In 1835, John Chase, a free person of color, explains that he purchased his wife, Peggy, and daughters, Ellen and Maria, from Colonel Tilghman. Four years later Chase still owed a balance of $105, which "was paid for him by the Hon. Thomas Buchanan," in exchange for an agreement whereby Buchanan would hold the three slaves until the debt was paid. Chase reports that his wife "died sometime previous to the death" of Buchanan, who died in 1847. George Schley and James Dall, executors of Buchanan's estate, have included Chase's daughters and two sons, born since 1839, in the estate inventory. Chase confesses that he still owes $80 on the debt to Buchanan and requests that his children be stricken from the estate inventory and be "decreed to be his -- your petioner's property."
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
