In 1805 Moses Shepherd hired two slaves, a man for £20 and a woman for £5, from Drusilla Ball. He received a guarantee from Ball that the male slave was "sound and well" and that the female slave "would not have a child in the year as she knew she did not breed in such a manner having lately had a child." Shepherd charges that the man "was greivously afflicted with a venereal disorder whereby he was rendered greatly incapable of service," while the woman did indeed give birth to a child. Refusing to pay the full hire price for the two slaves and facing a judgment against him, Shepherd asks for an injunction to halt the proceedings.
Result: Dismissed.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
