1 - Front Cover.p65 - ProQuest

Reel 8 Missouri
Reel 8
Missouri cont.
1849
0002 (Accession # 21184901). St. Louis County, Missouri. Fleming Calvert claims that the
captain of the steamboat Timoleon transported Calvert’s mulatto slave Carter from St. Louis to
“a Town in the State of Illinois” on 30 September 1849 without Calvert’s consent. Carter, who
was worth $1,000, “hath been wholly lost and [is] of no value to said Plaintiff.” The petitioner
asks for compensation for Carter’s value. Representatives for the steamboat company argued
that Carter was “permitted and suffered to go at large upon the hiring of his own time or to act
and deal as a free person.” Testimony in the court record furthers this line of inquiry, alleging
that Carter was born free because his mother’s former owner transported her from South
Carolina to Illinois where she lived from 1812 to 1818.
0027 (Accession # 21184902). McDonald County, Missouri. Silvia, a woman of color, maintains
that she is a free woman “held in slavery against her will” by Joel Kirby and William B. Holmes.
She claims that she was “taken unlawfully” by Kirby in 1834 to “the territory ceded by France ...
under the name of Louisiana.” She attests that she was neither guilty nor convicted of any crime
before or during the year he detained her. Through violation of an act of Congress, she claims
that “she became free & now is a free woman & entitled to Judgement of liberation.” Silvia asks
for permission to sue for her freedom as a poor person.
0045 (Accession # 21184903). Jefferson County, Missouri. Martha S. Huskey seeks a divorce
from Silas Huskey, her husband of fifteen years. She complains that Silas sold most of his
property, including two tracts of land and a slave girl, in April 1848 and “went to parts unknown
in company with Elizabeth Nash,” his paramour. Before his departure, he “was very harsh and
tyrannical towards complainant”; he returned the following summer, only to recommence his
abusive behavior. He convinced her to relinquish her dower, lied to her about his intentions to
reconcile with her, and openly cohabited with Nash. He finally deserted her permanently,
leaving her on a piece of worthless land with only $3.75 and a slave named Thomas with which
to support herself and five children. Noting that Thomas has since “run off,” the petitioner seeks
a divorce and asks that the court order the sheriff to take charge of Thomas “and apply the hire
thereof to the support of complainant & family during the pendency of this Suit.” In addition, the
petitioner requests an injunction to prevent Silas from selling Thomas and “the few articles of
personal property” she has left.
0054 (Accession # 21184904). Jefferson County, Missouri. Amanda C. Cooly, administratrix of
the estate of the late Lawson Cooley, asks the court to approve the hire of a slave in the estate.
She reports that she hired out Loyd in October 1849 for a two-month period “at and for the price
and sum of Twelve Dollars.” She explains that she “thought it proper to pursue this course”
because the court would not convene in time to condone her plan by order.
0063 (Accession # 21184905). St. Louis County, Missouri. Nelly Duty, a slave emancipated by
the will of the late Milton Duty, represents that John F. Darby, administrator of said estate,
illegally holds her in slavery. Citing that she is “a poor person wholly without property,” Nelly
asks permission to bring her suit for freedom as a poor person. She also asks for reasonable
liberty to attend court and her counsel and “that she be not removed out of the jurisdiction of the
court nor subjected to any severity on account of her application for her freedom.”
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