Joseph Bedney, a sixteen-year-old mulatto male, petitions for his freedom. Bedney states that he was born to free parents in Ohio. In 1838, he was bound as a waiter to Vincent Williams of Ohio. Williams then carried Bedney with him into Missouri, where he sold him as a slave to Isaac Cade. Bedney claims that Cade "forcibly abducted" him and "carried him to the republic of Texas." In Texas, he was sold again and transported to Mobile, Alabama, where he was purchased by Mr. Hubert. Hubert has now placed Bedney in the custody of Joseph A. Beard and W. F. Wegers, New Orleans auctioneers, with the intention of selling him. Bedney fears that, if he is sold again, "he will be deprived of ever again asserting his freedom." He therefore prays the court to allow him to "sequester himself" and to judge him to be "free by birth" [Petition Damaged].
Result: Granted.
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Repository: New Orleans Public Library, New Orleans, Louisiana
