To the Honorable the Judge of the CircuitCourt
of the Northern Circuit of the Territory of Missouri
sicting as a Circuit Court in and for the County
of Saint Charles

The Petition of Susan a free black
woman humbly showith. That some time above
the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety
one James Royall removed your petition from
the state of Mary land into the then Indiana/now Illinois ) Territory) and continuedtoreside in said
Territory keeping your petitioner in his possession
until some time about the year the thousand eight
hundred and twelve. when your petitioner was
removed to the now Missouri Territory, and has ever
since been held as a slave by the plaintiff
Herny Hight who as your petitioner has been informed
is administrator of the estate of the what of the said James
Royal now decreased. That your petitioner
has been informed that in consequence of having
been removed into the Indiana Territory as aforesaid
and having resided there for the timeaforesaid the
is entitled to her freedom by order of an ordinance and of
Congress papers for the Government of said
Territory. Wherefore your petitioner prays that
your honor will order that an action may
be instituted against the said Henry Hight
on behalf your petitioner for the purpose of accu=
ering her freedom if she be entitled to it and
that counsel may be assigned your petitionerto assist her in conducting said suit and that such other
order may be made as is necessary in this behalf
And your petitioner will ever pray &c

2nd May 1817 Susan by
M"M Girk

filed 2nd May 1817Wm. Christy for C.C.

William B. Whitesides states that he knew a negro
girl named Susan to be in the possession of James
Reyal in the now Illinois Territory for about two years
preceding 1812 when the said Reyal removed the
said girl from said Territory to the now Missouri
Territory. and that he understands and believes the
said girl is now in the possession fo Henry Hight
of St Charles County .

William B WhitesideSworn to and subscribed
before me a Justice of
the peace for St Charles
sournthy the 30th April
1817
James Green J F

Susan Negro Girl
affidavit
Wm B. Whitside

Filed 2 May 1817Wm. Christy JC

Territory of Missouri
Country of Saint CharlesSct.

Personally Came before me
William Christy for Clerk of the Circuit Court for the County of
Saint Charles in the in the Town of Saint Charles, M. McGirk and do
state on oath that he knew a certain Negro girl named Susan
to be in the possession of Henry Hight administrator of James
Rain Deceid, and the said Hight claimed the said girl a
the property of said Rain Deceased. and she has been claimed and is yet claimed by HightHight as a slave one under hire
to someone in St. Charles by said Hight

And I have often heard Henry Hight say that
said Susan did come from within Illinois Territory and
that she has resided with one James Royal
There for some time

M . McGirk Sworn into & Subscribed
in open Court
2 May 1817M. Christy Jc.

Territory of Missouri
County of Saint Charles Sct.
The United States of America
To the Sheriff of the Country of Saint Charles_ Greeting

We Command you to Summon Henry Hight if he be
Found in your County to be and appear before the Honorable
the Judge of our Circuit Court to he holden for the County
of Saint Charles at the Court House in the town of Saint
Charles on the Fourth Monday in November next. Then and there to answer Susan N Free Black Woman of a Plea of Trespass with force and arms. To The Damage
of the said Susan of Five Hundred Dollars
And have you then thre and this writ.

Witness William Christy Junior
Clerk of our said Court at Saint Charles the Ninth day of June
in the year of our Lord one thousand
Eight hundred & seventeen and in the Forty first year of the Independance
of the United States Wm Christy J.C.

Executed Sheriff
Sheriff $ 1,,50

Mar. Jmp.

Dam $ 8. 00

To the Clerk let a summons
issue to Nov term 1817
M Girk
somptines
attor
on the fourth
Monday in November
McGirk

filed the 26th May 1817 Wm Christy JC C.C.C.

Executed in the Township of Portage des Seoix on the
24th day of July one Thousand eight hundred and seventeen

Parmer Dept Shff

Susan a free woman
Henry Hight

Territory Of Missouri ,
County of St. Charles.ss.The United States of America the Sheriff of said county. Greeting:

are hereby commanded to summon William Thompson
that all excuses and delays set aside he should appear before the Judge of our circut court, at the next
february term on the first day thereof, to the truth of his knowledge a certain
matterof controversy in the said court depending, between Plaintiff and Defendant, the part of the
plaintiff hereof not to fail not at your peril, and have you then there this writ.

Witness, of our said at Saint Charles , this day of in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen and in the forty second year of the
Independence of the United States ,

case- A a slave in Indiana , sues B her
master then, gets Judgnent of freedom
resides there- the master 5 years after
moves to Missouri , gets possession of
A in Missouri_ A sues in Aug
same, can A recover?

The Circuit Court at St Louis
have said Aimle be a slave

issue All

no 127
October S. 1820
Circuit Court
February Term 1818

Sum

William Thompson

Executed in the Trespass
Saint Charles in the 9th day of February 1818.

J. Devore to June.

1 Service$. 0.3Mileage.530.83

February Term 1818.

And the said Henry Hight
saith that the said replicaton of her the said Susan
and the matters and things therein contained are not good and sufficient in law to enable her
the said Susan to have and maintain her
said action thereof against him the said Henry
and this be the said Henry is ready to verify- Therefore for want of a sufficient replication in this behalf the said Henry prays judgement
and his costs to be adjudged to him M

And for cause of demurrer in this behalf
according to the form of the statue in such
case made and provided. The said Henry
sets down and shown to the Court here
the pace owing came of demurrer to the said replication that is to sa;, That the said replication takes a after a
and tavern the movement to the defendants
Tavern.

J. Barton for Deft

Demurrer to replication

Filed Feby. 24th 1818 Wm Christy Jr. C.C.C.

In the Circuit Court
November Term 1817.

And the said Henry
Hight by J. Barton his attorney comes and defends
the force and injury when M and sath that the
said Susan ought not to have and maintain her
said action thereof against him because he saith
that the said Susan before and at the time when
The said trespasses and imprisonment are above
supposed to have been committed was and
still is the slave of him the said Henry Hight
towit: at the County aforesaid, this that
the said Susan at the time was and still is
free in manner and form as the said Susan
above in her declaration supposes. And this
he the said Henry Hight is ready to verify
wherefore he prays judgement M

J . Barton &R. Easton atts forthe defendant

And for further plea the said Henry Hight saith he is
not guilty in manner and form as the said Susan
above in her declaration supposes and of this he
puts himself on the Country

easton J Barton for for deft_

plea

Slavery pleaded in in her

Plea
plea: cancelled
replication within
27 feby 1818.

.W.C. J.C.C.C.

Replication

And the said Susan by M McGirk her a attorney says
that for any thing alleged by said Henry in said first plea she ought
not to be heard nor preeluded because sha say that she
nor is not a slave free in manner and form as she said many has
alleged in his said fond plea declaration and this she prays maybe
ofly the Country

M. McGirk

And as to the record plea of the said Henry in this behalf above
pleaded wherein he puts himself on the she the said Susan
Doth of like

M McGirk
attor for pltff.
Filed the 29th Nov. 1817. Wm Christy Jr C.C.C.

Territory Of Missouri ,
County of Saint Charles .ss.The United States of America to the Sheriff of said county --Greeting:

You are hereby commanded to summon William Thompson that all excuses and delays set aside he be and appear before the Judge of our circuit court, at the next
June term on the first day thereof, to testify the truth of his knowledge touching a certain
matter of controversy in the said court depending, between Susan a Black Girl Plaintiff and Henry Hight Defendant, on the part of the
plaintiff hereof he is not to fail, and fail not at your peril, and have you then and there this writ.

Witness, William Christy , Junior, clerk of our said court at Saint Charles , this twenty second day of april in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen and in the year of the
Independence of the United States , the forty second Wm Christy Jr

Circuit Court
June Term 1818

Summon

William Thompson

Sheriff fees

1 Service33Millage60Cts .93

Executed in the Township of Portage de Seioux
on the 25th May 1818

Wmh J. Devore Shff By Warner Dept. Shff

Know all nearby then Presents that I Mathias
Mc Girk Esq our recognized held and firmly
bound unto Henry Hightadministration &c. and
to the officer of the Circuit Court of the
County of Saint Charles in the sum of
one hundred dollars lawful money of the
United States_ for the payment of which
well & truly to be made I do hereby
bind myself my heirs executors & adminis
trators firmly by there signed
with my hand & dealed with my deal
then27th day of June 1818

The Condition of this recognizance
is such that whereas Susan a Black=
woman plaintiff as a suit for her
freedom instituted against Henry Hight,
administration of deceased
has at the present JuneTerm of the Circuit
Court of the County of Saint Charles in
the year above written appealed from the
Judgment of said Court in the suit afore=
said, now therefore if the said Mathias
McGirk Esqr. shall well and truly pay
all the was to which the said Defendant of the officers of the Judgement of the Circuit
Court is confirmed in the Supreme Court
on the appeal of the said Susan the
this recognizance or bond to be void
otherwise to be void
otherwise to remain in full force & virtue.

Jsst.M. M. McGirk
Wm Christy J.C.

Boues $100
M . McGirk .
on appeal. for
Susan a black girl

filed 28th June 1818W. Christy Jr Clk

State of Missouri
Country of St Charles
Ss

At a a Supreme Court
held for the second Judicial District at the Town
of St Charles . On Monday the Twenty fourth
day of September, in the year of our Lord
One Thousand Eight hundred and Twenty one
Were Present Mathias McGirk

John D Cook of said Court

Be remembered that heretofore, to wit on
the 26th day of March in the year of our Lord
Eighteen hundred and Twenty one was sent
hither from the late Superior Court of the
Territory of Missouri for the Northern Circuit
the Transcript of the record of a Certain ap
peal. Between Susan aBlack girl who sues
for her freedom and Henry Hight in the Words and figures following. To Wit

August Term 1818

September 10thContinued
by Consent.
September Term 1819.

October the fourth

The parties appear by their attornies
Whereupon Mr McGirl suggests adimi-
-nstration and thereupon. It is ordered that
a the Circuit Court of the
County of St Charles . Commanaing the said
Court to Complete the said Record.

An Appeal
Continued.

On Appeal
The Court align William Smith Esqr as
Councel for the appellant.Tuesday the 25th September 1821.

And now as this day came the practice by
their Attornies aforesaid but because the
Court now here is not yet about
giving payment of and Concerning the
said premises. Any is therefore given to the
said prairies Come before the Court untill
Common 9.O clock to here Judgment of and upon the premises.

ThursdayMorning27 Sept. 1821 Were present
John Cook &
John Rici Jones
of said Court

Appeal certified
from
the Superior
Court 3

The Court being sufficiently carried of &
Concerning the premises; and because there
is manifest, and in the proceedings of the
said Circuit Court apparent on the face
of the record thereof. It is Comisioned by the
Court here, that the said Judgment of the
Circuit Court of the County of St Charles
be and set aside; and the cause
remanded to said Court; and
a

a new trial had therein upon an issue to
be made on the first plea of the said De
fendant, in Conformity with the opinion of this
Court in thiscase. It is furthermore com
manded by the Court that the appellant recov-
er against the appellee her costs and Char
-ges about her appeal in this behalf laid
out and expanded. And that she have
thereof her execution_

State of Missouri
County of St Charles

William Christy
Junior Clerk of the Supreme Court of the
State of Missouri , for the second Judicial
District Certify that the foregoing is a
transcript of the record and proceedings
in the case of Susan a Black Girl appellant
against Henry Hight appellee.

In Testimony Whereof I have
hereunto subscribed my name and
affixed my private seal (there being
no official seal yet provided)At
St Charles This 13th day of October
in the Year of our Lord Eighteen
hundred and twenty one. Wm Christy Jr.

Record

Clerk Ley L.C.c

1.00Certificate0.50Lean 0.25$2.75

filed 13th October 1821 Wm Christy Jr. C. C.C. Cy of St. Charles

from the Circuit Court
St. Charles County

the fifteenth day of said month and in the
year of our lordOne thousand eight hundred &
twenty One, and in the forty sixth year of
the Independence of the United States .
Were present

The Honorable Rufus Pillebone Jr
Judge of said Court

In the record and proceedings of said
Court - are the following

Appeal commanded from
the Supreme Court , for
the Second Judicialdistrict.,

The_

do Certify the foregoing to be a
true copy of the preceedings in
this Case, and do herewith Cer-
tify to the said St. Louis Circuit
Court the Original record in said
case. -
my hand & seal at St. Charly this 4th
day of februrary 1822.

Wm Christy Jr.

Clerks yrrs- $1. 0. St Charly.
Tax on Seal 1. $ 2$2.0Clerks In the original Suit $13.2015.95Ditto. do. In the the Supreme Court - 2.75$17.95Ditto. do. In the Circuit Court Sheriffs year- 4. 80 1/2 Jururs fees $3 Attny 6$13.80 1/2J.N.Garuier, his yer In Supreme Court 5.20aggragate$36.95 1/2

An appeal
from the St .
Charles Circuit Court

This was an action of assault &
Battery and false imprisonment instituted by
order of the Circuit Court of St Charles County
in the name the plaintiff ( Susan ) who
Claimed her freedom) against the defendant (who claimed her as a Slave) the
first and most difficult question which
arises in the Cause grows out of the defen
dants first plea and the replicationthereto,
the plea alleges the plaintiff to be the slave
of the defendant, and traverses her being
free as alleged in her declaration, the plain
-tiff replied that she is free in manner and
form as she has alleged in her declaration
and concludes to the Country, the defendant
to this replication and assigned
as cause of demurrer, that, the said replica
=tion takes a upon a and
the inducement to the defendants
traverse: upon this the Circuit
Court gave payment for the defendant, and
the plaintiffapplealed to this Court, the
act which regulates proceedings in cases
of this hand, seem to have been passed for
the sole purpose of enabling free persons
held in slavery to recover their freedom, and
to contemplate an issue, which will ascer
-tain, whether the party held in slavery
is free or not; pursing the of this
Statue; the question naturally presents
itself. Whether the pleading in this Casetend to such issue, with Common Certainty,
the declaration is in Common form. The
plea substantially justifies the tresspass by alleging that the plaintiff is his slave
but unnecessarily traverses a fact which
is not owned in the declaration. if the de
=fendants traverse
were well taken the
replication would very Correctly assigned the sub-
ject of the traverse, and should not deny
the inducement to it. And if the defendant
had not added a traverse to the plea a
very apt and proper issue might have been
found, by the plaintiffs replying that she
was free, and traversing the matter set
fourth in the plea which would have
been a formal and proper replication;
to bring alone to the special Cause assigned,
the demurrer was certainly improperly
sustained, in as much as such cause
for the replication simply
affirms the freedom of the plaintiff wh-
=ich is traversed; The true traversed by the re
plication, was the appropriate one, and
does not notice the to such
travers; The true traversed by the re
plication, was the appropriate one, and
at the informal: yet as the infromally
was accustomed by the defendants un
necessary traverse and as the material
fact was substantially put in issue by
the replication. It is the opinion of
this Court that the Circuit , in
Sustaining the demurrer to the repli
cation, whatever the State of the

pleading may be the Statue puts the
of proof on the plaintiff: and where he issue is found for the plaintiff
a Judgment of Emancipation: this shows that the object of Legislaturewas to afford to plaintiff of this an op
portunity to turn the question of freedom
fairly put in issue because the parties,
upon the first error assigned, the Judg=
ment of the said Circuit Court must
be reversed and the Cauuse remanded
to that Court, there to be tried as an
true to be taken on the said first plea
of the defendant. And the appellee the costs of this appeal. as the judgement is
revered the first error aforesaid
the Court deem it unnecessary to give
any opinion as to the other points

(signed) John C. CookJn Rice Jones
Judges

DrJabez Hubbard, a Witness in this
case 3 days $1.50

Jabez Hubbard

Action of assualt
and battery and false
imprisonment for
freedom

It was proved on the trial of the cause that in
the year 1889One James Rayer came from
the State of Maryland a slave holding in state
to the and Territory a part of the North
Western Territory and to that part which is
now Illinois Territory and that he brought with
him said susan and claimed and exercised
authority over here said Illinois Territory as a slave
till 1812 then he removed there
1812 there he removed to Louisiana Territory
and took said Susan with him and that she before
the bringing of this suit came into the hands of defend
antbeing administrator of said Rayer and by him as a slave and that
the was the service ofComencement
of this suit in the hands of siad Hight and
is in his hands -

M McGirkBenton. J. Barton
Easton &

he says if they err there is noowe to set then right
I want him to state what the time the Registery
is in Illinois

We the jurors find for the
Defendant

Delany Brunell

Missouri Territory
Saint Charles CountyIn the Circuit Court for St
Charles Couty

Susan a free black woman
permitted by the court to sue as a poor person
by Mathias M'Girk & George Tompkins her
attornies for that purpose specially appointed
by the court complains of Henry Hight of a
plea of trespass; for that the said Henry on
the first day of November - in the
year eighteen hundred thirteen - with
force & arms &c made an assault upon the said
Susan , to wit, at the said county of Saint _ _ _
Charles & within the jurisdiction of this court
and then and there beat, bruised& illtreated her
the said Susan , and then and there imprisoned
her the said Susan , and detained and kept her
in person there, without any reasonable or prob-
able cause whatsoever, for a long time, to wit,
from the time aforesaid till this present time,
contrary to the laws & peace of the United States &
of this territory, and against the will of the
said Susan : to the damage of the said Susan
of five hundred dollars and therefore she sues

M'McGirk attorney
for plaintiff