Rachel Steel, "a coloured woman," seeks permission to sue as a poor person for her freedom. She explains that the late Samuel Gilbert held her in slavery in 1831 in Missouri. The said Gilbert hired her out to Russell Farnham, who was living in Keokuck, north of Missouri and "North of the line of 36 30' north latitude." Rachel lived there for nine months until Farnham's death. She asserts that "by such hiring and employment your petitioner became free as she is advised." After Farnham's death, Thomas Taylor, husband of one of Gilbert's granddaughters, claimed Rachel in right of his wife and now holds her as a slave.
Result: Petition granted; plea of trespass filed.
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Repository: Civil Courts Building, St. Louis, Missouri
