"Many years since," James Fenwick gave a black slave named Lucy Ann to his grandson Edmund Plowden. Plowden's father "retained her as the property of his Son your Orator during his life," during which time she had five children--Mary Olivia, Cecilia, James, Henrietta, and "an infant at the breast." Upon the father's death, the executor, Richard H. Miles, sold Lucy Ann and her children to Henry Heard. By his next friend, Plowden obtained a writ of replevin for the slaves and went with the sheriff to claim them, but Heard alleged he had sold them to his father, Edward Heard. The Heards hid the slaves and refused to return them. Plowden alleges that the Heards are planning to leave the state, taking everything with them, including the slaves. He asks the court to subpoena the Heards and to issue an injunction barring them from removing the slaves from the state.
Result: Partially granted.
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
