In January 1815, Samuel Robinson hired Dick for one year for $54.50, only to discover a short time later that the man who hired the slave out, Brickhouse Bell, did not have the authority to do so. Shortly after Robinson had hired Dick at auction, a man named Joseph Dozier, claiming to be the administrator of one Jesse Barnard's estate, came to take Dick away. Robinson asserts that, after investigating the matter, he found out that Bell was Jesse Barnard's guardian and Barnard, an orphan, was Dick's owner. Jesse Barnard, however, had died prior to the hiring and Bell had illegally kept Dick in his possession. Robinson demands that Bell cancel his promissory note, and when he refuses, Robinson sues.
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
