Nineteen-year-old Rebecca is suing Venus Breckenridge, a black woman, for freedom and back wages. Rebecca states that she was born in 1831, a slave of Thomas Stephenson. In April 1837, she was purchased for $180, by John Gilbert. The petitioner declares Gilbert "purchased her for the expressed purpose of setting her free, and allowing her to live with her father Leander." Her father, a free person of color, "in all probability furnished Gilbert a portion of the money" to make the purchase. Leander and his family moved to Kentucky, where Rebecca was raised as free. Leander purchased "an old negro woman" named Venus Breckenridge, with whom he "associated and cohabitated." Leander has since died, and Breckenridge claims Rebecca as her slave and has hired out her services. Rebecca asks for protection from "the rapacity of this old woman" who is "endeavoring unjustly and inhumanely" to seize her liberty.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Kentucky Division of Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky
