Enslaved People Named: Aaron
Slaveowners: Dr. Charles W. Rogers, Mrs Margaret Howell
Date of Case: 1815-1816
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Georgia.
To the Honorable the Judge of the Superior Court of Liberty County.
The petition of Charles W. Rogers, of the county & state aforesaid, physician, sheweth, that Margaret Howell, of the county of Liberty, aforesaid, widow, is indebted to your petitioner in the sum of two hundred dollars; for that whereas, on or about the first day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & fifteen, at Sunbury in the county aforesaid, a conversation was then & there had & moved between your petitioner & the said Margaret Howell of & concerning the buying & selling of a negro slave, which the said Margaret then & there had & offered for sale to your petitioner; and on such conversation, it was agreed, that the said Margaret should sell to your said petitioner a negro boy slave of the name of Aaron for the sum of two hundred dollars, which your petitioner then & there paid to the said Margaret at her special instance & request, and who, in consideration thereof delivered the said negro slave to your petitioner; and upon making said bargain & sale, the said Margaret did then & there warrant the said negro boy slave to be sound, in the body of what is commonly called a Bill of Sale, which is here shewn to this Honorable Court. And the said Margaret did then & there also promise & agree in support & explanation of the aforesaid Warranty, to refund to your petitioner his said amount of purchase money, to wit, two hundred dollars, in case the said negro boy slave should die of the disease he was then sick of; and your petitioner avers that the said negro boy was, some time before & at the time of the sale, sick of a mortal disease, of which he soon after died, whereby your petitioner is deprived of the said negro boy Aaron, & his labour & services, of all which premises the said Margaret Howell, at Sunbury aforesaid, had notice. And your petitioner further sheweth that the said Margaret Howell, to wit, on the day & year first mentioned, at Sunbury aforesaid, was indebted to your petitioner in other two hundred dollars, for money by the said Margaret, before that time had & received, to the use of your petitioner; and being so indebted, she the said Margaret in consideration thereof, afterwards, to wit, on the same day & year aforesaid, undertook, & faithfully promised your petitioner, to pay him the said last mentioned sum of money, when thereto afterwards requested.
Nevertheless, the said Margaret Howell, not regarding her said promise & undertaking, made in manner & form aforesaid, but contriving & fraudulently intending, craftily & subtilely [sic] to deceive & defraud your said petitioner in this behalf, hath not paid or refunded the said two hundred dollars to your petitioner, nor any part thereof, which he paid for the said negro boy Aaron; neither hath the said Margaret paid the said two hundred dollars, so had & received or any part thereof, but so to do hath refused & still refuses, to make your petitioner any payment or satisfaction thereof, whereby your petitioner is endamaged four hundred dollars.
Wherefore your petitioner prays process may issue, requiring the said Margaret Howell to be & appear at the Superior Court of Liberty County in their term of November next, then & there to answer your petitioner in an action on the case, etc.
Jno. Kell Atty for Pet[itioner]
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A subpoena was served on Powell on September 26, 1815. She appeared in court via her attorney and stated that “she did not undertake in manner & form as thereof declared against her; nor did she promise or warrant as, in & by the declaration of the said C.W. Rogers…”
Arbitrators Joseph Austin and Samuel S. Law were appointed by Dr. Charles W. Rogers and Mrs. Margaret Howell, and disagreed about the “facts submitted, relative to a negro boy, sold by the said Margaret Howell to the said Chas. W. Rogers,” called in Davis Carter as an umpire, and finally agreed that “the said boy died the property of the said Charles W. Rogers; and we do hereby award the loss to be his, without redress upon the said Margaret Howell.” Dated May 7, 1818, at Sunbury.
The Superior Court declared this to be the judgment in the case on November 16, 1818. Recorded in Liberty County Superior Court on November 27, 1818.
[Begin Transcript]
Charles Wm. [William] Rogers vs. Margaret Howell } Case
We the arbitrators Joseph Joseph [sic] Austin, & Samuel S. Law appointed by Doctor Charles W. Rogers of the one part, & Mrs. Margaret Howell of the other, having differed upon the facts submitted relative to a negro boy sold by the said Margaret Howell to the said Charles W. Rodgers agree to call in Davis Carter as umpire, and after mature deliberation are of opinion that the said boy died the property of the said Charles W. Rogers – and we do hereby award th eloss to be his without redress upon the said Margaret Howell.
Sunbury 7 May 1818
Dvis Carter
Sam’l S. Law
The above case having been referred to arbitrators and the arbitrators having awarded for the defendant Margaret Howell, and no person appearing to gainsay the said award, on motion of Defendant’s attorney it is ordered that the same be entered up as the judgement of this Court, and that the Plaintiff go without [word].
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Source: Superior Court minutes, 1809-1821, Liberty County, Georgia, page 309=10; database with images, “Liberty County Superior Court Minutes 1809-1821,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-W8H : accessed 10 Jul 2023), Family History Library Film 008628963, item 2 of 2, image 609 of 653.
Source: Superior Court minutes, 1804-1820, Liberty County, Georgia, page 723-5; database with images, “Liberty County Superior Court Minutes 1804-1820,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-WB3 : accessed 28 June 2023), Family History Library Film 008628963, image 394-5 of 653.