The Story of Eleanor Butler: A White Woman Enslaved for Marrying an Enslaved African in 1681

In colonial Maryland in 1681, a young Irish woman named Eleanor Butler, also known as Irish Nell, made a bold and controversial decision that would forever change her life. At just 16 years old, she defied societal norms by marrying Charles, an enslaved African man. This choice subjected both her and their descendants to a life of enslavement, establishing a tragic and historically significant precedent in early America.

Born around 1665, Eleanor Butler arrived in Maryland as an indentured servant to Charles Calvert, the 3rd Baron Baltimore. Like many Irish women of her time, she had left her homeland to work off her indenture in the colonies.

Indentured servitude was a common labor system in the American colonies, particularly for poor Europeans seeking a fresh start. Individuals like Eleanor Butler signed contracts agreeing to work for a period of 4 to 7 years in exchange for passage to the colonies and basic necessities.

Unlike enslaved people, indentured servants were not considered property. They retained certain legal rights, such as the ability to challenge abusive treatment in court, and their servitude had an endpoint. Upon completing their term, they were often given “freedom dues,” which could include land or tools to start their independent lives. Crucially, their status was not hereditary; the children of indentured servants were born free.

Conversely, slavery was a permanent and hereditary condition. Enslaved people were considered the legal property of their enslavers, could be bought or sold, and passed their status onto their children. Unlike indentured servitude, slavery offered no pathway to freedom.

Eleanor Butler was bound by an indentured servitude contract to Charles Calvert, the 3rd Baron Baltimore, one of the most powerful figures in colonial Maryland. At the tender age of 16, she declared her intention to marry Charles, an African man enslaved by William Boarman. This decision outraged the colonial elite, not because it crossed racial boundaries, but because of its legal and social implications.

Under Maryland’s 1664 law, any free woman who married an enslaved man would become enslaved herself, serving her husband’s enslaver for the rest of her life. Their children, too, would inherit their father’s enslaved status. This law aimed to preserve the wealth of slave owners and deter interracial unions.

Eleanor’s announcement of her intent to marry Charles caused an uproar, particularly with her master, Lord Baltimore. He petitioned Maryland’s provincial assembly to revise the 1664 law. The assembly responded by repealing key provisions in 1681 and replacing them with harsher penalties. The revised law outrightly prohibited unions between indentured women and enslaved men, fines were also imposed on slaveholders whose human property dared to marry.

However, Eleanor and Charles married before the new law took effect, rendering its provisions inapplicable to their union. After their marriage, Eleanor became enslaved to William Boarman, her husband’s enslaver, and the couple’s children were born into bondage.

Eleanor and Charles had seven or eight children, all of whom remained enslaved. In 1770, nearly a century after Eleanor’s marriage, her great-grandchildren, William and Mary Butler, sued for their freedom. They argued that as descendants of a white woman, they could not legally be enslaved. However, the court dismissed their case. The judges infamously remarked that freeing the Butlers would disrupt society, claiming, “many of these people, if turned loose, cannot mix with us and become members of society.”

Despite the setback, the fight for freedom persisted. In 1787, Mary Butler sued again for her freedom, and this time around she was successful. Her attorney had hoped for a landmark ruling that would declare any descendant of a white woman could not be enslaved, but the court avoided such a sweeping decision. Instead, it ruled on a technicality, stating there was no evidence of a legal union between Eleanor Butler and Negro Charles. As a result, the 1664 law that condemned her and her descendants to slavery did not apply. This compromise granted Mary her freedom while safeguarding property rights in the state.

Source:

https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5400/sc5496/000500/000534/html/00534bio.html