Steuart v. Williams
Court of Appeals of Maryland
Appeal from Baltimore' city court. This w'as a petition for freedom, filed by the appellee against' the appellant, and’ the issue tried was freedom vel non. Exception.
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Appeal from Baltimore' city court. This w'as a petition for freedom, filed by the appellee against' the appellant, and’ the issue tried was freedom vel non. Exception. The petitioner offered in evidence the will of Catharine Belt, executed in 1825, containing, among others, this clause: “I give and bequeath my negro woman Esther to my son, George Gordon Belt, for and during the natural life of my son, Thomas Hanson Belt, and the children of the said Esther now born, or that may hereafter be born of the said Esther,- in trust, for the sole use and benefit of my said son, Thomas Hanson Belt,…
1Opinion of the CourtLe Grand, C. J.
This was a petition for freedom. The appellee, who was the petitioner below, claimed his freedom under the will of Mrs. Catharine Belt. By that instrument it is provided, that the children of her slave Esther, who was the mother of the petitioner, should he entitled to their freedom at the age of twenty-eight years; provided they should be sold by the legatee of the testator.
It appears from the evidence that the petitioner was sold to the appellant as a slave for life, and that he was upwards of twenty-eight years of age at the time of the filing of his petition. The case of Williams vs. Ash,…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Brown v. EllicottCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1852
3Cited by2 opinions
- Potter v. CouchSupreme Court of the United States · 1891
- Northwest Real Estate Co. v. SerioCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1929