In Great Danger of Perishing Through Poverty: Community and Public Relief in Somerset County, Maryland, 1666-1742

This thesis explores the poor relief system in Somerset County, Maryland, between 1666 and 1742. By utilizing public relief petitions to the court, I attempt to place Somerset's poor into the larger context of poverty in colonial Maryland and early America. I examine how community and public relief created a loose and makeshift system of monetary or material aid that supported some of the poor when necessary. This thesis reveals that private family relief in the 1700s grew as a means to assist the poor in conjunction with community and public relief. I assert that an exploration of Somerset's public relief petitions may shed light on the importance of community relief in early America. In this thesis, it is evident that free blacks and those of mixed race occasionally received public relief. Additionally, I contend that, in the 1700s, the court started to give permanent tax relief to individuals who demonstrated remarkable need and permanent tax subsidies on slaves for slaveholders depending on the severity of slaves' conditions. This thesis reveals that the court began boarding the poor with householders as a way to transfer the obligation of relief to residents, often with compensation. Furthermore, I show that poor men and women sought business licenses for informal taverns and inns as a means to supplement their meager incomes. Finally, I argue that, primarily because of the growing native-born population, aid among family members, or private family relief, became a growing feature of Somerset's poor relief system