Born a slave in 1776, Rachel Collins was promised her freedom, but when her owner died "Embarrassed in his Pecuniary Circumstances," she was sold to Capt. Robert Steed "with a view and wish that she might be permitted to purchase her own Freedom." Collins confirms that she "repaid Capt Steed the purchase money he had given her" and that "she was Liberated by the said Capt Steed as per his Deed of Emancipation." The petitioner reports that, during the War of 1812, she cooked for militia troops defending Norfolk and found accommodations for many soldiers. Averring that she "has always paid her Taxes regularly and has uniformly Borne a good & Reputable Character," Collins "expected to End her few remaining days" in Virginia "amongst her Friends & associates." She now, however, laments that "she has been ordered to leave the state of Virginia." The petitioner therefore prays "that your Honorable Body would pass a Law to authorise her to Spend the ... Remainder of her Days in the Commonwealth among those who have known her in her days of usefulness and that she may not be driven away in her Helplessness to Beg her Bread amongst strangers."
Result: Reasonable.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia