Cloe Ann Smith claims that she is held in slavery by Dr. Franklin Knox. In 1842, the wife of Knox, "with his knowledge and consent," took Smith to Ohio for four months. Smith claims that holding her in slavery in Ohio, "by operation of the Ordinance of Congress of the year seventeen hundred and eighty-seven for the government of the territories North West of the Ohio River, and also by force of the constitution and laws of the State of Ohio, emancipated petitioner from a state of slavery." Smith asks to sue as a poor person in order to establish her freedom. She also requests a warrant preventing Knox from selling her beyond the jurisdiction of the court.
Result: Petition granted; plea of trespass filed.
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Repository: Civil Courts Building, St. Louis, Missouri
