Elizabeth Smith seeks a divorce and alimony from her husband Zachariah Smith, who, she charges, is abusive and cruel. Shortly after giving birth to a child, he beat her and forced her to leave their house, accusing her of giving birth to a mulatto baby "begotten by a free man of color." She asks the court to prevent him from running off with the eight slaves she brought to their marriage as she has learned that "a negro speculator is to go to the house of said Smith on tomorrow for the purpose of purchasing & secretly carrying off said slaves."'
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
