Permitted to hire his own time as a blacksmith, Arthur Lee purchased himself for $500. His master, Hamilton Brown of North Carolina, could have sold him for $1,200, but allowed him to purchase himself at a reduced price. Once free he was also able to buy his wife for $350. He now lives in Allegheny County with his family and runs a shop at Calligan's Tavern, twenty-four miles from where he served his former infirm master, John McDowell for twenty years. He asks to remain in the area, where he has formed "attachments that nothing but death can destroy." In a related petition, one of Arthur's former owners, John McDowell, is called John McConell and Hamilton Brown is called Hamilton Brent.
Result: Referred to committee for courts of justice.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
