Frederick James, "now advancing fast in the decline of Life," confesses that "he had the misfortune to be born of Parents tho' free of African descent" and he now "with humility and deference asks of your Honorable Body the full privileges of a Free man." James reveals that during the Revolutionary War he braved "the Dangers of Battle and as a prisoner of war passed unmoved thro the horrors of a tedious imprisonment." He further reports that "his age and infirmities have caused him for some years to seek a subsistence for himself and family by providing refreshments for those who attend the public meetings of the County." James relates, however, that his customers "sometimes do, after partaking of such refreshments as his House affords them instead of making to him a moderate compensation therefor, spurn at and abuse him." Acknowledging that "he has no redress," the petitioner prays that a more just policy be adopted.
Result: Postponed indefinitely.
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
