David, Patience and her three children (Juliet, Levin, and George) plus Rhoda and her three children (Arthur, Nathan, and Peggy) petition the court to release them from the heirs of Joshua Morris Sr. The elder Morris executed a deed of manumission in 1806 that freed David, Patience, Rhoda, and three other slaves when they turned twenty-one years old. In 1819 Morris wrote his will and reiterated his intent to emancipate his slaves. Nevertheless, Morris's heirs still hold David, Patience, and Rhoda, as well as the children born since Morris's death, "in bondage and slavery ... against Law and justice." [In several agreements concluded by the parties during the case, both sides agree that "the negroes mentioned in said deed were permitted by the said Joshua to go at large and enjoy their freedom from the time limited in said deed of manumission to the time of his death."]
Result: Granted; appealed; affirmed.
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
