{"petition":[{"petition_analysis_number":"20483702","petition_url":"https:\/\/dlas.uncg.edu\/petitions\/petition\/20483702","state":"District of Columbia","county":"Washington","location_type":"County","file_day":5,"file_month":12,"file_year":1837,"filing_court":"Circuit","end_day":5,"end_month":12,"end_year":1837,"ending_court":"Circuit","enslaved_count":0,"fpoc_count":1,"total_people_count":1,"repository":"National Archives, Washington, D. C.","abstract":"William Richardson, \"a native of the British Province of New Brunswick,\" asserts that he is a free person of color illegally confined in the Washington County jail on the charge of being a runaway slave.  He seeks a writ of habeas corpus.","subjects":[{"subject":"Canada, migration to"},{"subject":"Jails\/Workhouses"},{"subject":"Freedom seekers"},{"subject":"Veterans"}]}]}