Thirty citizens of Kemper County write on behalf of free man of color Will Reed, "a faithful and quiet negro" who has always been trustworthy and honest. They explain that his former "mistress" had wished to set him free, but was prevented to do so by the will of her late husband. Consequently, Will was sold at auction four years ago, but since then he has bought himself for the sum of $935. The petitioners ask that he be exempt from an act of the legislature that would force him to leave the state or be sold into slavery. They say that the act has been "lately passed and approved."
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Repository: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, Mississippi
