Henry Ripley seeks permission to emancipate Bill, a slave belonging to his late father. Ripley reports that said slave has been in his family for many years and that his father made arrangements for Bill to purchase his freedom from the proceeds accrued from hiring out himself. The petitioners note, however, "from the late act of Assembly on the subject of Emancipation, and the restrictive system adopted by other states, your memorialists discover that his just intentions of emancipating cannot be realized, unless said slave emigrates to Africa. To this alternative, in this instance, slavery would be prefered." They therefore pray "that an act of the General Assembly may be passed by which the said man Bill may be emancipated from slavery" and that he be allowed to remain in Tennessee.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
