Sterling, a carpenter, was owned by Joseph Mann, who had received him from his wife, Mary. After Joseph Mann's death, in 1798 or 1799, Sterling was owned by the widow, Mary Callico Mann. While living with the Manns, Sterling asserts, the promise of freedom was held out to him as recognition of his "honesty and fidelity in the service of his employers." Nevertheless freedom did not come to Sterling during his owners' lifetime and it did not come to him before the Virginia laws relating to the emancipation of slaves were changed and made more restrictive. In her last will and testament, however, Mary Mann bequeathed fifty pounds to Sterling, to be used toward the purchase of his freedom. After Mary Mann's death, he was claimed by Joseph and Mary Mann's only son, John Mann. Eventually, John Mann sold his interest in Sterling to the executor of his mother's will, Major Thomas Burfoot. Burfoot then permitted Sterling to purchase himself for $550. Sterling, who says he is upward of fifty years of age, is too old to move and wishes to remain in Virginia with his wife and nine children, who are the property of Thomas Burfoot.
Result: Bill drawn.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia