n.d.--Boone Co., Kitty Sues For Freedom

Item

Title: n.d.--Boone Co., Kitty Sues For Freedom
Formatted date: 1858-12-14
Event type: Lawsuit
Description: Sued for her freedom and won, after being emancipated then placed under the "care of a trustee."; Kitty was sold by William Winston to Joseph Chambers in 1843 with the caveat that she should be freed after 12 years. She was given her freedom in 1855, but did not leave the state, a provision added to the revised statutes in the third Kentucky Constitution in 1850.; Boone County Court ordered that she be appointed M. Hamilton as her trustee. Hamilton would then ensure that she be hired out annually, until enough funds were earned to relocate her to a Free State and support her for 12 months, essentially revoking her Free status.; Kitty took her case to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, her lawyer argued that her right to live as a Free person in Kentucky was vested in 1843, when Winston set the terms of the manumission. That infringement upon her freedom through the county court order to hire her out and assign her a trustee was unlawful, as it was based in the revised statue that occurred after the terms of her manumission were laid out.; The Court of Appeals agreed with Kitty's attorney.
Participant: African American(s): unknown, Kitty; unknown, Kitty [8]; Enslaver(s): Winston, William; Winston, William T.; Other participant(s): Chambers, Joseph; Chambers, Joseph
Location: Boone County (Ky.)
Related resource: Chambers family; Winston family
Bibliographic citation: Kitty vs. the Commonwealth. Kentucky Court of Appeals, 14 December 1858. Appeals, 1841-51; Appeals, Kentucky. Court Of, James Hughes, Achilles Sneed, Martin D. Hardin, George Minos Bibb, Alexander Keith Marshall, and William Littell. 1858. Reports of Civil and Criminal Cases Decided by the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1785-1951.
Source: Boone County Court Orders

Item sets: AA--Events--Lawsuit--Kentucky