Choisser v. Hargrave

This action, for an assault and false imprisonment, was brought by the defendant in error, Barney Hargrave, a colored man, against John Choisser, (who claimed the defendant in error as an indentured servant,) to try his right to freedom. Upon the trial in the Circuit Court, judgment was rendered in favor of Barney Hargrave, from which judgment Choisser has appealed. The facts in the case, as admitted by the parties, are, that Barney “ was brought into the Territory of Illinois at or before 1816, but that he was not indentured or registered until the 15th day of August, 1818,” when he was…