The slave Nancy petitions for her freedom and for the emancipation of her six children. Nancy avers that Sally Mahan, her late mistress, "was always attached" to her and her children and said that "she never intended that they should be held in slavery after her death but would emancipate and set them free." Mahan's brother James was present when she prepared her will and told her that the best way to ensure her slaves' emancipation was to will them to him on condition that he free them. Nancy claims that James Mahan said "he then could and would take them to a free state and set them free" if he could not free them inside the state. Nancy charges that James Mahan has not freed them as he promised. In fact, Nancy believes that Mahan has pledged or is about to pledge some of her family to secure the repayment of a debt. The plaintiffs urge the court to emancipate them. They also ask the court to issue an injunction against Mahan and to order the sheriff of Sumner County to take custody of them.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
