Elsa Hicks, a twenty-three-year-old mulatto woman born into slavery in Virginia, seeks permission to sue for her freedom as a poor person. Hicks explains that James Mitchell acquired her "by marriage with one Miss Burrell," and, around 1834, transported her to Wisconsin, "contrary to the Ordinance of [1787] passed by the Congress of the United States." Mitchell held her in Wisconsin until about 1841, when he brought her to St. Louis where he hired out her services to Patrick McSherry, who now detains her illegally in slavery. Hicks instituted a similar case against James Mitchell and S. Burrell in 1845. Lewis Burrell's motion to dismiss the case, filed in 1848 on behalf of the minor Mitchell children, "who claim to be the owners" of Elsa, alleges collusion between Hicks and McSherry. Burrell characterizes McSherry as a "sham defendant," who is attempting to enable Elsa to procure her freedom "without any serious resistance." He claims that McSherry "has entertained and harbored her, has encouraged her in remaining as a fugitive." He complains that it would be a "mockery" to continue the suit "when the Defendant and Plaintiff are both eager and anxious that the same judgment may be rendered."
Result: Petition granted; plea of trespass filed, dismissed.
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Repository: Civil Courts Building, St. Louis, Missouri
