Enslaved People Named: Sambo
Slaveowners: James Girardeau, John Bacon, John McGowen
Date of Case: 1818-1820
[Begin Transcript]
Georgia.
To the Honorable the Judge of the Superior Court for the County of Liberty.
The petition of John Bacon, administrator of all and singular the goods and chattels, rights & credits, which were of James Girardeau, late of said County deceased, sheweth that your petitioner, in his capacity of administrator as aforesaid, in the County aforesaid, on the second day of March in the present year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen was possessed of a certain negro man slave named Sambo, of the value of four hundred dollars, the property of the said intestate; and also, of one double barrel gun, of the value of twenty dollars; one silver watch, of the value of fifteen dollars; one bible, of the value of one dollar & twenty five cents; one trunk of clothing, of the value of twenty eight dollars; one horse, of the value of sixty dollars; one saddle and bridle, of the value of five dollars; one pair of spurs, of the value of one dollar; one blowing horn and one powder horn, of the value of twenty five cents; one mattress, two blankets and two sheets, of the value of nineteen dollars; two milch cows, of the value of twenty dollars; one rocking chair, of the value of one dollar; one grammar, of the value of one dollar; two red morocco pocket books, of the value of fifty cents; amounting in the whole to the value of five hundred and seventy two dollars.
And your petitioner further sheweth, that on the same day and year aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, in his capacity of administrator of the goods & chattels, rights & credits, which were of the aforesaid James Girardeau deceased, your [petitioner] was possessed of one hundred and sixty dollars in bank notes, and four other promissory notes, due & owing to the said intestate from James Wilson, James C. Phelps, Thomas S. Mell and Benjamin Mell Junior, which last mentioned promissory notes (exclusive of the interest due thereon) amounted to the value of two hundred and twenty seven dollars, all of which said articles were the property of the said intestate; and your petitioner, being so possessed of the said negro slave Sambo, and all the other articles herein before enumerated, afterwards, to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid, casually lost the said negro slave [word slave then crossed out] Sambo, double barrel gun, silver watch, bible, trunk of clothing, horse, saddle, bridle, spurs, blowing horn, powder horn, mattress, blankets, sheets, cows, rocking-chair, grammar and pocket books; and also the said bank notes, and four other promissory notes; which said negro slave Sambo, and all the other articles herein before enumerated, afterwards, to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid, in the County aforesaid, came into the hands and possession of John McGowen, of said County, planter, by finding: Nevertheless, the said John McGowen, well knowing the said negro slave Sambo, [repeats all the other items] to be the property of your petitioner, as administrator as aforesaid, and of right to appertain and belong to him, as administrator aforesaid, hath not, though often required, delivered the said negro slave Sambo, [repeats all the other items] or any part thereof to your petitioner, but afterwards, to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid, in the County aforesaid, converted and disposed of them to his own use, to the damage of your petitioner, as administrator aforesaid, two thousand dollars. And your petitioner brings here into Court his letters of administration, by which it appears, that he is the legal administrator of the goods & chattels, rights & credits, which were of the said James Girardeau, late of said County, deceased. Wherefore your petitioner prays process may issue, requiring the said John McGowen, personally, or by his attorney, to appear before the Superior Court, to be held in and for the County of Liberty on the fifth day of April next, then & there to answer your petitioner in an action of trover, etc so forth.
Wm. Law for petitioner
[End Transcript]
A subpoena was served on McGowen on March 12, 1819. Via his attorney, he pled not guilty, and the jury found for the plaintiff in the amount of $502 plus costs of suit on April 10, 1820. Judgment signed and filed the same day, and recorded in Liberty County Superior Court on May 3, 1820.
Source: Superior Court minutes, 1804-1820, Liberty County, Georgia, page 782-3; database with images, “Liberty County Superior Court Minutes 1804-1821,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-WKR : accessed 28 June 2023), Family History Library Film 008628963, image 423-4 of 653.