Petition #21182507

• St. Louis County, Missouri. June 2, 1825. - November 14, 1834.
• Court: Circuit
• Salutation: To the Honorable the Circuit Court of the County of St. Louis

Abstract

Mary, "a free girl of color," states that she is the descendant of Scypion or Marie Scypion, a free Indian woman illegally who was kept in slavery by one Joseph Tayon, now deceased, and "that your petitioner is consequently a free person according to the laws of the land." She further avers that "she is in the custody and possession of the said Pierre Chouteau Senr ... who detains your petitioner under the pretence that she is a slave." Mary "therefore prays to be permitted to bring her action against" Pierre Chouteau and to sue "as a poor person, according to the Statute, to recover her freedom." Related documents reveal that Marie Scypion was taken prisoner during the French and Indian War and was the daughter of an "Indian" woman and a black man also named Scypion.

Result: Petition granted; plea of trespass filed.

• Number of petition pages: 1
• Related documents: PARs #21180601, #21180602, #21182503, #21182508, #21182602, #21182702, #21182703, #21182801, #21182802; Affidavit, John Tayon, 25 April 1825; Plea of Trespass, Mary, 2 June 1825; Summons, Pierre Chouteau Sr., 2 June 1825; Sheriff's Return, 14 June 1825; Certified Copy of Court Records, 2 June 1825--27 August 1836; Certification, 28 June 1837; Copy of Petition, Carmelite, et. al., 19 June 1825; Certified Copy of Court Records, 2 June 1825--27 August 1836; Certification, 29 June 1837; Judgment and Opinion of the Supreme Court, Marguerite vs. Pierre Chouteau, 14 November 1834; Copy of Motion for Change of Venue, Marguerite vs. Pierre Chouteau, 21 October 1835; Testimony, John B. Rivierre [Baccannie], 21 October 1825; Affidavit, Pierre Chouteau, 7 March 1836
• Pages of related documents: 52

19 people are documented within petition 21182507

• 1 Free person of color
• 14 Enslaved
• 1 Defendant
• 2 Petitioners
• 2 Others

Or you may view all people.

Citation information

Repository: Jefferson County Courthouse, Hillsboro, Missouri

• Records of the Circuit Court

Subjects

• owner(s)/citizens manumit/free slave
• Sues for freedom (enslaved)
• Caribbean Islands, migration from/to
• Jails/Workhouses
• Churches
• Assault
• Native Americans
• Interracial relationships
• Death of enslaved (other)
• Slave trade (Atlantic)
• Term slavery