Richard Johnson represents that, on 19 August 1838, his slave named Jim killed another one of his slaves, "who was in the act of committing depredations on the property of your Petitioner" and that Jim was arrested for murder and confined in jail for five days. En route to the trial, Johnson reports that Jim "exhibited in his language & conduct, strong Evidence of bodily indisposition & severe mental agitation, which increased upon him as the Constables were conveying him to the Court, & which led to his sudden death." Describing his slave as a person of "fidelity & usefulness & the general correctness of his deportment," the petitioner "has reason to believe that the said negro Jim lost his life on account of his arrest & confinement in gaol, under the authority of the state." Johnson therefore seeks compensation for his loss.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
