21485516https://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/21485516TennesseeDavidsonCounty931855Chancery9111855Chancerygranted308Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County ArchivesMary Jane Horton, a mulatto slave, seeks emancipation from her current master. Horton is the child of a slave named Mary and a white man named Craven Horton. In 1833, her mother's owner, Ann Lowry, died. Lowry's will directed that Mary Jane and her sister be held in trust for the benefit of their father "for and during his natural life, and after his death ... they shall be sent to the state of Ohio, or some other state, where they can enjoy their freedom." Some years later, Craven Horton became indebted to George W. Millan. In order to satisfy said debt, Horton hired his daughters to Millan "at seventy five dollars each, and agreed to work for him at one hundred and twenty five dollars a year," until the children were redeemed. Once the debt was repaid, Millan "pretended to become displeased with Horton, and, with the aid of the defendant, Edmond D. Richards, took your Oratrix to Washington City, and offered her for sale there." The petitioner filed a freedom suit in Washington but, before it could be resolved, Richards brought her back to Tennessee "where he has ever since kept her in slavery." The petitioner reminds the court that, by the dictates of Lowry's will, she should still be in held in trust by her father. She prays that she be released from Richards's control and that he be made to pay her reasonable hire for her labor.owner(s)/citizens manumit/free slaveSues for freedom (enslaved)Hiring value (enslaved)AssaultInterracial relationshipsTitle dispute (enslaved)Family separated (Black)