Henry Rees, Betsey Rees, and Sally Hurt, people of color, seek to amend their petition filed "on the fifteenth day of February instant." They explain that they mistakenly named one Lambert Sappington as a defendant to their said petition. They now assert "that the real name of the person in said Petition named and called Lambert Sappington is not Lambert Sappington, but Lemuel Sappington." They ask that the correct name be inserted. The petitioners reiterate their contention that Lemuel Sappington, as agent and attorney of Thomas Sappington, holds and claims them as slaves. They still maintain that "your Petitioners have always been considered as free, have so always hitherto been treated, and they do apprehend that they are entitled to their freedom." They therefore pray that the Sappingtons be summoned and that the court "may adjudge and decree, that your Petitioners are and shall be free." [The Race and Slavery Petitions Project does not have the earlier suit referenced by the petitioners.]
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Repository: Delaware State Archives, Dover, Delaware
