The children of Bob, a free man of color, state that their father “purchased from her owners two thirds of your petitioners mother” and that they were born after said purchase “to said Bob and said woman [Charlotte].” They further recount that their parents “lived together after said purchase as man and wife and as free persons until death separated them”; since their father's death, the “petitioners have lived and are now living as free persons.” They point out, however, that their father, “being ignorant of the law, supposed that his purchasing your petitioners’ mother, would have the effect of making her free and that their children would also be free,” whereby he “made no provision by deed or will for freeing them.” The petitioners note that the said “Bob died without leaving any legal heirs, and all his right and interest in & to your petitioners his children and grand children is derelict & forfeited to the Commonwealth.” They therefore pray “that you honorable body pass an act relinquishing the Commonwealths claim to them.”
Result: Referred to committee for courts of justice.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia