Petition #20185625

Abstract

In 1851, after many years of marriage, Mary Ann Andrews and her husband Richard J. Andrews signed a contract giving her "sole and Separate use" of the Negro woman Sarah Ann and her seven children--Anthony, Angeline, Isabella, Jenny, George, John, and Hannah. Richard Andrews, however, refused to execute the contract. In 1852, Mary Ann filed suit for possession of the slaves, and left her husband a short time later. The sheriff took the slaves into custody, but the husband, who was still acting as Mary Ann's "trustee," posted bond and recovered them pending a decision of the court. Even after Mary Ann obtained a judgment against her husband, the latter refused to give the slaves up. In 1856, Mary Ann files suit to remove him as trustee, explaining that he is a "habitual drinker and subject to frequent gross intoxication," and that he profits from her slaves "Sometimes hiring them out and Sometimes working them himself." She seeks "the specific relief to which the facts of her case entitle her."

Result: Granted; appealed; dismissed.

17 people are documented within petition 20185625

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Citation information

Repository: Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama

Subjects