Joe maintains that he is "a Free person entitled to be at liberty without the Controul of any person" and now he is "unjustly and illegally detained" by John M. Burke, administrator of the estate of the late Elizabeth Machubin. Joe asks to be released from custody and "to be free and have his liberty." He submits as evidence that his grandmother, Dinah, and mother, Lavinia, both slaves of William Machubin, "were going at large as free women living acting and passing in all respects as such," since the year 1797. They continued in the "free and undisturbed possession of their liberty and freedom" until Machubin's death "with his knowledge." Moreover, Joe asserts that until her death in 1824 Machubin's widow, administratrix, and sole heir, Elizabeth Machubin, "never set up any claim to" them. When John M. Burke obtained letters of administration for the widow Machubin's estate in 1832, he "seized and undertook possession" of Joe and Dinah's other children. The court granted Joe his freedom and Burke initiated an appeal on 1 May 1833 in the Court of Appeals of the State of Maryland held for the Western Shore.
Result: Granted; appealed.
Or you may view all people.
Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
