Petition #21484901

Abstract

In a supplemental petition, Gideon and twelve other persons of color seek the freedom promised to them by the late Charles Jones. They remind the court that they filed their original bill in 1844, arguing that the said Jones "made his last will & testament, whereby he directed that Yr. Orators & Oratrixes should be freed at certain ages & periods therein specified." Their original bill also noted that the said Jones died in 1835 and that his wife Susannah died in 1840, "at which time nearly all of Yr Orators & Oratrixes were by the terms of sd will entitled to their freedom." They "show that notwithstanding their right to freedom, they have been kept in servitude for from 9 to 10 Years ... beyond the terms which they were required to serve by the will of the sd Charles Jones" by the defendant, William Jones, who "is an intemperate & dangerous man." Citing that several petitioners "are considerably advanced in Years & their freedom is likely to be of little benefit to them," they renew their prayer "that their emancipation be declared by Yr Hon Court as prayed for in their original bill & that an account be taken of the hire due them respectively since the death of Mrs Susannah Jones." They also beseech the court "to place them in the Hands of a Receiver ... & to direct him to Hire them out to humane persons who will treat them kindly & protect them from injury." The related documents contain reports from the court-appointed receiver and clerk and master, which detail the hiring values of the petitioners from 1852 to 1867. In their 1872 bill, the petitioners represent that "by the result of the late civil war in the US, proclamation of President Lincoln acts of Congress &c, your Complainants were freed before the question presented by them to the Court was adjudicated;" however, funds that should compensate them for their hire while their suit was pending are "still undisposed of."

Result: Granted; appealed; reversed; freed by general emancipation and compensated for hire.

40 people are documented within petition 21484901

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Citation information

Repository: Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee

Subjects