In 1822 and 1827, John Wood executed deeds of manumission, liberating his slaves when they reached the age of thirty. One slave, Peter, who was nine when the deed was executed, has "for sometime past, exhibited an unruly and insubordinate conduct, so much so as to set the authority of your Petitioner at defiance." Wood claims that he has only struck Peter "once or twice on the side of the cheek with the flat of his hand" to punish him for his disobedience. When Wood hired out Peter to one of his neighbors, Peter ran away after four or five months of service, heading "on the direct route to Pennsylvania." Peter was apprehended and placed in jail. Citing Peter's "insurrectionary spirit," Wood fears that he may cause harm to his family if released from jail. Wood asks the court to extend Peter's term of servitude to compensate Wood for Peter's period of disappearance and also to allow Wood to sell the entirety of his right in the slave.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
