Easter, Susan, and Charlotte claim that the will of their former master, Amos Ogden Sr., manumitted them after specified terms, "said manumission to take effect at a period now past." They "now are and for a long time past have been in the enjoyment of freedom." However, on 11 August 1827 the orphans court decreed that Amos Ogden Jr., executor of Amos Ogden Sr.'s estate, pay William Bosley, executor of Mary Ogden's estate, a certain sum of money. Since Ogden's cash on hand amounted to only $532.33, the court appointed two men "to allot to the said William Bosley ... such and so many of negroes belonging to Amos Ogden deceased as will in their opinion be worth the further sum of $798.33," a decree injurious to the rights and freedom of the three women. Fearing that they will be sold, Easter, Susan, and Charlotte present fourteen reasons that the decree should be rescinded. They ask that Bosley and Ogden Jr. appear in court to answer their interrogatories, and they pray for any other relief that the court thinks proper.
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
