Petition #21184426
- St. Louis County, Missouri. October 21, 1844. - circa October 21, 1844.
- Court: Circuit
- Salutation: To the Honorable John M. Krum, Judge of the St. Louis Circuit Court, within and for the County of Saint Louis
Abstract
Twenty-four-year-old Mary Ann Speaks was indentured by her free mother to Susan Blunt for ten years to learn "the art and mystery of a good house wife." Eight years into said apprenticeship, Blunt died intestate, and her administrator, James Quissenburry, claimed Speaks as a slave in Blunt's estate. Speaks alleges that Quissenburry "without the order or authority of the St. Louis Probate Court ... has advertised your petitioner as the property of his said intestate, and intends to sell her to the highest bidder for cash at the Court House in said County on Monday the twenty first day of October instant." Currently "held in close confinement in the Common Prison of the County aforesaid," Speaks believes that she "will be in danger of loosing forever her freedom." She therefore prays "that your honor will allow her to sue as a poor person for her freedom."
Result: Petition granted; plea of trespass filed.
- Number of petition pages: 3
- Related documents: PARs #21184412, #21184425; Order, ca. 21 October 1844; Plea of Trespass, Mary Ann Speaks, November Term 1844; Summons, James Quisenbury, John Jameson, 21 October 1844; Copy of Order, ca. 21 October 1844; Sheriff's Return, 21 October 1844; Affidavit, George White, 19 April 1838; Affidavit, Susan Blunt, 23 April 1838; Order to Record, 8 May 1838; Plea, James Quisenberry, John Jameson, 23 November 1844; Attorneys' Agreement, Speaks vs. Quissenburry, November Term 1845; Summons, James Quissenburry, 1 February 1846; Sheriff's Return, 4 February 1846; Summons, Henry Duncan, et al., 1 February 1846; Summons, William Lang, et al., 1 February 1846; Summons, James Johnston, James Quisenbury, 4 February 1846; Sheriff's Return, 5 February 1846
- Pages of related documents: 19
7 people are documented within petition 21184426
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Citation information
Repository: Civil Courts Building, St. Louis, Missouri
- Records of the Circuit Court
Subjects
