Cuffy Woodson, a free man of color, seeks to emancipate his wife, Fanny, and her child, Patsy. Woodson informs the court that "by great diligence & economy & attention to business he has been enabled to purchas his wife a Yellow wom[an] ... who was the Slave of Micajah Moorman." He confides "that his purchase of sd. slaves has not been with a vain or ambitious desire to acquire wealth or property, but has been an humble exercise of those feelings of ... affection which the laws of the country ... will tolerate in him." Citing that "Fanny & her child are faithful affectionate & meritorious in their services," he prays "with the leave of your worshipful court to emancipate and make free persons as if they had been originally so born." Court documents reveal that the grand jury indicted Woodson in 1836 for "unlawfully and wickedly" keeping "a certain grocery and tipling house for the purpose of vending spirituous liquors," contrary to law and "against the peace and dignity of the State." Woodson died a short time after the indictment, but the state continued its case, charging that his widow "did sell and vend spirituous liquors to wit one pint of whiskey to a negro Slave named Harry ... without a permit in writing from the master or mistress."
Result: Granted.
Or you may view all people.
Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
