Birth Records from Three Families, Including Slaves

Thomas Haweis.
An Impartial and Succinct History of the Rise, Declension, and Revival of the Church of Christ. Volume 2 of 2.
Baltimore: Abner Neal, 1807. (ACX2317)

Compiled by the chaplain to the Countess of Huntingdon, this overview of church history concludes with a major section on the rise of Methodism. This copy was owned by Benjamin Wesley Gatch (1804–1887), whose uncle, Philip Gatch (1751–1834), was one of the first American-born Methodist preachers and an early champion of emancipation for slaves. The owner inscribed the book’s opening pages with the birthdates of the eleven children born to his parents, Benjamin Gatch (1758–1814) and Ruth Taylor (1772–1822), who owned a successful farm in Baltimore County. The back of the book also bears the birthdates of nine members of the Hays and Gittings families, all born between 1807 and 1828, who were kept as slaves.