John Murphy, approximately fifty-five years old, laments that his two slaves died when rafts carrying timber, which they were conducting for Murphy, were blown from the Ashley River by a wind of "great violence from the Northeast, which drove them to sea." He recounts that "it being in the night they were not able to get any assistance and accordingly perished," adding that "this incident happened on the night of the 11th of December last, when the weather was extremely cold." Murphy notes that said slaves "were seen adrift by a guard Vessel which was stationed near fort Jackson, but who did not attempt" to retrieve them. The petitioner asserts that the value of the timber and rafts to be $500 and that each slave was "worth at least six or seven hundred Dollars." Noting that he is in debt and that "your Honors have always afforded relief to the unfortunate," the petitioner "trusts that you will not in this instance withhold it from him."
Result: Referred to committee on grievances; report unfavorable.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
