John Moffett writes that some eight or nine years prior to the filing of his petition his slave Lucinda, a then fifteen-year-old girl, set fire to his barn. When a black woman named Peggy was asked to testify, "many persons became convinced that the said Peggy had instigated" Lucinda to "commit the incendiary act." At that time, Moffett contends, he did not believe that Peggy was implicated. However, after Lucinda "had been sent out of the country," some of his cattle were poisoned. He became "satisfied" that Peggy, whom he describes as an "intelligent, artful and vindictive" woman, was behind the poisoning. Moffett, who left the county for a while, has now returned and bought property. He has discovered to his great surprise that Peggy and her husband Scipio, both free people of color, have recently been granted permission to remain in Virginia. He asks the legislature to rescind its act granting such permission and to send the couple into exile. He claims that he "cannot feel secure in the possession of his property while the said Peggy is permitted to remain in the country."
Result: Referred to courts of justice.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
