In memory of Lucy BehoeAuthor of the memorial page is Cemetery Manager

Lucy Behoe (b.c. 1798 – d. 1851) was an enslaved black woman owned by Jacob and Elizabeth Sherman. When she was acquired by Sherman is not known but it appears that she was part of the household by 1820 when the census included eight black enslaved persons. [Through 1840, the census only listed the name of the head of household. Others in the household were tabulated in groups.]

Lucy is known to have three children with Samuel Behoe - Frances Anna Behoe (b.c. 1827), William Henry Behoe (b. 1828) and Mary Ann Behoe (b. 1831).

Jacob Sherman died in 1822. In his will, Sherman established that Lucy would become the property of Elizabeth Sherman with no end date for her servitude. Sherman did leave Lucy a cash bequest of $150.

The 1840 Census shows that the household included Mrs. Sherman, an unidentified white male between 30 and 40 years of age, three slaves and seven free blacks. Lucy and her two of her children, William Henry and Frances Anna (also known as Francina) appear to have been joined by the children’s father Samuel Behoe. Samuel had been living in Baltimore in January 1838 when Mrs. Sherman sold the two children to their father for a token fee of six dollars.

Mrs. Sherman died in 1842, at which time Lucy was manumitted. In her will, Mrs. Sherman bequeathed Lucy livestock and household furnishings appraised at $241.55. Lucy also received a “Weaver’s Loom” - suggesting that she had been trained as a weaver. Lucy and her children probably lived in the log loom house that stood behind the main house at 206 E. Main Street (now the Sherman-Fisher-Shellman House).

Lucy appears in the 1850 census, 49 years old and living in Westminster. Though no occupation is listed, she owns real estate valued at $600. Living with Lucy was Sally Key, who had also been enslaved by the Sherman family.

According to the inscription on her gravestone, Lucy died in 1851.