James Massey states that he "had the misfortune ... to have an only Negroe fellow by the name of Hardy, through the persuation of a company of thieves to commit a robery & breaking open a bar room." Massey recounts that Hardy "was tried and found guilty of the offence aforesaid ... and sentenced by three Justices of the peace to be hanged." The petitioner further reports that "a number of respectable inhabitants, as well as a number of the Jurors who tried said negroe slave, petitioned His Excellency the Governor to extend his Mercy towards the said Slave." Massey laments that the Governor did send a reprieve said sentence, "but unfortunately for your petitioner the messenger sent for that purpose had the misfortune of loosing his Horse whereby the reprieve came too late." Massey therefore prays that he granted "such relief as the justice of the case may require."
Result: Committee recommends rejection.
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
