George Harryman enslaved ten people named in his 1782 will - Hager, Peter, Jacob, Jude, Hannah, Jeffrey, Easter, Natt, and Toby, as well as a boy whose name is illegible in the will. Sarah Merryman Harryman enslaved one man listed in an inventory of her estate from 1764. This may have been Tom, who George and Sarah Harryman sold to Micajah Merryman, Sr, their stepson/son (“Land indenture – transfer of lease for ‘Valley of Jehosaphat’ ”).

Moses Merryman and Sarah Merryman Harryman’s son, Micajah Merryman, Sr. (1750-1842), enslaved at least ten people named in records in the Merryman-Crane papers – in addition to Tom, he enslaved Reuben, Harry, Henry, Nancy (wife of Jack Boardley), William, Maria, Silva, Rosetta, and Louisa (all mentioned in documents in the collection). Micajah Sr. served in the American Revolutionary War as First Major of the Upper Gunpowder Battalion in the Militia of Baltimore County (Find a Grave, “Col. Micajah Merryman Sr.”).

Micajah Sr.’s son, Micajah Merryman, Jr. (1788-1854) (Find a Grave, “Micajah Merryman Jr.”) is listed as the enslaver of seven men in the 1850 US Census Slave Schedule, and Clarissa “Clara” Harryman Merryman, his wife, enslaved Benjamin Hicks, Harriet Crawford, and Perry, whose 1860 manumissions are mentioned in a 1857-1879 ledger of her accounts included in this collection (“Ledgers, George Merryman, Clara (Clarissa) Merryman”).

Micajah Merryman, Jr. and Clara Harryman Merryman had seven children who survived to adulthood, Moses Merryman (who went by M. Merryman or Dr. Merryman), George Harryman Merryman, Eleanor C. (Ella or Ellen) Merryman, Rachel H. Merryman, Henry Clay Merryman, Laura Virginia Merryman, and Clara Merryman (Find a Grave, “Clarissa ‘Clara’ Harryman Merryman). Clara Merryman (the daughter) married Henry Ryland Crane.

Henry Crane’s father, James Campbell Crane (1803-1856), was originally from New Jersey and moved to Richmond, VA in 1819 to work with his brother as a leather merchant (Burrows, 1-8). He was also an involved member of the Baptist church (Burrows, 8-9). James C. Crane and Son are listed as the enslavers of three men and one boy in the 1850 US Census Slave Schedule. James C. Crane and his wife Isabella Steel Crane had six sons, and five of those sons, including Robert (Bob) Crane, Thomas Crane, James Taylor Crane, and David Crane, died before their father (Burrows 28, 58-63). Henry Ryland Crane (1845-1899) was the only son who survived his parents. He joined the Confederate army as a volunteer in 1862 and fought in the battles of Antietam, Chancellorsville, and several others; after the Civil War, he relocated to Baltimore and married Clara Merryman in 1871 (“Genealogical sketches of members of the Crane family”).

Henry Crane and Clara Merryman Crane had three daughters, Laura Crane Whitfield, Edith Crane Lanham, and Clara “Claris” Crane, as well as a son, Henry Richmond Crane, who died as a toddler (Find a Grave, “Henry Ryland Crane”).

Sources:

Burrows, J. L. “A Christian Merchant: A Memoir of James C. Crane.” Charleston, SC: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1858. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.christianmerchan00burr/?st=pdf&pdfPage=8

“Copy of John Merryman Sr.’s January 3, 1746 will and transcription,” 1877. Box 1, Folder 1, Merryman-Crane family papers, MS.0073, Special Collections, The Johns Hopkins University.

Find a Grave. “Clarissa ‘Clara’ Harryman Merryman,” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5090592/clarissa_merryman (accessed August 14, 2024).

Find a Grave. “Henry Ryland Crane,” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40620944/henry_ryland_crane (accessed August 14, 2024).

Find a Grave. “Col. Micajah Merryman Sr.” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5090424/micajah-merryman (accessed August 14, 2024).

Find A Grave. “Micajah Merryman Jr.” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5090572/micajah_merryman (accessed August 14, 2024).

“George Harryman will, includes Hager, Peter, Jacob, Jude, Hannah, Jeffrey, Easter, Natt, and Toby, enslaved people, one enslaved boy whose name is illegible,” 1782. Box 1, Folder 31, Merryman-Crane family papers, MS.0073, Special Collections, The Johns Hopkins University.

“Genealogical sketches of members of the Crane family (including Henry Crane himself), by Henry Crane (includes battles he fought in as a Confederate soldier),” 1876. Box 3, Folder 16, Merryman-Crane family papers, MS.0073, Special Collections, The Johns Hopkins University.

“Inventory of Sarah Merryman's estate, including two white servants and one enslaved Black man,” 1764. Box 1, Folder 30, Merryman-Crane family papers, MS.0073, Special Collections, The Johns Hopkins University.

“Land indenture – John Merryman Sr. to Moses Merryman for Merryman’s Delight,” May 24, 1742. Box 1, Folder 2, Merryman-Crane family papers, MS.0073, Special Collections, The Johns Hopkins University.

“Land indenture - transfer of indenture of lease for ‘Valley of Jehoshaphat’ from George and Sarah Harryman to Micajah Merryman, Sr., includes sale of Tom, enslaved by George and Sarah Harryman, to Micajah Merryman, Sr.,” 1775. Box 1, Folder 16, Merryman-Crane family papers, MS.0073, Special Collections, The Johns Hopkins University.

“Ledgers, George Merryman, Clara (Clarissa) Merryman (mentions enslaved people - manumission of Benjamin Hicks, Harriet Crawford, and Perry, hire of enslaved person, etc)”, 1856-1879, 1872-1883. Box 2, Folder 19, Merryman-Crane family papers, MS.0073, Special Collections, The Johns Hopkins University.

MacPherson, B.F.M., “A Bit of History About Early Settlers,” The Gettysburg Times. July 25, 1966, p 6. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gettysburg-times-again-the-merrim/4262547/

Marye, William B. “Baltimore City Place Names, Part 4: Stony Run, its Plantations, Farms, Country Seats, and Mills.” Maryland Historical Magazine 58, no. 4 (December 1963): 344-377. https://mdhs.msa.maryland.gov/pages/Viewer.aspx?speccol=5881&Series=1&Item=232

Smith, Eric, “Updated Land Timeline from Lilliendale and Homewood,” 2023.

US Census Bureau. Jas. C. Crane and Son in Richmond, Henrico, Virginia, United States. “United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850,” FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6XQ4-GK5?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AHRW2-6YW2&action=view (accessed August 14, 2024).

US Census Bureau. Micajah Merryman in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. “United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850,” FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6PHW-7Z?view=index&action=view (accessed August 14, 2024).