Elisha Martin seeks to recover his slave George from George Rawlinson. In 1806, Elisha Martin borrowed $270 from George Rawlinson. In order to secure "the said sum ... and some other matters amounting in all to about Three hundred Dollars," Martin mortgaged his slave George to Rawlinson. The men agreed that Rawlinson could work George at a "reasonable estimate of the yearly hire" in order to pay off the debt. Rawlinson has kept George for the last six years. Martin says that George's hire should amount to approximately "Eighty or Ninety Dollars per year wch yr. orator humbly conceives woud have sunk both principal & Interest of said Debt long before this time." When Martin asked Rawlinson to settle the account and to return George, Rawlinson refused and delivered the mortgage to the sheriff with orders to sell the slave. Martin claims that this action would leave him with neither property nor means. He asks the court to compel Rawlinson to account for George's work and to settle the mortgage. Martin also asks for an injunction against Rawlinson to prohibit him from selling George.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
