Mary Ann Speaks, a twenty-three-year-old woman of color, is "unjustly and illegally detained" in the county jail in St. Louis by John Jameson under the orders of James Quissenburry, administrator of the estate of the late Susan Blunt. Speaks, who was "born of free parents" in Alexandria, Virginia, and bound to Blunt as an apprentice while living there, agreed to accompany Blunt to St. Louis, Missouri, in exchange for a release of two years from her term her service. Claiming that her term expired before Blunt's death, the petitioner asserts that Quissenburry has required her to turn over her earnings to him in "compensation for said unexpired term of apprenticeship." Speaks complains that she is being detained without warrant, that she was illegally removed from Virginia in the first place, and that she should be liberated from the indenture by Blunt's death. She seeks a writ of habeas corpus in order to present her arguments.
Result: Granted.
Or you may view all people.
Repository: Civil Courts Building, St. Louis, Missouri
